i didn't expect to be blogging so quickly but i had a lot of stuff happen today so here i am again!
so today was my first day of training! i was a little nervous, of course.. and of course my bus broke down and i was late! so i might already have a 'point' against me! not good! i was supposed to meet my trainer at costuming and i get there... and there is no trainer for fantasyland merchandise! hahah. so i had to tag along with a trainer for main street usa for a bit. so of course i didn't get one of my costumes and she only had me check out one! we can check out five at a time.. so i will have to head back and get mine. okay i didn't explain that at all so you are probably wondering whats going on. so each park has it's costuming building and its HUGE. literally racks and racks of costumes for each land/position. they are very picky about how it fits you and are not nice at all. using your ID you check out your costume and voila!
my costume is the traditional fantasyland costume, it hasn't changed since the park opened in 1971! its very german looking, with a patterned floral blue skirt they call the 'chicken' skirt and a button down white blouse with some tulip looking blue green yellow and red flowers. very euro. then we wear black dress shoes that have to be polishable leather. wahoo. so anyways i met up with my trainer in the utilidoor finally! her name was andrea and she is from puerto rico. she was a really good trainer but i think she was only like 21! but she has worked in fantasyland since she was 16. so she knew a lot. we spent a ton of time in the utilidoor getting oriented. that place is crazy. its only in magic kingdom and really creates a unique work environment because you can see everyone. my favorite is seeing face characters (look alikes) i seriously can't help but stare. since i am in fantasyland i see a TON because they do meet and greets there and our utilidoor hall is right next to entertainment. today i saw wendy, peter pan, alice, the ugly stepsisters and stepmother from cinderella, snow white, sleeping beauty, cinderella, belle, and merida! it's crazy, i literally had lunch right next to sleeping beauty. when they come down to the utilidoor on break they stay in full make up and keep their wigs on but just strip down to their underclothes which is old fashioned bloomers and a cami or a big shirt so its really funny. the face of a princess and the body of a normal person!
we did some e-learning classes that we are required to take before we start and they are terrible. they are like 30 minutes long and you basically watch a slide show with some narration. yuckkky! but we did get to go onstage for about 2 and half hours and it was the best!!! so we toured all the shops that i will be covering. if i remember all of them it's fantasy faire, castle couture, sir mickeys, the dwarves mine shoppe, two carts which are enchanted grove and casey junior.. and pooh's corner! which is the exit shop for the many adventures of winnie the pooh. because of the expansion of fantasyland and storybook circus, storybook circus is temporarily a part of fantasyland so we are covering a HUGE amount of area! it's nuts. our costume looks super out of place there.
i learned a lot of fun vocab today! so instead of saying we are going for a break, we say we are taking our tea. when we have to go to the bathroom, we say we have to go to the grotto, and when we are bumping out we say we are going to neverland! it keeps with the show a lot more. i also learned how we create magical moments today! so in castle couture we have a pixie dust wand. when we are on the merchantainment shift (wandering around the store making sure everyone is okay) we can ask little girls if they would like pixie dust! then we wave it over their heads, covering them in pixie dust, saying a little poem about faith, trust, and pixie dust. isn't it cute! people started swarming us because they all wanted pixie dust. we even pixie dusted a dad today! hahaha good times. castle couture is right next to bibbidi bobbidi boutique so tons of little girls come in in their princess outfits, it's so cute. we also got the intro to pin trading! it was so interesting. i always thought cast member pins were so boring but it turns out all the cast member pins are not available in stores! so people really want them! they release collections of about 9 pins twice a year, in january and in the summer. they are called 'hidden mickey' collections and literally have a little silver hidden mickey on every pin. some of the collections are so cool. for instance one of the more recent collections is the orange bird which was just reintroduced to magic kingdom, and they have a london collection which i want SO bad! then some of them are ugly and random. you can trade two pins per guest. cast members with green lanyards can only trade with guests under 12. i have a black lanyard! when your pins start to get boring or if you have 2 of the same you can go to pin replenishment during your break and trade for new pins! cool right?
my favorite moment was today we were telling a british family about our special deal going on right now with a pin starter kit and lanyard. if you spend 40$ you can get it super cheap, and its really smart because even if you dont like the pins you can trade and get ones you like. the cutest little girl really liked a cruella de vil pin i had so she bought the lanyard basically just to trade with me. while she was waiting in line she kept checking to make sure i was keeping it for her. then as soon as her mom bought it for her she ran over to me and started tearing the box apart so that she could open up her lanyard and get the pin. she was so cute. i hope it will be a memory for her because she was so excited, it was her first time at wdw (disney world) and i think she really wants to get into pin trading. anyways so cute.
anyways then we went back 'downstairs' to the utilidoor and did more elearning and shiz. i learned so much today i feel like my head is gonna blow up. i met one of the managers and he seems really nice.... yep! i think that about wraps up my day in the park
so i got off at 6 and headed back to vista and worked out! i have to say the little weight room here is a crack up. all the boys are super dweeby and weird but obviously are trying to be all macho. i hate working out in public places cause it's such a meat market. whatever. also there are a TON of ASIANS. hahaha they are so funny! they come in in their little jean shorts and name-brand flats and start working out on the treadmills. so weird! it's dang funny. and they travel in little girl-posse herds. very entertaining.
that's all i can think of for now! hope everyone has a magical day ;)
Monday, August 20, 2012
Sunday, August 19, 2012
your once upon a time... is now!
