From the beginning of the trip right up to the day before I started working
Saturday, August 15th, 2003
We packed my stuff on Saturday night, after the e-mail and good-bye message. They made me leave my platform boots behind. I am having them send it as soon as they can.
Sunday, August 16th, 2003
The next morning we left f'early; 7 am f'early. We drove to Arizona. Supposedly the most expensive gas in the country is in the Bay Area. That is not true. The most expensive gas is near the border of Arizona; $2.50!
It's weird to think that we just drove all that way in one day; we drove to another state far far away. Our hotel was just inside the border in Kingman. It was a 12 hr day of driving. I drove for about 3 of those 12.
Monday, August 17th, 2003
The second day was a little more interesting. I saw a restaurant between Kingman and Flagstaff along the old Route 66 in a podunk town. It was called The Road Kill Cafe. (No, really!) I've seen a lot of shirts that say Road Kill Cafe on them. But I did not know such a place might actually exist. I made my mom stop. But I just had to stop to see if they had shirts so that I could subsequently say, "I've been there...for real!" There were a lot stuffed animals in the Road Kill Cafe. They did have shirts.
We also had to drive to a town called Winslow, Arizona (sound familiar? Let me explain). Winslow, Arizona is a teeny tiny crappy little desert town that has one claim to fame (which is a lot more than a lot of teeny tiny crappy little desert towns can say), in 1971 the Eagles recorded a song called Take It Easy, a fun song with a country tone. In this song, there is a line, "Standin' on a corner in Winslow, Arizona, such a fine sight to see. It's a girl my lord, in a flatbed Ford, slowin� down to take a look at me." A long time ago, we had the misfortune of stopping at a gas station in Winslow, (I believe if it weren't for this song, the official pastime would be Russian Roulette) where they were selling shirts with a random corner in this teeny tiny crappy little desert town with those lyrics to the song on it. Then a few years later my family went back to Winslow and got the shirt. My dad loves that shirt, but has worn it out. So, because we were practically passing through, we decided to stop there to get a new shirt not only for my dad, but for his best friend also. They had a new monument to the song with a bronze statue of a musician, (possibly one of the Eagles, with a guitar by his side) by a lamp post, and a sign on the lamp post saying, "Standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona" and a mural of a store window with a girl driving a truck in the window and a torsos of a couple in a "making out" position. They had several different souvenirs about the song. I I got a patch and a sticker.
All over the west, especially in Arizona, New Mexico (and Wyoming, but we didn't go there; going to Florida by way of Wyoming is stupid) they have all these stores all over the place that, I guess are run by Native Americans, but claim to have wonderful Indian arts and crafts (and Dairy Queens too, apparently the Hopis and Navajos were expert Blizzard makers). In fact they are crap. They usually have crappy fiberglass teepees outside, and sell cheesy stuff at not-so-cheesy prices. They are very tourist-trappy. We stopped at 2 of them. My mom wanted to stop at one. I remember one that was just inside Arizona/New Mexico border. I was sure it was there because I remembered from the last time we went through that way...I don't remember when that was, but a while ago. I got my dream catcher that hangs in my bedroom to this day there.
The best part about driving in New Mexico and Arizona, 75 mph speed limit!
We went swimming at the hotel. We were almost out of gas when we got into the hotel. My mom got confused on our particular hotel exit number, meaning to go west back into town instead of east into the depths of the desert where there were no exits for miles to come. The car made an ugly noise as it drove along the road, running on fumes. Twice it jerked forward. We barely made it back to the gas station across from our hotel. We then went to a crappy restaurant that she had been to before.
Tuesday, August 19th, 2003
The next day I left my stuffed bear, Bongo, in the hotel room. This bear is one I have had since I the day I was born more or less, so ergo, it's sentimental value outweighs its monetary value. I only realized it was missing yesterday. It sucked. Fortunately, we called the hotel back today and they said they had it and would send it. If they don't, or they send the wrong bear, I will have to go down to New Mexico and hurt them.
