Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Baby Steps

Finally cleaned out my trunk today so that I have room to transport all my stuff with me down to Florida. I've been buying a few things here and there that I know I need. Now I just need to start actually packing and making sure that I have enough time to get everything together. I'm pretty sure I only need one more shopping day and I should be all set. And I don't know if it's just me, but I feel like I don't need to bring as much stuff as I thought in the first place. It's not even me considering the stuff I could buy once I'm in Florida, I honestly think for once, I'm not being a pack rat. Of course, that could all change when I actually start packing my clothes and picking out what I think I'll wear. That's where I'm gonna be in trouble.

On a positive note, I finally made an oil change appointment and my car will be inspected on Thursday so that will take care of my car (minus vacuuming it out). Getting that all squared away feels like a pretty big accomplishment because I've been putting it off even though I know I've been needing to get it done so at least I am making progress.

Needless to say, since it is so close now, I'm getting beyond excited about getting down to Disney! At the same time, I'm starting to get nervous. I've never lived on my own. I know that I can do it, and I wouldn't have minded moving out before now, but it's still something new for me and I don't know what to expect or how it's gonna feel. Also, I've never driven more than a few hours myself, so I'm a little bit nervous about the drive down as well. Altogether, it should take between 17-19 hours, but thankfully I'm not doing that all in one day. Even still, driving long distance is something else that's new for me. I'm sure once I start driving and once I get settled into my apartment, all the nerves will go away, but I can't help pay attention to them right now because I only have 10 more days here! Yikes!

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

The Disney "Look" and other preperations

I'm not sure where I've been, but since when did Disney decide that women can wear hoop or dangle earrings? I thought that was totally against the rules, but apparently I haven't been paying attention. I also have to get a nice shirt for traditions very soon because I'm pretty sure I don't have anything that would be nice enough to wear for that.

Anyways, my head is spinning trying to remember the many things I need to buy or do before I leave in less than three weeks. However, I did finally get a start on the shopping part of my list! At Target today, I bought two pillows, a mattress pad since I heard the beds aren't too comfortable, and a reflective shield for my windshield when my car is parked...well anywhere in Florida. As it is, my car gets pretty hot sitting on my street here and our temperatures only usually get into the mid-80s so that shield was definitely a must.

That's all I picked up so far, but it feels slightly good to have at least gotten some kind of start. I just know these next few weeks are gonna be crazy as I try to get all my stuff together, remember what I need to take, and see the people I need to see before I leave. I don't think I'll have any time to relax until day two in Disney when they let you lay low for the most part...I hope!!

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Disney Bucket List

There's some things that I need to do while I'm working for Disney that I've never done before. That's what I was thinking of today at work while I was doing my last floorset ever (hopefully) in retail! It's great to be down to my last two weeks of work. That just means the time is getting even closer to leave for Disney!

Anyways, to start of my Disney must see/do list, I'd like to see every performer and band around the world at Epcot. I have my favorites already like Mariachi Cobre and The British Invasion, but I know I've never seen the Japanese and Chinese performers, and I only briefly heard the hat lady while I was in the Rose and Crown Pub this past September. I might not be able to see them all in one day, but my goal is to at least see every performer once. I think that's pretty doable in five months.

To coincide with my first must do, I'd also like to drink around the world, but that doesn't really need any explanation. All I know is that the orange slush in France is so delicious and I can't wait to get one of those again, soon!

It might be hard for some people that know me to believe, but I've never been to the Disney water parks, so that's definitely on my list. I'm not sure if I can do that one slide where the floor opens up underneath you, but I like thrills like that, so who knows?

I definitely want to go to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, but honestly, I'm not really sure what that's even about. I just know that I want to go to it. Likewise, I'm excited to see everything that Disney does around Christmas since I've only ever been there one time when they had some (not all) of their Christmas decorations up. From the pictures that I've seen online, I know that'll be an amazing sight to see.

I absolutely want to visit every Disney hotel. At this point, I think I've been to about half of them, but based on other people's pictures, I'm pretty sure I haven't seen almost anything at the hotels I've been to. For example, I know I never went to any beach when I stopped at the Polynesian, so I really would like to go to them all while I'm down there. I might try to stay just one night at one of the semi-nicer hotels since I've only ever been able to stay at the All Star Movies and Pop Century. I wanna know what it's like to have a little bit more money than I do haha!

This next one I'll have to do during my first week there, but I need to see all the Summer Nightastic stuff that Disney is doing, especially at the Tower of Terror.

Hopefully I'll have enough money for this, but I'd like to eat at more restaurants than just 50s Prime Time. Trust me, I love it there and always have a good time, but I'd like to experience the rest of Disney dining, at least a little bit.

I'm gonna try, and should be able to, ride all the rides that I've never been on before, even the childish ones like Dumbo. It's not that I don't like them or anything, just never wanted to spend the time I guess. I just wanna do that one to say I did it.

I'm determined to see what the utilidors are like at the Magic Kingdom. Somebody told me that I can say I'm going down there for a haircut at Kingdom Kutters, so I hope that's a good plan!