HELLO from walt disney world!!!!!!!
okay so i'm not really on disney property right now, but i'm dang close! sorry it has taken me so long to update. and yes, i am missing my blogpost from the last day in london. and it was definitely one to remember. i did write a short draft though so i just need to organize it. i will publish it eventually!!
so i guess i should start from the beginning! after a quick 3 days in logan i was off to orlando with my mom! i am so glad she came with me! we spent the night in the hyatt that is in the orlando airport because we got in way late tuesday night. i had early morning check in the next day! we were planning on getting there early so that i could get into the nice apartments, chatham or patterson court, but that fell through. we were so tired! but we didn't think it would be that big of a deal... so we rolled in about 15 minutes before check in was supposed to start and come to find out chatham and patterson are already full?! what the heck!? turns out people had been lining up since 11 pm the night before and the cp (cp=college program) kids weren't moved out all the way from spring yet. so yeah, i am living in the infamous vista way!! almost everyone i have talked to has said to avoid vista at all costs because it is gross. i thought this meant cleanliness, so when i first walked into my apartment i was pleasantly surprised. it's really not bad! except the shower. the shower could be better. but yeah i think they meant nasty in another way. i was talking to my roommate the other day and apparently, according to playboy, vista way is the number two easiest place in the COUNTRY to get laid. yeah sorry. that was a little blunt but i didn't really know how else to put it. hahaha. so yeah thats where i am living!! definitely not in provo anymore eh?!
speaking of not being in provo, i opted not to match up with BYU roommates so i'm not living with any members! it's definitely different from anything i've ever done but i think it will be a great experience. my roommate's name is Brittany and she is from a tiny town in texas and goes to school in san antonio! she's great! we get along really well. i think i might come home with a texas twang though! she has a pretty strong accent. my other 4 roommates are from all over the east coast. so far the only kids i have met from the west coast are other byu kids. i am also surprised how many people doing cp have never been to disney world before! but back to roomates, Cassie is from Maine, goes to school in massachusetts, and works in entertainment! she is "friends" with some familiar characters you might know! Donald, minnie, mickey... sound familiar? she has a very fun job! her roomate, margaret is from massachusetts and works in transportation. in the other room is Taylor and Alexis. Alexis is from Pittsburgh and works quick service (counter service) food and beverage at the all-star resorts. Taylor is working slow food (sit down restaurant) at the animal kingdom lodge! and then Brittany is working front gate at Epcot. so we have a lot of variety! alexis and cassie both turn 21 while we are here and alexis was talking about how smashed she was gonna get on her birthday so that will be interesting hahaha. i live in 'wellness' housing which is for the kids under 21, so no alcohol. but there are a lot of smokers here. it is definitely different but i think it will be good for me because this is what the real world is like. the real challenge for me right now is the language. lots of swearing makes it hard not to get those words stuck in your vocabulary as well so yeah.
okay so the first day! so i got in line here at vista to get my assignment and whatnot. they are so crazy efficient here it's nuts. in one line i probably went through like 7 stations and got so much information... i got my id, where i was gonna live, signed my life away... etc. etc. twas great. they had a little holding area for the parents so i went and met my mom over there. before i continue i need to stop and make an observation. everyone here is HUGE. fitness is not a concern. it is terrible! alright back to where i was. i moved in a little, met the roomies, went shopping at good old wal-mart. it was grand! then i had a meeting with my ysa ward! there are quite a few people from byu and byu-i here. i met my bishop, the rs pres, the elders quorum president and some more... most of them work for disney so that is cool. sadly they got kicked out before they could really get to know us. security here are nazis. the elders got in for about ten minutes before they got kicked out. i guess the landlord said they can only be here if they are in an apartment teaching a lesson. so that was sad. then they kicked the rest of our ward out... i'm not really sure why to be honest with you. so that was sad. definitely not utah eh? after that i went and stayed with my mom at her hotel, the pop century! what a funny place. it's a value hotel. it's honestly still really nice but it had some very interesting people. and by interesting i mean white trash to the max. it's the largest hotel in the country! so of course we got lost. but in the process we found a possum!! hahahah. we had a good time chasing that around. my roommate thought it was funny we were so excited by a possum.
i forgot we also had casting! we were all bused out to the casting building to find out what role we had. luckily for me i already knew, fantasyland merchandise! the best! but this building was nuts. the whole theme is argyle... which seems random right? it's to match walt disney's socks! yes, even in the cast member buildings disney doesn't lose any detail. oh and by the way, in disney lingo, cast member means employee! we are all part of the 'show' so we are cast members :) in the casting building we did all of our background checks and formal stuff. they had to take my fingerprints and everything! it was long and kinda boring but necessary. after that was more shopping with mom and a night at the pop century!
okay the next day was thursday! this day we had our housing meeting at this other apartment complex called the commons. it is way nice. made me realize why people say vista is nasty. oh well, i guess. so we walk into this meeting thing and it is literally like a party! there was fog machines and super loud music and a light show! definitely had some disney magic going on. the 'teacher' was more like an emcee and he was super good. he was a recent cp grad and now words full time for the company. it is really reassuring to learn that almost every cast member started out with the college program! but yeah so we did more boring stuff there, basically were told not to drugs and don't drink if you're not 21. the basics. after that me and my mom went to downtown disney! we ate at the crab house on the big steam boat and it was super good! nom nom nom. we also shopped at the surf store i really like in there. it was a winner of a day.
friday was a free day! so me and mom went into the parks! wee hoo! first we went into magic kingdom to spy on my costume (more disney terms, it's not a uniform, it's a costume!) it's a so-so one. could be worse, could be better. you will see it soon enough. we explored new fantasyland, did some random rides... just walked around mostly. then we went to my favorite... epcot :) oh i love epcot. we went straight to world showcase and ate at mexico and it was really yummy. then another night at pop century! i felt so bad i wasn't staying with my roomates but oh well. they have 6 months of me.
saturday was traditions, the first day we get paid! i was super stoked for traditions because i heard you tour magic kingdom all day and just get stoked to work but i think they changed how it works because we were hardly in there at all. we had to watch this horrible follow along lesson for like an hour and everyone was hungry and it was no fun. but we did go into mk (magic kingdom) and that was great. we were backstage for a lot of the time and we used the famous utilidoor!!!!! short for utility corridor. it's the first floor of the magic kingdom, yes, the park is the second floor! but the utilidoor looks and operates like a tunnel. it's super intense. you can't take pictures down there because if our guests were to see it would ruin the magic, but i might just sneak one in before i leave in january. just maybe. thanks to the utilidoor guests never see trash, or cast members out of place. for instance, you'll never see a frontierland cowboy in tomorrowland. that's just unacceptable! there are cafeterias and all sorts of stuff down there. a lot of people saw some characters and started freaking out. today i saw snow white with just hair and makeup done and it was so funny. hahah definitely something you can't help but stare at. but on our tour of the mk we learned about the four keys. 1- safety 2-courtesy 3-show and 4-efficiency. now you all know the secrets of the walt disney company!! so yeah we had that pounded into our brains. but in a fun way. we learned some key things about our role- like how we are always supposed to offer to take pictures of the whole family or get on eye level with a disabled guest or child. and of course, smile!!