Wednesday, August 20th, 2003
We went to my aunt Bonnie's the next day. The trip wasn't so fun. We drove thru New Mexico and a good portion of Texas. The problem with the road was, 70 mph speed limit, on average, but it would go through crappy little towns offering 2 services, a Dairy Queen and a gas station, (always a Dairy Queen, for some reason) and force you to gradually slow down to about 35 miles per hour, build back up to 70, and so the cycle repeats, which is annoying at best. But when we finally got to Bonnie's it was cool. Actually, when we got into her house, getting out of the car was like walking into a sauna...I thought, "It's only going get worse."
I got kind of nervous around my cousins and just kinda didn't talk and froze up. Bonnie's youngest, Rebecca and I went out for ice cream and kinda talked. That was good.
We spent the night at their house.
Thursday, August 21st, 2003
Then we drove to Baton Rouge. My aunt and I got to talk a lot. We had a nice hotel. We went to a place called "Joe's Crap Shack." It had great food, and a fun atmosphere, but it took us forever to get seated in a table in the non-smoking section (yes, many states still have smoking sections) in this relatively empty restaurant, and once we were seated, it took forever for someone to take a drink order. There were two kids that came in before us, they got seated near us, had their food, and left before anyone ever took our drink order. They did comp our drinks though.
Friday, August 22nd, 2003
The next morning we drove through the remainder of Louisiana. We had breakfast at a Cracker Barrel. That is a little country restaurant that is a chain that exists in every other state but California (maybe not Alaska and Hawaii either, I've never been there so I can't say). The best part about them is they have good, old-fashioned candy in the stores and it's always fun to buy stuff.
We drove through Mississippi, Alabama and into the Florida panhandle.
My mom apparently wants to scrapbook my adventure to Florida. One thing she wants to do is take pictures of me at all the state borders. At the Alabama border a bug bit me. (Welcome to the Southeast!) Not long after we got into Florida the humidity seemed to intensify by a couple percentage points, I got bit by 2 or 3 more bugs (it's good that only the females bite, otherwise we'd really be in trouble), and it started to rain on us, rather intensely. There were several bolts of lightning (Welcome to Florida!).
There was a mistake with the hotel. My dad made all the reservations, he was supposed to make reservations at one hotel, accidentally made them at another, and marked that he made them at the one he was supposed to make them at in the first place. So we pulled into where we thought we were staying, were told we weren't staying there, and had to figure out where we were staying. It was kinda blah. The whole town was kinda blah. The best part about this place was in the morning there were a bunch of yellowish frogs, no more than an inch and a half long.
I have to be in Disney World on the 27th. My mom and I are going to be there a day early, to go to Epcot together, and the day before to get there, find the apartments, and go shopping, (that is, she is going to make the list of all the stuff she wants, and I am going to eventually get it with my employee discount). But the reason we are here so early, and with my aunt, is because my cousin is getting married. He, and his family happens to live in the Tampa Bay Area.
Saturday, August 23rd, 2003
We went to Tampa/Brandon/Valrico (Valrico is a suburb of a suburb of Tampa, much in the same way that Granite Bay is a suburb of a suburb of Sacramento). We went to my aunt's house for a bit (this is Lucy, Bonnie and my mom's older sister, mother of the groom). We made favors; they are having paper fans; favors people will actually use, especially since their wedding is supposedly, weather permitting, which it often does not in Florida, on the beach with an indoor reception). We went to a good rehearsal dinner.
Then there was the wedding. It was nice. It was on the beach. The weather was very nice, relatively cool, no rain. It was very short and very sweet. That was the best part. That is the best way to do weddings. The reception was very nice. It was all very good and very simple. I went around taking a lot of pictures of everything. I text messaged Andrea and Kelly several times during the event about how I don't want to get married and how my mom and my aunt were kinda freaking me out.
I've seen a lot of my aunt and uncle's family and friends here. They are all nice. They all seem to know that I'm "The one going to work at Disney" (I guess I'm the only one they don't recognize, and looks like she's about the right age).