Outside of Disney, there's things I'd like to do around Orlando, too. I wanna go back to Universal Studios because I do actually like it there. Also, I've never been to Islands of Adventure so I'm sure that would be an experience. City Walk has a nice nighttime atmosphere so I'd like to check out some of the places there, too. I've never been to Sea World, so I'll try to go there as well. Somebody was telling me that there's some fun dinner shows like Capones (I think) and I know about Arabian Nights so I'd like to check those out. Downtown Orlando is a must-see at least once so I'll be venturing there one day. I'll hopefully be traveling to a few beaches at least a couple times. When else am I gonna have an opportunity to swim in October (it can't happen in Buffalo, trust me)! And as it stands right now, I'll be traveling to Tampa Bay in the middle of September to see my beloved New York Yankees play The Rays at Tropicana Field.

So there you have it. My preliminary list of all the things I wanna see, do, or accomplish in the five months that I have. I'd say if I take advantage of all my days off, I should have a pretty good chance at getting it all done!

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Procrastination at its finest

As I sit here and type this out, I know there's plenty of other things I could and should be doing. One of those important things would be to start getting all my stuff together to take down to Disney, but that's kinda hard to do at my boyfriend's house. I also need to make my lists so I don't forget anything, but of course when I feel like doing that, I can't think of almost anything that I probably need. On top of that, I need to get a car inspection, oil change, and get a chip on my windshield fixed before my departure. And of course there's the fact that before somebody leaves for a while, they become the person in high demand, which I'm experiencing now. How do I fit everybody into three weeks when I still have to work for the next two and have to pack and take care of everything? I'm not sure that it's possible.

I do know one thing. I'm ready to get the hell out of Buffalo! Granted, the weather has been really awesome this summer so far and I'm happy about that, but I'm starting to go a little bit crazy. It could be that coupled with my job, but I need to get out, now. The only thing that's gonna suck about not being here is not seeing my family/friends/dog, missing the Erie County Fair, missing the Stooge Fest that my dad puts on every year (don't ask), missing my cousin's wedding, being able to eat legitimately good pizza and wings, and TIM HORTONS! I know for sure that I'll start to crave that, most likely as soon as I'm far enough away where I can't turn around and go get an iced capp. Regardless, this whole experience is worth it and I'm sure I can find a lot more things right with Orlando/Kissimmee/Lake Buena Vista than I can with Buffalo.

Question for those of you reading this. Does anybody have any idea what the deal is with renter's insurance? I've probably heard "we need it" or "we don't need it" about forty eight times and I still have no idea who's right. People who are down there now say that we don't have to have it because they weren't required to get it, but then you have people who didn't get down there yet saying that Disney is requiring it now, starting with us fall 2010ers. Wtf? I don't have anything that great of value that I'd even want insured while I'm down there. I've never been more confused in my life...

I'll wrap this one up for tonight. I'm sure it's hard enough to get readers, let alone people who will even begin to read long posts like this. I'll have to learn how to not be so wordy in the future.

Typical Introduction

So I caved and decided to make a blog (obviously). I wasn't sure that i was all into the idea, but after thinking about it, I thought it would be a good way to record and remember some stuff while I'm doing the college program. Speaking of that, I am in disbelief that I only have three weeks until I leave. Honestly, I have no idea where all the time has gone, but I am beyond excited to get this experience started. I just hope it doesn't go by as fast as the wait time did.

But, before I start blabbing away, I'll cover the basics. My name is Elyse and I'm a 22 year-old from Buffalo, NY. I recently just graduated from the University at Buffalo, SUNY this past May and I now have a bachelor's in Business Administration. I absolutely love the New York Yankees more than any other sports team, but I do enjoy sports as a whole, too. I also like the Buffalo Sabres, even though they don't know how to win. I am crazily obsessed with Disney World, and all things Disney, really, hence why I'm starting the College Program in a few weeks. I also love to travel and yes I do go to places other than Disney...sometimes. I feel like anything else I could say about myself is going to sound more like my seven year old Myspace page than a blog.

For those of you who are interested, I got accepted into attractions for the CP. I just found out that I'll be working in Hollywood Studios, which I'm ecstatic about since that just so happens to be my favorite Disney park! I'll be working on one of the backlands attractions, which I was told could be Lights, Motors, Action, Backlot Tour, Toy Story Mania, The Little Mermaid show, Honey I Shrunk the Kids Playground (Dear God, no!), Animation Courtyard, or One Man's Dream. I'm really hoping for Toy Story Mania at this point because not only do I really enjoy that ride and movie, but that does seem like the best option out of the list that I have. I really would have liked to end up on the sunset attractions, i.e. Tower of Terror and/or Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, BUT at least I'll be in the same park where they are. Can't complain. I mean honestly, even if I was custodial and they stuck me at Animal Kingdom, I'd still be able to work for Disney, so I can't ever really be that upset. Just doing the program has always been a big dream of mine.

Anyways, that should be enough of a background for my first post, right? I'm not really sure how these things work yet. I feel like this is a mature LiveJournal or something. I'm gonna try to update semi-often which shouldn't be a problem since I always have something to talk about and I do get bored sometimes. I should use that time to start making my lists and packing for Disney, but who does things ahead of time? Not this girl!