after that we headed back to 'disney university' to finish up the nitty gritty stuff. during our class, we heard a knock on the door. guess who it was?! mickey!!! he had brought a big present for us! it was our nametags! he was so cute and played a little trivia with us. i answered a question and got a little plastic mickey. he said our nametags still needed a little pixie dust and said he would come back later with them. so about twenty minutes later they roll in a big glass case on a velvet tablecloth... and inside were our nametags. this is corny but it seriously was a magical moment. i wont ever forget that! and then they open up the case and they're all resting on this gold glittery fabric that obviously supposed to be pixie dust. it was so great. seeing that name tag was AMAZING. highlight of this whole thing so far.
then traditions was over so it was the last night with my mama! :( we headed over to epcot again and ate at france. it was good! gotta love the frenchies. then we said goodbye :( bye bye mama.
and no we are at today! today i had theme park orientation from 7-11. i had to get up dang early because the buses take so long. i was up at 530! but i was in magic kingdom all day basically and learning a lot and having lots of fun! we went to every land except frontierland. we had two leaders, claire and joseph. joseph does attractions at liberty square and trains at haunted mansion so he knows EVERYTHING about it. it was cool. for instance, the gargoyle in the cemetery is actually a gargoyle from a european castle that was being torn down that walt bought! also he works the steamboat on the river and it can get up to 160 degrees up there in the summer! another cool thing, if you notice liberty squares pavement has a brown path in the middle. it's to match the time period! in those days they'd dump their chamber pots into the street, so the brown path is supposed to look like the sewer. also there are no bathrooms in liberty square because plumbing wasn't invented in 1783! let's see what else.. the shutters are all off-center because back in the day they would have used leather as hinges, not metal, so it would've worn out. the architecture also follows the geography of the US, starting with gothic pennyslvania at haunted mansion... all the way down to st louis something or other. then there's a bridge that symbolizes the mississippi and you cross over into frontierland!! it starts with the midwest, the south, colorado, then ends in good old bryce canyon utah! which is the setting for big thunder mountain railroad. our leader was also a skipper on the jungle river boats so he was way fun to listen to. miss claire worked in guest relations at the front of main street usa. she was an older lady but she was neat, very southern and very knowledgable. she does VIP tours. we learned lot today. i know i am forgetting a ton. we were in the utilidoors a lot.. and got these little pamphlets called tell-a-casts which we are basically supposed to memorize every week so that we can answer guests questions. its mostly information on attractions, meet n greets, park closings and openings and all that stuff.
after theme park orientation (which was technically a class, called 'your once upon a time... is now! hence the blog title) i met one of my trainers! i thought i was gonna do something worthwhile with him but honestly he just gave me a schedule and said see ya tomorrow. so yeah! then i had free time. me taylor and brittany went to epcot and had a lot of fun!! i went on a lot of rides in future world that i have never been on before and it was great. Captain EO, the show with michael jackson, is hilarious by the way. i would also recommend living with the land! its cool although its super environmental and shiz. of course soarin and mission space were amazing as usual. test track is closed till late fall! so that was sad. and yeah now i just spent like an hour and a half writing this dang post and i should be sleeping. thanks for reading! i wont be posting as much as i did in london but i will try to do highlights :) have a great day everyone!!
okay so i'm not really on disney property right now, but i'm dang close! sorry it has taken me so long to update. and yes, i am missing my blogpost from the last day in london. and it was definitely one to remember. i did write a short draft though so i just need to organize it. i will publish it eventually!!
so i guess i should start from the beginning! after a quick 3 days in logan i was off to orlando with my mom! i am so glad she came with me! we spent the night in the hyatt that is in the orlando airport because we got in way late tuesday night. i had early morning check in the next day! we were planning on getting there early so that i could get into the nice apartments, chatham or patterson court, but that fell through. we were so tired! but we didn't think it would be that big of a deal... so we rolled in about 15 minutes before check in was supposed to start and come to find out chatham and patterson are already full?! what the heck!? turns out people had been lining up since 11 pm the night before and the cp (cp=college program) kids weren't moved out all the way from spring yet. so yeah, i am living in the infamous vista way!! almost everyone i have talked to has said to avoid vista at all costs because it is gross. i thought this meant cleanliness, so when i first walked into my apartment i was pleasantly surprised. it's really not bad! except the shower. the shower could be better. but yeah i think they meant nasty in another way. i was talking to my roommate the other day and apparently, according to playboy, vista way is the number two easiest place in the COUNTRY to get laid. yeah sorry. that was a little blunt but i didn't really know how else to put it. hahaha. so yeah thats where i am living!! definitely not in provo anymore eh?!
speaking of not being in provo, i opted not to match up with BYU roommates so i'm not living with any members! it's definitely different from anything i've ever done but i think it will be a great experience. my roommate's name is Brittany and she is from a tiny town in texas and goes to school in san antonio! she's great! we get along really well. i think i might come home with a texas twang though! she has a pretty strong accent. my other 4 roommates are from all over the east coast. so far the only kids i have met from the west coast are other byu kids. i am also surprised how many people doing cp have never been to disney world before! but back to roomates, Cassie is from Maine, goes to school in massachusetts, and works in entertainment! she is "friends" with some familiar characters you might know! Donald, minnie, mickey... sound familiar? she has a very fun job! her roomate, margaret is from massachusetts and works in transportation. in the other room is Taylor and Alexis. Alexis is from Pittsburgh and works quick service (counter service) food and beverage at the all-star resorts. Taylor is working slow food (sit down restaurant) at the animal kingdom lodge! and then Brittany is working front gate at Epcot. so we have a lot of variety! alexis and cassie both turn 21 while we are here and alexis was talking about how smashed she was gonna get on her birthday so that will be interesting hahaha. i live in 'wellness' housing which is for the kids under 21, so no alcohol. but there are a lot of smokers here. it is definitely different but i think it will be good for me because this is what the real world is like. the real challenge for me right now is the language. lots of swearing makes it hard not to get those words stuck in your vocabulary as well so yeah.