Florida has so many freakin bugs! I went all summer in Sacramento without getting bit by a bug (which is unusual). However, 4 have bitten me since I got to the south. That also means they have gorgeous butterflies too. Kelly would hate it here. When she was Sacramento she freaked out about the large dragonflies. I bathe in Skin-So-Soft every morning (which means my skin will eventually get nice and soft in addition). There are a lot of critters out here in Florida, too, like salamanders and frogs. I always get excited when I spot one. Disney World i think does try to keep a sheltered environment from the critters, (except the mice).
One thing I forgot they had out here was Hooters. I have never visited one. However, I think I may have to make a trip over to one. The reason for this is my dad is very very uptight. I think a low cut shirt from Hooters and the cost of a photograph in one might be a worthwhile investment (unfortunately there is no way I can convince him that I got a job there, not when I am working in WDW).
It's interesting to come out here to Florida, and they are talking about the California governor's thing way out here. (Florida is lucky they don't look like the political idiots at the moment). They're making fun of us. It's not cool. People on the road ask where we're from; we say California (its even worse when you say Sacramento, in the heat of the fire) they ask us about the recalls and Arnold.
I am going shopping for stuff tomorrow, since I had to sacrifice my laundry basket for the sake of my aunt's suitcase (for one thing). I report on Wednesday the 27th. The 2 days before that, my mom and I are going to drive over to Disney World and hang out there a bit on Monday, and go to Epcot on Tuesday.
Well, no sooner did i complain about not going to Hooters, when my mom and I got take out from there a few hours later. I got a shirt too. All the shirts i've gotten on this trip have been from restaurants.
I keep having dreams about different things that have happened or will happen. I had a dream about almost running out of gas the night it occurred. I had a dream about my lost teddy bear. I had a dream a few days ago that I made some guy cry (that looked really familiar, probably from High School) because he told me he liked me and I laughed at him because I thought the of a guy liking me first made me laugh because it was (is) improbable. I went back to explain myself to him but I got distracted before I could fully explain how my lack of confidence works (or doesn't, as the case may be).
Sunday, August 24th, 2003
There was a huge storm when i was at my Lucy's. Rain came down hard and fast, lightning stuck right outside the house once. The power went off and on several occasions. There is a lot of lightning in Tampa, the lightning capital of the world, hence the hockey team, Tampa Lightning.
I saw the movie League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. It was really good, but too short, in hindsight. I knew nothing about it except that Sean Connery was in it, as was a young hot blonde guy named Shane West. I didn't know that it was about all the freakish literary characters written during the time that happened to all get together. The guy who played Dorian Gray was pretty nice to look at too. It was a good fun movie.
My mom gave me a shirt that she bought from Joe's Crab Shack. It's rainbow tie-dyed, has a big ol' white peace sign on the front and says, "Peace Love and Crabs" on the back.
Monday, August 25th, 2003
We went to Disney World on Monday. The drive was ok. We found where the apartments I was supposed check into on Wednesday, and possibly live in. Then we went to our hotel, the All Star Music Resort, one of 3 other similar hotels, the cheapest hotels in the park (and by cheap, one of course means Disney World Cheap). The lady at the counter gave me a balloon when we told her I was going to work at the park.
We were staying in the "Calypso" themed building, near the pool. The (main) pool is shaped like a big guitar. The head is a wading pool. Where the hole in the guitar is is a fountain with the Three Caballeros on it that shoots water. There's also a pool that is shaped like a piano with giant stereos next to it.
It's always weird the first time you get a Disney shopping experience, you go into a store and immediately you want to look everything and buy it all. Usually, this first experience is in the hotel gift shop, very early on. I am attempting to resist any purchasing of anything on the Disney premises before I can get my 20% off.