okay so the first day! so i got in line here at vista to get my assignment and whatnot. they are so crazy efficient here it's nuts. in one line i probably went through like 7 stations and got so much information... i got my id, where i was gonna live, signed my life away... etc. etc. twas great. they had a little holding area for the parents so i went and met my mom over there. before i continue i need to stop and make an observation. everyone here is HUGE. fitness is not a concern. it is terrible! alright back to where i was. i moved in a little, met the roomies, went shopping at good old wal-mart. it was grand! then i had a meeting with my ysa ward! there are quite a few people from byu and byu-i here. i met my bishop, the rs pres, the elders quorum president and some more... most of them work for disney so that is cool. sadly they got kicked out before they could really get to know us. security here are nazis. the elders got in for about ten minutes before they got kicked out. i guess the landlord said they can only be here if they are in an apartment teaching a lesson. so that was sad. then they kicked the rest of our ward out... i'm not really sure why to be honest with you. so that was sad. definitely not utah eh? after that i went and stayed with my mom at her hotel, the pop century! what a funny place. it's a value hotel. it's honestly still really nice but it had some very interesting people. and by interesting i mean white trash to the max. it's the largest hotel in the country! so of course we got lost. but in the process we found a possum!! hahahah. we had a good time chasing that around. my roommate thought it was funny we were so excited by a possum.
i forgot we also had casting! we were all bused out to the casting building to find out what role we had. luckily for me i already knew, fantasyland merchandise! the best! but this building was nuts. the whole theme is argyle... which seems random right? it's to match walt disney's socks! yes, even in the cast member buildings disney doesn't lose any detail. oh and by the way, in disney lingo, cast member means employee! we are all part of the 'show' so we are cast members :) in the casting building we did all of our background checks and formal stuff. they had to take my fingerprints and everything! it was long and kinda boring but necessary. after that was more shopping with mom and a night at the pop century!
okay the next day was thursday! this day we had our housing meeting at this other apartment complex called the commons. it is way nice. made me realize why people say vista is nasty. oh well, i guess. so we walk into this meeting thing and it is literally like a party! there was fog machines and super loud music and a light show! definitely had some disney magic going on. the 'teacher' was more like an emcee and he was super good. he was a recent cp grad and now words full time for the company. it is really reassuring to learn that almost every cast member started out with the college program! but yeah so we did more boring stuff there, basically were told not to drugs and don't drink if you're not 21. the basics. after that me and my mom went to downtown disney! we ate at the crab house on the big steam boat and it was super good! nom nom nom. we also shopped at the surf store i really like in there. it was a winner of a day.
friday was a free day! so me and mom went into the parks! wee hoo! first we went into magic kingdom to spy on my costume (more disney terms, it's not a uniform, it's a costume!) it's a so-so one. could be worse, could be better. you will see it soon enough. we explored new fantasyland, did some random rides... just walked around mostly. then we went to my favorite... epcot :) oh i love epcot. we went straight to world showcase and ate at mexico and it was really yummy. then another night at pop century! i felt so bad i wasn't staying with my roomates but oh well. they have 6 months of me.
saturday was traditions, the first day we get paid! i was super stoked for traditions because i heard you tour magic kingdom all day and just get stoked to work but i think they changed how it works because we were hardly in there at all. we had to watch this horrible follow along lesson for like an hour and everyone was hungry and it was no fun. but we did go into mk (magic kingdom) and that was great. we were backstage for a lot of the time and we used the famous utilidoor!!!!! short for utility corridor. it's the first floor of the magic kingdom, yes, the park is the second floor! but the utilidoor looks and operates like a tunnel. it's super intense. you can't take pictures down there because if our guests were to see it would ruin the magic, but i might just sneak one in before i leave in january. just maybe. thanks to the utilidoor guests never see trash, or cast members out of place. for instance, you'll never see a frontierland cowboy in tomorrowland. that's just unacceptable! there are cafeterias and all sorts of stuff down there. a lot of people saw some characters and started freaking out. today i saw snow white with just hair and makeup done and it was so funny. hahah definitely something you can't help but stare at. but on our tour of the mk we learned about the four keys. 1- safety 2-courtesy 3-show and 4-efficiency. now you all know the secrets of the walt disney company!! so yeah we had that pounded into our brains. but in a fun way. we learned some key things about our role- like how we are always supposed to offer to take pictures of the whole family or get on eye level with a disabled guest or child. and of course, smile!!
after that we headed back to 'disney university' to finish up the nitty gritty stuff. during our class, we heard a knock on the door. guess who it was?! mickey!!! he had brought a big present for us! it was our nametags! he was so cute and played a little trivia with us. i answered a question and got a little plastic mickey. he said our nametags still needed a little pixie dust and said he would come back later with them. so about twenty minutes later they roll in a big glass case on a velvet tablecloth... and inside were our nametags. this is corny but it seriously was a magical moment. i wont ever forget that! and then they open up the case and they're all resting on this gold glittery fabric that obviously supposed to be pixie dust. it was so great. seeing that name tag was AMAZING. highlight of this whole thing so far.
then traditions was over so it was the last night with my mama! :( we headed over to epcot again and ate at france. it was good! gotta love the frenchies. then we said goodbye :( bye bye mama.
and no we are at today! today i had theme park orientation from 7-11. i had to get up dang early because the buses take so long. i was up at 530! but i was in magic kingdom all day basically and learning a lot and having lots of fun! we went to every land except frontierland. we had two leaders, claire and joseph. joseph does attractions at liberty square and trains at haunted mansion so he knows EVERYTHING about it. it was cool. for instance, the gargoyle in the cemetery is actually a gargoyle from a european castle that was being torn down that walt bought! also he works the steamboat on the river and it can get up to 160 degrees up there in the summer! another cool thing, if you notice liberty squares pavement has a brown path in the middle. it's to match the time period! in those days they'd dump their chamber pots into the street, so the brown path is supposed to look like the sewer. also there are no bathrooms in liberty square because plumbing wasn't invented in 1783! let's see what else.. the shutters are all off-center because back in the day they would have used leather as hinges, not metal, so it would've worn out. the architecture also follows the geography of the US, starting with gothic pennyslvania at haunted mansion... all the way down to st louis something or other. then there's a bridge that symbolizes the mississippi and you cross over into frontierland!! it starts with the midwest, the south, colorado, then ends in good old bryce canyon utah! which is the setting for big thunder mountain railroad. our leader was also a skipper on the jungle river boats so he was way fun to listen to. miss claire worked in guest relations at the front of main street usa. she was an older lady but she was neat, very southern and very knowledgable. she does VIP tours. we learned lot today. i know i am forgetting a ton. we were in the utilidoors a lot.. and got these little pamphlets called tell-a-casts which we are basically supposed to memorize every week so that we can answer guests questions. its mostly information on attractions, meet n greets, park closings and openings and all that stuff.
after theme park orientation (which was technically a class, called 'your once upon a time... is now! hence the blog title) i met one of my trainers! i thought i was gonna do something worthwhile with him but honestly he just gave me a schedule and said see ya tomorrow. so yeah! then i had free time. me taylor and brittany went to epcot and had a lot of fun!! i went on a lot of rides in future world that i have never been on before and it was great. Captain EO, the show with michael jackson, is hilarious by the way. i would also recommend living with the land! its cool although its super environmental and shiz. of course soarin and mission space were amazing as usual. test track is closed till late fall! so that was sad. and yeah now i just spent like an hour and a half writing this dang post and i should be sleeping. thanks for reading! i wont be posting as much as i did in london but i will try to do highlights :) have a great day everyone!!
Friday, August 10, 2012
finals and olympic soccer GOLD
hey everyone! sorry i missed blogging yesterday. yesterday all i did was study. i only left the house once to go get lunch. nothing interesting there. sad right?!
so today we took finals! it seems like forever ago. at 9 am we had our history final that lasted two hours. then we had a two hour break and had our english final from 1-3. i studied so hard, probably harder than i have in provo! these finals were beasts though. so i'm hoping i did okay.
and then today got interesting! after finals i started packing, writing my last postcards, and getting ready to go to the womens soccer gold medal match. yeah that's right, i went to THE game and watched the american girls take gold!!!!!!!!
it was AMAZING. i have to say though, this was the first time i experienced the wrath of the olympic crowds. oh my goodness. not pleasant. but this game was literally perfect. it was at Wembley Stadium, which is where all the international games are played in London. it's kind of a big deal. it's a huge stadium, and sadly it wasn't full. i'm sure if all the seats were available it would've sold out. but regardless the crowd tonight set a record for the most attended womens olympic event ever!! there were like 80,000 of us!!
surprisingly there were a ton of japanese fans. also, all the people that had tickets but weren't from japan or the US tended to cheer for japan. we talked to some british people and asked them why... i have decided it's kind of like how everyone hates the lakers. they win every time, so you can't help but hate them! so that's how everyone feels here too. they are sick of us winning. hahah. oh well suckers!
we sat super high up! we were probably the tenth row from the top. i actually like it though! then you can see everything going on. we weren't really by any american fans and i could tell we were really annoying the british family in front of us because we were so loud but i could've cared less! my throat hurts i was yelling so much! after we scored the first goal (amazing, amazing head by carly lloyd) i literally screamed. like a scream you hear on a rollercoaster. it was just the best. i belted the national anthem and i think i sounded like a dying cow. it was just the best thing ever. i loved that we played japan. rematch for the world cup loss last year! revenge is so sweet! the game was seriously just perfect. it was obvious that we were the better team but japan still made it interesting. hope solo had an amazing game. there were no bad fouls... it was just amazing.
i'm sorry this is such a badly organized post but it's like 2 am so i'm just saying whatever comes to mind. i went with two people from my group, michael and lauren. i got these olympic tickets from a site that i later found out was illegal, so i was really scared the tickets were fake. i compared them to my track tickets for tomorrow, which i know are real, and nothing was different. so i figured we would just have to go to the stadium and find out! i have to say when the little green light went on when i scanned the ticket i think the heavens opened up. i was ecstatic. after we got in we climbed up and up and up... then into the stadium. walking through the gate and seeing the field for the first time really took my breath away. i took lots of videos but guess what guys.. all my pictures on my camera from tonight got deleted. it was the first time i took my camera instead of just my iphone and i dont know what happened. i am way bummed cause i had some great pictures!!!! ughhh.
anyways i am so tired you guys. i seriously had a night i will never forget! i can't believe it just happened. america rocks. yay.
so today we took finals! it seems like forever ago. at 9 am we had our history final that lasted two hours. then we had a two hour break and had our english final from 1-3. i studied so hard, probably harder than i have in provo! these finals were beasts though. so i'm hoping i did okay.
and then today got interesting! after finals i started packing, writing my last postcards, and getting ready to go to the womens soccer gold medal match. yeah that's right, i went to THE game and watched the american girls take gold!!!!!!!!
it was AMAZING. i have to say though, this was the first time i experienced the wrath of the olympic crowds. oh my goodness. not pleasant. but this game was literally perfect. it was at Wembley Stadium, which is where all the international games are played in London. it's kind of a big deal. it's a huge stadium, and sadly it wasn't full. i'm sure if all the seats were available it would've sold out. but regardless the crowd tonight set a record for the most attended womens olympic event ever!! there were like 80,000 of us!!
surprisingly there were a ton of japanese fans. also, all the people that had tickets but weren't from japan or the US tended to cheer for japan. we talked to some british people and asked them why... i have decided it's kind of like how everyone hates the lakers. they win every time, so you can't help but hate them! so that's how everyone feels here too. they are sick of us winning. hahah. oh well suckers!