After we got to the hotel and checked in we went to "Downtown Disney" which is shops and stuff. We had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. It's a fun place to go. My mom bought me a shirt from there. We went to the big Disney Store there, it sells a lot of general WDW merchandise, not things from specific rides or parks. I resisted buying stuff. The difference between this trip and the last trip is that this trip I am significantly thinner and I can wear the Junior's shirts that I couldn't get before.
We went back to the hotel and swam in both pools.
After that, I wanted to do something. I wanted to do something because I was in WDW and didn't want to be stuck in my hotel room, I told my mom i wanted to go look at the other All Star hotels. My original thought was we would walk over to the hotels, and take pictures or just look around. "It's getting dark, we can't take pictures" Well, we could walk over there "I'm not walking" So we drove around these hotels. Then my mom said, "Now what?" I decided we would go to the Polynesian Resort, which is an expensive Hawaiian themed hotel near the Magic Kingdom. My mom got kinda mad because I got a little lost along the way, for one thing. For another thing, my mom is not a big believer in the idea of "Get in the car and see what happens." She kept asking, "What is your plan?" Why does there have to be a plan? On the way over to the hotel we saw the fireworks from the Magic Kingdom. We went over to the hotel looked around, looked at the stores; for me it was just something to kill some time. We had dinner there.
Tuesday, August 26th, 2003
On Tuesday we went to Epcot. It's our favorite park (the Magic Kingdom is so much like Disneyland). We had fun just the 2 of us. She always rents an electric wheelchair as soon as she gets in the park (so she doesn't have to walk). We went on Spaceship Earth, Universe of Energy, Cranium Command, Making of Me, we had lunch in Germany, El Rio del Tiempo in Mexico.
I went on the new Mission Space, this is a fun ride if you think it's fun to feel the weight of the skin on your cheeks on your teeth, I went into the Living Seas, I donated money and got a button, (the only thing I have bought on this trip other than a Hooters shirt). I ate a piece of Butterfinger cheesecake at the Land, a beavertail (fried pancake-like thing with cinnamon sugar on it), and a shaved ice.
I went on the American Adventure, ate a funnel cake and watched their fireworks show Illuminations (the old Illuminations show was much better and cooler). Then we left and had McDonald's for dinner. My mom bought me a peanut butter chocolate thing from Germany that was like a thick Snickers. It was yummy.
I have met a lot of people doing the college thing, or working in the park. At lunch we had dinner with a local guy working there. All the people in the program have their colleges on their tag. I got really paranoid, like, "What if i got the wrong date, and I go to the apartments and no one is there?" or when I get there what if i tell them my name and they say, "We don't seem to have your name here..." I really freaked out. This was mostly because I went to several locations in WDW. All the people in the program have their schools under their names on their tags vs. their hometown, so I could recognize them. I asked a lot of them, "How long have you been in the program." Most of them said "A week." We could pick our arrival date, and they staggered them thruout August, but I got worried that I missed the date somehow. I wasn't nervous about the experience itself. I never trust people running educational programs. That morning, I had a dream that I showed up and they told me I wasn't supposed to be there until September 8th.
Wednesday, August 27th, 2003
I got to Vista Way on the check in day, incredibly nervous that something would go wrong. Nothing major did. We went to a building towards the back of the complex, right by the freeway, called The Pavilion.
There was one issue. If one has had medical problems in the past as serious as, say, seizures, as I have, then one needed to fill out some sort of medical paper by your doctor. My dad, who is a bit in denial about any medical problems relating to my brother or I that may prevent us from fitting in with the rest of society, assured me if I didn't even alert Disney to any problems in the past, including seizures that I haven't had in nearly 6 years, then there wouldn't be any problems. I wasn't sure this was the best approach.
One of the first papers I have to fill out is a medical paper asking, "Are you on medication?" and "Have you ever had epilepsy?" (Uh-oh). I wasn't sure how to answer this. I was taking medication for seizures. But I didn't want them to know since I hadn't gotten some other paper filled out. I was afraid at some point i might get in trouble for having the medication without an excuse. After sometime, we agreed to answer yes, I am on medication, and no, I have not had seizures, but the medication is for headaches (which came with the seizures).