we sat super high up! we were probably the tenth row from the top. i actually like it though! then you can see everything going on. we weren't really by any american fans and i could tell we were really annoying the british family in front of us because we were so loud but i could've cared less! my throat hurts i was yelling so much! after we scored the first goal (amazing, amazing head by carly lloyd) i literally screamed. like a scream you hear on a rollercoaster. it was just the best. i belted the national anthem and i think i sounded like a dying cow. it was just the best thing ever. i loved that we played japan. rematch for the world cup loss last year! revenge is so sweet! the game was seriously just perfect. it was obvious that we were the better team but japan still made it interesting. hope solo had an amazing game. there were no bad fouls... it was just amazing.
i'm sorry this is such a badly organized post but it's like 2 am so i'm just saying whatever comes to mind. i went with two people from my group, michael and lauren. i got these olympic tickets from a site that i later found out was illegal, so i was really scared the tickets were fake. i compared them to my track tickets for tomorrow, which i know are real, and nothing was different. so i figured we would just have to go to the stadium and find out! i have to say when the little green light went on when i scanned the ticket i think the heavens opened up. i was ecstatic. after we got in we climbed up and up and up... then into the stadium. walking through the gate and seeing the field for the first time really took my breath away. i took lots of videos but guess what guys.. all my pictures on my camera from tonight got deleted. it was the first time i took my camera instead of just my iphone and i dont know what happened. i am way bummed cause i had some great pictures!!!! ughhh.
the tube was INSANE!
we have to get patted down so you get divided by gender
hope solo doing her victory lap!
canada, US, japan in the medal ceremony. called the 'victory ceremony'
wembley from afar
you can't really tell, but yes those are mounted policeman (on horse) holding back the crowd from entering the tube station
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
a royal day out
woah woah woah you guys! time is going way too fast! make it stop!
so today we did buckingham palace, something I have never done before!! we bought the 'royal day out' ticket so we got three parts to our tour. we first started in the queens gallery which is currently showing an exhibit on leonardo da vinci. i thought this would be kind of boring and i wanted to go straight to the state rooms but this exhibit was AMAZING. it was basically 60 illustrations taken straight out of an unpublished anatomical study done by da vinci that was attained by the english crown in the 1700s. who knows why. basically da vinci is my new hero. he was a genius. it was absolutely unreal. usually i breeze through museums and just read the plaques for the stuff that looks interesting to me, but i literally looked and read every single piece. it was that cool.
after that i headed back to notting hill and went to eat. the traffic was pretty crazy because the triathlon was going on in Hyde Park. i literally felt like I was in the middle of war zone because there were press helicopters everywhere, it was intense. but anyways back to lunch because that's significantly more exciting. i had a ham, brie and cranberry baguette, as well as my little muesli pot. then i headed back to the centre and wrote my paper for english! yikesss. i also started packing up my carry on with all the clothes i've bought. double yikes. hahah.
then it was time for dinner and theatre! me and chelsea went to taza and got schwarma. nom nom nom. then it was our last night out at the theatre.. tonight was war horse! it was AMAZING. war horse is a big deal in london because it's super unique. it's obviously focused on the story of the horse and the horse is a wooden puppet operated by three people. it sounds weird but it is so well done. you forget that you are watching three people manipulate a wooden puppet and feel like you are watching a real horse on stage. chelsea also cried twice. so yeah. it's legit. so cool, definitely a must see. all in all today was amazing! hopefully it will make up for tomorrow because i'm basically locking myself in here to study and i'm super not stoked for that. yee-ha.
hope everyone is doing good! miss you all.
so today we did buckingham palace, something I have never done before!! we bought the 'royal day out' ticket so we got three parts to our tour. we first started in the queens gallery which is currently showing an exhibit on leonardo da vinci. i thought this would be kind of boring and i wanted to go straight to the state rooms but this exhibit was AMAZING. it was basically 60 illustrations taken straight out of an unpublished anatomical study done by da vinci that was attained by the english crown in the 1700s. who knows why. basically da vinci is my new hero. he was a genius. it was absolutely unreal. usually i breeze through museums and just read the plaques for the stuff that looks interesting to me, but i literally looked and read every single piece. it was that cool.
next was the royal mews, which i love! good memories there with my mom and my sister. the royal mews are the old stables that are a part of buckingham palace. they don't hold horses there anymore (i did see two today, though!) but it still smells like horses and i LOVE it. makes me miss pootah. but now these stables are the home of the state carriages and the cars. so freaking cool. the best part is the gold state carriage they use for coronation ceremonies. it is so intense. its funny in the little info thing it says that most of the royal family actually doesn't like riding around in it because it's notoriously bumpy. i will let the pictures do most of the talking here. so cool. definitely a must see, and its cool because most people dont know about it so it's usually pretty empty. 
next was the state rooms. if i were to say i was stoked to go to this it would be an understatement. they get you all pumped up before you go in so that was fun. i definitely wasn't disappointed. the word i would use to describe Buckingham is magnificent. i know it sounds cheesy but i was seriously just in awe the whole time, it was so beautiful. and it wasn't like super gaudy like Versailles.. not that versailles isn't beautiful. something about it just bugs me. probably the fact that it's french. but wow i just loved it. my very favorite part was the grand staircase. its just like the cliche grand staircases in the movies with a landing in the middle... i couldn't help but picture myself in a big princess dress going to a ball or something. why am i not a princess again?! hahah nahh just kidding. but it was so cool. mostly we saw drawing rooms, the ballroom, and some galleries that holds paintings and sculptures. it's like a museum within itself. it would be insane to know how much all the artwork is worth in there.
for the queens jubilee there is a special exhibit within buckingham. it's called 'diamonds' (get it? cause it's the diamond jubilee... hehe) and it's basically an extension of the crown jewels. i felt like this was even cooler though because it's the jewelry the queen actually wears. it was amazing. her brooches, her tiaras, earrings, necklaces... it was so so so cool. obviously i couldn't take pictures in the palace or in the diamonds in exhibit so you have to see it to believe it. 
after that i headed back to notting hill and went to eat. the traffic was pretty crazy because the triathlon was going on in Hyde Park. i literally felt like I was in the middle of war zone because there were press helicopters everywhere, it was intense. but anyways back to lunch because that's significantly more exciting. i had a ham, brie and cranberry baguette, as well as my little muesli pot. then i headed back to the centre and wrote my paper for english! yikesss. i also started packing up my carry on with all the clothes i've bought. double yikes. hahah.
then it was time for dinner and theatre! me and chelsea went to taza and got schwarma. nom nom nom. then it was our last night out at the theatre.. tonight was war horse! it was AMAZING. war horse is a big deal in london because it's super unique. it's obviously focused on the story of the horse and the horse is a wooden puppet operated by three people. it sounds weird but it is so well done. you forget that you are watching three people manipulate a wooden puppet and feel like you are watching a real horse on stage. chelsea also cried twice. so yeah. it's legit. so cool, definitely a must see. all in all today was amazing! hopefully it will make up for tomorrow because i'm basically locking myself in here to study and i'm super not stoked for that. yee-ha.
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
H A R R Y P O T T E R
Hello from the last Monday in the UK! this is the saddest of the sad! but i am telling you now i plan on going out with a bang! so get excited for a good week of blogging!
so this morning was our last day of class. basically i am so stressed. finals are thursday. there are so many things i want to do in this amazing city but i really want to do well in class as well. i need scholarship money! hahaha paying for school is no bueno! so pray for me that i can pull off good grades in these classes!
after class i went to the post office and mailed my huge box of london goodies home! my arms were shaking afterwards it was so dang heavy! but i am glad to have that on the way to lawg city! (logan). after that i went and got lunch at my favorite place.. eat! yes it's called eat. they have THE best baguettes. ham and jarlsberg. yummy! i also got a little muesli pot which are my very favorite thing in the world. basically yogurt is my drug these days. i am addicted. i went and ate it on the upper floor and felt very local and cool. i loved it. i will miss london so much. after that i hopped on the central line and went to oxford circus to do some last shopping! first i went to top shop. oh my gosh. it got so cute while i was in scotland. also it isn't so crazy as when i went a few weeks ago. isn't that weird?! i was so scared because the olympics are in full swing but it wasn't even bad. so weird. but i got an america shirt and a new pair of leather flats to replace those cute t-straps i got that first week because they are TRASHED. they smell so bad. i definitely got my moneys worth out of those babies! i wish i had more money though because that place was so cute... i wanted everything!!!! then i was off to my favorite.. Liberty! i thought i was done but i just had to go back. everytime i go back i fall in love with that store more. i got lots of gifts there. so family get excited! i also have a liberty loyalty card now! hahahah. this is concerning. i will miss that place!
after that i had to hustle home cause it was time to do the Harry Potter set tour! i was sooooo stoked! just me and chelsea went which worked out really well. i love doing things in small groups. so we took the tube and then a train out to this smaller town. then we got on a bus to the studio. you walk into the set and of course there is the gift shop. this got me so excited. they had all the legit souveneirs. wands, quidditch uniforms, jewelry, chocolate frogs, uniforms, stuffed owls... so so so much cool stuff! but all of it was so insanely overpriced!! it was painful! but i did get some stuff :) it was funny, i asked the girl working at the till (cash register) if she liked working there, and she said yes, but she always dreamed of getting transferred to orlando. so then i told her about how i am moving to orlando! also another tour guide was telling the crowd to enter to win a trip to orlando so i thought that was funny. i am so lucky!
so anyways, then you go stand in line for the tour. while you are waiting in line you see the first set, the cupboard under the stairs! everyone is so excited you can feel it. then you walk in and go through two different rooms, stopping in each to watch a film to get you super stoked. it's very disney-esque. they did an AMAZING job. so after the second film they end with this great dramatic scene with danielle radcliffe, emma watson and rupert grint (harry, hermione and ron) walking through the big wooden door to the great hall and i thought how cool would it be if the screen just lifted and that door was there? and guess what.. that's exactly what happened. it was seriously magical. one of the best parts was the tour guides and people that worked there were just as excited as the guests were. it was awesome.
so they open the big doors... and you are in literally in THE great hall. its THE set they used. all the tables, chairs, silverware... and up in the front they have these mannequin like things wearing THE costumes so it looks like the characters are there. they did an amazing job. it was surreal. being on the set you also notice a lot of detail you dont pick up on in the movie. it is amazing how much work went into this movie. i still can't get over it and i've been home for three hours.
throughout the sets and soundstages they have lots of placards and movies that they did an awesome job with. they interview cast and crew and it seriously was so fascinating. we spent four hours there and i won't lie, you could probably spend six there. we were the last group so we were a tad rushed because it was closing.
me and chelsea also stood in line to get pictures in front of the green screen on brooms and in the weasleys flying car! it was so funny. after that you have a little refreshment break and they have butter beer! it was SO good. its basically cream soda, but the froth on top is so good. it kind of has a salted caramel taste and its amazing. at this point you go through the outside sets which are number 4 privet drive, the knight bus, tom riddles grave... etc. then you go back inside and see all the mini models of hogwarts and concept art which was amazing. then you walk into this room and its hogwarts castle! it seriously took my breath away. it's a 1/24 scale of it that they use to pan around in the first movie. seriously amazing. then you walk through Diagon Alley! this was so cool to me because just a few days ago i was in the Shambles in york which is what they based it on. after reading all the stuff it was so cool to see the places that they based a lot of the set on. for instance, hogwarts is based a lot on durham cathedral.. which is where i was just yesterday!! also most of the outdoors stuff was in scotland, which i can totally relate to now. it was just amazing. i am in shock. it was like disneyland, just as good. and you know that means a lot coming from me! basically this is a MUST SEE in london!!!