While my parents were attempting to figure out the best way to answer the medical questions, went to a place at the apartments and signed up for housing, got my parking decal, got my picture housing ID. After that, I checked in with a nurse. I gave her the paper saying I didn't have seizures, but was medicated. She stamped it and sent me off without a second thought.
I went out to my room after this. I live in a 3-bedroom apartment with 5 other girls. Jenny from Arizona who will be working at Pinocchio's Village Haus at the Magic Kingdom, and Stacey from Iowa, she'll be working at the Garden Grill on the upper level of The Land pavilion in Epcot, they both checked in that day. They are both very nice. We've talked a lot and done a couple little things together. I roomed with a girl named Julie from South Carolina, she is very nice, and in costuming. Jacque is Stacey's roommate, from New Mexico; she is in fast food at the Animal Kingdom. She didn't show up until late the next day. She was moody when she came back. The other girl is Rachel from Maryland. She's a big partier. But she doesn't bring it into the apartment. She's cool and nice. I haven't spoken to her very much. She rooms with Jenny.
After checking in, i picked one of the remaining beds in the apartment. My mom helped me bring in the majority of my things. The apartment complex is very unassuming. There is a small road off a main road that you have to turn down to get to it, so you can't see it from the main road. It's not very well lit. There are always people walking around, but the complex doesn't want anything on the balconies so it looks really empty. It's very strange. Just driving by one would never know that this community of several hundred kids exists here. It's possible that is because they/Disney/Big Brother doesn't want them/the guests/tourists to think of the employees/cast members/us as "people" rather as just things there to serve and assist like a trash can or turnstile, in other words, not humans.
My mom and I went out to lunch at the Bennigans next door. I had to take my mom back to the All Star hotel. That evening at different complex also housing students in the College program we had a meeting about the rules at the complex. There are several. No one under 21 can drink, all guests have to be out by 1:00 am, you always have to have your id on you to show security, especially when entering, the process for which people can come visit you is lengthy, complicated, and I didn't understand it. Therefore, I think I am just going to forbid people from coming to see me in my apartment (sorry).
I met a girl at the meeting named Aivy. She was really nice. We talked a lot during the meeting. I gave her a ride back in my car to the complex. We picked up our apartment IDs together. I ran into her again at the subsequent meetings. Andrea wrote me text message asking if I had received the much-desired popcorn cart. I didn't know, of course. But it was really nice she was thinking about me. I was really glad she remembered when I was registering.
I went back to the All Star Hotel to see my mom. We went into the Three Caballeros pool. We were in there for about 2 minutes and got up to our necks in the water when it started to thunder and lightning (does that a lot here). So we had to get out. We went back to our room. I walked out to my car (in the rain; I was wet anyway and going to take a shower) and got new dry clothes.
A little later my mom and I went out for dinner. We went to Downtown Disney, the shopping complex. We looked in a few of the stores. We ended up at Planet Hollywood. It was ok. They had really good French fries. I drove her back to the All Star. We had our sad good-bye. I drove away. I accidentally took the wrong exit on 4 and ended up going back into Disney World. I figured I would eventually come to a place to make a U-Turn. I was sadly mistaken. I went past Epcot, past MGM, and past all the hotels on the way out. When I finally got out, I went to the McDonald's at the right exit to go to the bathroom. I looked at my cell phone on the way out. My mom called me saying that I had left my passport, which I planned to use as my ID the next morning, in the hotel room. So I drove back into Disney World, somehow got kinda lost going back in there, went back to the hotel room ready to crash. She gave me a card in the shape of Mickey Mouse saying how proud she was of me. Then we had another good-bye. I drove back to the apartment for my first night that.
I love all the wildlife here, the salamanders (or geckos?), the frogs, the ducks. There are these little tiny frogs, that can especially be seen on the cement after it rains, that are less than an inch long, and at first sight look like large flies. I like frogs better; they eat the flies.