we got SO lucky and made the last bus and barely made our train! once we got into our neighborhood we went to Tazas because chelsea hadn't had it yet! mmmm so nom. i decided to go healthy though so i went into sainsburys and got a egg and rocket sandwich, a banana, and a muesli pot! so yummmy :) mmm :) then we came back to the centre and watched the americans kick booty in basketball!
so that was my day! i wish i could do the harry potter tour justice. just know that it seriously was amazing. like wow. tomorrow is buckingham palace and war horse. see ya then!
so this morning was our last day of class. basically i am so stressed. finals are thursday. there are so many things i want to do in this amazing city but i really want to do well in class as well. i need scholarship money! hahaha paying for school is no bueno! so pray for me that i can pull off good grades in these classes!
after class i went to the post office and mailed my huge box of london goodies home! my arms were shaking afterwards it was so dang heavy! but i am glad to have that on the way to lawg city! (logan). after that i went and got lunch at my favorite place.. eat! yes it's called eat. they have THE best baguettes. ham and jarlsberg. yummy! i also got a little muesli pot which are my very favorite thing in the world. basically yogurt is my drug these days. i am addicted. i went and ate it on the upper floor and felt very local and cool. i loved it. i will miss london so much. after that i hopped on the central line and went to oxford circus to do some last shopping! first i went to top shop. oh my gosh. it got so cute while i was in scotland. also it isn't so crazy as when i went a few weeks ago. isn't that weird?! i was so scared because the olympics are in full swing but it wasn't even bad. so weird. but i got an america shirt and a new pair of leather flats to replace those cute t-straps i got that first week because they are TRASHED. they smell so bad. i definitely got my moneys worth out of those babies! i wish i had more money though because that place was so cute... i wanted everything!!!! then i was off to my favorite.. Liberty! i thought i was done but i just had to go back. everytime i go back i fall in love with that store more. i got lots of gifts there. so family get excited! i also have a liberty loyalty card now! hahahah. this is concerning. i will miss that place!
after that i had to hustle home cause it was time to do the Harry Potter set tour! i was sooooo stoked! just me and chelsea went which worked out really well. i love doing things in small groups. so we took the tube and then a train out to this smaller town. then we got on a bus to the studio. you walk into the set and of course there is the gift shop. this got me so excited. they had all the legit souveneirs. wands, quidditch uniforms, jewelry, chocolate frogs, uniforms, stuffed owls... so so so much cool stuff! but all of it was so insanely overpriced!! it was painful! but i did get some stuff :) it was funny, i asked the girl working at the till (cash register) if she liked working there, and she said yes, but she always dreamed of getting transferred to orlando. so then i told her about how i am moving to orlando! also another tour guide was telling the crowd to enter to win a trip to orlando so i thought that was funny. i am so lucky!
so anyways, then you go stand in line for the tour. while you are waiting in line you see the first set, the cupboard under the stairs! everyone is so excited you can feel it. then you walk in and go through two different rooms, stopping in each to watch a film to get you super stoked. it's very disney-esque. they did an AMAZING job. so after the second film they end with this great dramatic scene with danielle radcliffe, emma watson and rupert grint (harry, hermione and ron) walking through the big wooden door to the great hall and i thought how cool would it be if the screen just lifted and that door was there? and guess what.. that's exactly what happened. it was seriously magical. one of the best parts was the tour guides and people that worked there were just as excited as the guests were. it was awesome.
so they open the big doors... and you are in literally in THE great hall. its THE set they used. all the tables, chairs, silverware... and up in the front they have these mannequin like things wearing THE costumes so it looks like the characters are there. they did an amazing job. it was surreal. being on the set you also notice a lot of detail you dont pick up on in the movie. it is amazing how much work went into this movie. i still can't get over it and i've been home for three hours.
throughout the sets and soundstages they have lots of placards and movies that they did an awesome job with. they interview cast and crew and it seriously was so fascinating. we spent four hours there and i won't lie, you could probably spend six there. we were the last group so we were a tad rushed because it was closing.
me and chelsea also stood in line to get pictures in front of the green screen on brooms and in the weasleys flying car! it was so funny. after that you have a little refreshment break and they have butter beer! it was SO good. its basically cream soda, but the froth on top is so good. it kind of has a salted caramel taste and its amazing. at this point you go through the outside sets which are number 4 privet drive, the knight bus, tom riddles grave... etc. then you go back inside and see all the mini models of hogwarts and concept art which was amazing. then you walk into this room and its hogwarts castle! it seriously took my breath away. it's a 1/24 scale of it that they use to pan around in the first movie. seriously amazing. then you walk through Diagon Alley! this was so cool to me because just a few days ago i was in the Shambles in york which is what they based it on. after reading all the stuff it was so cool to see the places that they based a lot of the set on. for instance, hogwarts is based a lot on durham cathedral.. which is where i was just yesterday!! also most of the outdoors stuff was in scotland, which i can totally relate to now. it was just amazing. i am in shock. it was like disneyland, just as good. and you know that means a lot coming from me! basically this is a MUST SEE in london!!!
we got SO lucky and made the last bus and barely made our train! once we got into our neighborhood we went to Tazas because chelsea hadn't had it yet! mmmm so nom. i decided to go healthy though so i went into sainsburys and got a egg and rocket sandwich, a banana, and a muesli pot! so yummmy :) mmm :) then we came back to the centre and watched the americans kick booty in basketball!
costumes in the great hall. notice harry's first little uniform outfit! so cute!!
costumes, costumes, costumes! my favorite-hermiones dress from the yule ball from the tri wizard tournament
wigs! here you can see snape and bellatrix's hair
harry's dorm!
wands!
invisibility cloak!
dumbledore's office. sorting hat in the back!
memory cabinet from dumbledores officE
potions room!
my favorite kitty :)
the gringotts flying thingy
umbridges pink kitty room
chocolate frog! waiting in line to get pictures on brooms in front of the green screen
BUTTERBEER! so good!
tom riddles grave! crazy i just saw the one that inspired her in scotland!
guess the address... number 4 privet drive!
creepy voldemort baby thing
diagon alley!!
this literally took my breath away.. the hogwarts castle!
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