Thursday, August 28th, 2003
The next day they officially hired me. I went back to the place at my apartments that they had given me housing. They photocopied my ID and stuff and took what paperwork I had at that time to give them. Then I went to the place where they told me where I was going to be working. I was shaking in anticipation; it was funny. All I knew was it was in fast food (AKA "Quick Service Food and Beverage"). They told me I was working at...I can't remember it. All it says is Sunset/Dockside Complex at Disney MGM Studios on my thing. The Sunset means the Sunset Blvd part of that park, which has the Tower of Terror and the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster.
They gave us further instructions about reporting for work. They also gave us 2 free one-day tickets to any of the parks, which entitle its holders to 20% off food/merchandise, and one free ticket to Disney Quest. I get into the parks for free; I will keep the Disney Quest because I don't get into there free. However, if anyone comes and sees me, they will be here for multiple days, so a one day ticket won't be much good to them. I think I might give at least one of them to my aunt and uncle here in Florida since they are the ones most likely to come up just for one day.
That afternoon we had to go to meeting at the place where we had the other meeting in which we officially signed over our lives, and our minds to Big Brother. Here we signed all the paper work, W4, promising not to accept bribes, and the understanding that any ideas you present to a superior are now property of Big Brother, too bad, so sad. That night, Stacey and I went to find Disney University, where we had our class the next day. It took us awhile to get there, but we did find it. On the way back from Disney University, on the way back, driving around by the Magic Kingdom and the Wilderness Lodge, In a grassy empty area on the side of the road was a male deer. It was a surprise to both of us, and not what we expected to see in Disney World, let alone Florida. Then Stacey and I went to Walmart. I needed hangers, band-aids, new work out shorts, and I decided to get some frozen food.
Friday, August 29th, 2003
This morning, I got up at the ungodly hour of 5:30 for my Traditions class. I received a paper that said this class started at 7:00 am at Disney University, which is located near the Magic Kingdom, across from the Cast parking lot. So we made an effort to get there bright and early before 7:00. They let us start going in at 7:00, they gave us our much-awaited Disney nametags with our names and schools on them (mine says AMANDA SAN JOSE STATE UNIV.) Then they made us sit around until 8.
There were two people running the class, one of them was a woman, the other was a man who acted/sounded a lot like Jack on Will and Grace. The class was a couple of different things. The very first thing that happened was they ask, "What are Traditions?" No one raised his or her hand. I don't know why I did; I answered them and got a Minnie PVC figure (which I later traded someone at my table for a Daisy one). It started off with a brief history of the company, which was ok, then got incredibly boring, which is hard to handle when you are already very tired, discussing company policies on chemicals, insider trading, and sexual harassment. Then the last part was more about working in the park where you always staple your smile on in the morning, and are helpful, and nice, and Disney. At the end of the meeting they gave us our IDs that will actually get us discounts and into the parks for free. The whole boring ordeal took 4 hours.
Then everyone ran downstairs to a store in the lobby of Disney University called Company D. They went down there to buy lanyards for their new badges and housing IDs. I couldn't decide which one to get, and they didn't have a Donald Duck one, so I didn't get any. The store was surprisingly boring; they had some things that were not Disney-related. I did see a "College Program" shirt I wanted to get. They had a lot of special pins in there. I'll probably go back there and shop more later; I had to go back the next morning. I don't need a lanyard deely that badly.
Later that day, I came home and I took a nap. Jenny had a later Traditions class and got back at 5:00. She and Stacey wanted a couple new clothes to wear to some of their classes. There is an outlet mall nearby with a lot of upscale stores that I would not choose to shop in regularly, stores like Ralph Lauren, Levi's, and Banana Republic. I wasn't shopping; I was tagging along. I didn't care; I have pants. I got bored in Banana Republic. I wanted to Text Message somebody something. However, I had nothing new or profound to say. I initiated a game of TM tag, (or at least attempted to). I did hear back from her.
That night, we went to Perkins for dinner (another one of those restaurants that seems to exist every where but California, and Arizona apparently, as Jenny had never been there). It was OK.
Then we came back to the apartment. My mom put a beanie bear with a peace sign on it in one of my clothing boxes. It's pretty cute. I wish I had my other bear though. They apparently just got it yesterday. A slight cold seems to have set in. That would make it day 2. That's just swell, since I am supposed to begin working in food starting Tuesday. At least i have 2 days to try and get over some of it.
Saturday, August 30th, 2003
The next morning I had another class at a slightly less ungodly hour, 8 am. I woke up at 5:30, however, (yeah, I don't know why either; strange to think that back home, it's 2:30). There are buses that take people everywhere. I opted to drive. One can get out easier, leave later, and doesn't have to rely on someone else to get you there. It was again at the Disney University. One of the other teachers of this class was pretty fruity, a common trend, so I've noticed, and so the legends tell; it has been said, "At Disney, you are gay until proven straight."
This is a class about working around food; being clean, keeping it from spoiling, mistakes, handling money, dealing with alcohol, and a subsequent test on the alcohol (which I got 100% on, whoo hoo.)
We took our tests at the end of class. I gave a guy I met at the meeting a ride back to his apartment. (Of course I got really lost on the ride home, fortunately, I managed to find my way back without any help. And that is how I discovered the back way into the Magic Kingdom parking lot). I hope I get to see him again. He said he might like to come out to see me in my workplace at MGM (they told us we're not allowed to call it that, we're supposed to call it either "The Disney-MGM Studios" or just "The Studios" but I don't like that; MGM is easier to remember. I figure I'm working there, I can call it whatever I want. An inside joke is that EPCOT, which really stands for Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow, stands for Evil Polyester Costumes Of Torture, among other things; Every Paycheck Comes On Thursday, for example). And he invited me to come see him at the sports thing. That's as far as it got with him.
I now seem to have 2 days to kill. I think I will drive around and go exploring. Maybe I will see if I can find the Property Control warehouse. That is the place where they send all their damaged, unusable, unsellable merchandise and equipment. Or I'll find International Drive and figure out which Chili's my mom's cousin works at so that I can go bug him there.
Central Florida seems to be an orgy of bugs. There are all these little black bugs with big red eyes having sex all over the place. It's disturbing.
Things have been really different since I got here, (aside from it's humid all the time which makes it hard to see out of your car windows early in the morning, it's Florida, there's bugs having sex all over the place, I'm 5 minutes from Disney World, they call Best Foods Mayonnaise "Helman's" I'm 3000 miles away from home, and 3 hours ahead...). I don't know when I got to be so nice. I find I'm introducing myself to everyone, and I make a concentrated effort to talk to guys who usually talk back to me. When did this happen? I am all by myself in my room typing away. I need something new to paint. I started drawing Charlie's Angels from the cover of a Seventeen I found, but haven't gotten past the outline. I should've gotten some poster board to gesso when I was at Walgreen�s. Maybe tomorrow I'll find a Michael's.
The problem is I am meeting all these people, and not really making the deep connection with them. But I'm meeting so many people from all over that who knows if amongst the thousands pushing this company along, or hundreds living in the building we'll see each other.
One thing I want to do, which I won't do until at least Tuesday, is get postcards of the attraction that is closest to where I work, then send them to a bunch of teachers. I never saw my old English/creative writing teacher before i left, which I really wanted to, but then i was working, and then she wasn't. I'll also send one to the professor who sponsored me, and probably to my 2nd/3rd and 4th grade teachers.
Stacey, Jenny and I went to Walmart.
I went to a toga party on Saturday night. I didn't have much of a toga. Everyone called it "Two tube tops together" It was my swimsuit cover-up. I didn't feel like using one of my good sheets (especially since one is light pink with Tinker Bell on them). Jenny left the party early. Stacey, and I stayed. She, Kyle, the host of the party, and I, after a while went down to the swimming pool, where I had yet to go. It was almost too warm.
The computers here in the lab are far too slow. You would think, that with all the technological shit Disney does, robotic people that talk and walk, virtual reality games, computer generated scenery, interactive Flash 6 website, vehicles that can be reprogramed with a few strikes of a button, they could get some computers that didn't take forever to get to a website.
Sunday, August 31st, 2003
Kelly says she wants to come in mid September. My parents are talking about coming between the end of October and before Thanksgiving.
I keep thinking I am going to actually go to a park, (you know, for fun). It keeps not happening. Everyday it seems we say, "Maybe tonight..." or "After we...we'll go to a park." And it inevitably never happens. I thought it would happen today. It didn't. I will probably have to start going by myself. It's not going to kill me. It could be fun.
I could have gone to a park yesterday, but I didn't. I thought I was going to, but the person i was going with came back so late I did something else before then. Yesterday, I went to the computer lab and posted my entries. I told my mom to send my warm blanket. Even in the heat of Florida, where we have our air on constantly, I gets really cold at night.
After I realized my roommate, with whom I was planning to go to a park with wasn't coming back, I decided I wanted to go out and do some of that exploring I wanted to do. I got in my car, got on 4 east, and just got off a couple places. I took the Universal Studios exit. I drove one direction away from the freeway and found a Barnes and Noble. I drove for several miles in the opposite direction and found a huge mall with a Disney Store, Spencer's and Hot Topic (and 6 anchor stores, to keep the mall from flying away, and some other stuff I don't really care about). It was the "Florida Mall." It was one-story and very upscale.
Practically in the same parking lot, was something I had been wanting to find since I got here, the Target! It was great. I love Target. I bought a piece of masonite to paint. Since I haven't been doing anything every once in awhile i think, "God, I want to be painting!" Now I have a surface, so I can theoretically paint (after the gessoing process). Now I just need a subject and I can't think of anything good. Frustrating. I need inspiration.
I'm surprised I haven't met more artists here. I haven't met very many people yet I guess. But for some reason I expected that half the people here would be wannabe animators looking for a little "in" to get into the company's other depts after college is over. I haven't met anyone considering themselves an artist. I really don't want to be the chick standing next to some guy with Tinker Bell lanyards and accessories, wearing foundation and sounding and acting like Hank Azaria in The Birdcage telling the story about how I did the college program 10 yrs ago working at the Sunset Ranch, and how happy I am to see everyone and explaining "The Disney Point" (pointing with 2 fingers or a whole hand instead of 1 because it's more polite, supposedly).
I started driving down International Drive, a main thoroughfare of Orlando from the themeparks. On International I found a Michael's, which I had been hoping to find eventually. I also accidentally found another mall, Festival Bay.
I was aware that somewhere in the Orlando vicinity, they had built a Ron Jon's Surf Shop. (It's a fun store, should you ever get the opportunity to go there. They have a lot of bright colored t-shirts. I think i liked the original in Coco Cocoa Beach better). I was driving on the road; I saw the big sign for Ron Jon's and pulled in. I found a new sticker to replace the one I had gotten 6-12 months ago. I also got a small red sticker for Mike. I started walking through this mall, which apparently is brand new; most of the stores aren't even open yet. Most of the stores are for young people (in most malls, which stores aren't? But this one more than usual). On a sign they said they had a Hot Topic there already. So I started walking around this thing to find it. I liked this one better than the one at the other mall. For one thing, it was much less crowded. For another thing, the had the glittery Rolling Stones shirt that I really wanted in California.
For dinner that night, Jenny and I went to Bennigan�s, which is practically next door to the complex. I had great baked potato soup and a great brownie and ice cream thing.
Not sure what I'm going to do today, other than track down my folder, or at least the information therein, and maybe gesso my new board. I would go to a park, but it's Labor Day, which means all the parks are going to be a bloody zoo. Julie is here, but she is sleeping right now. Jenny and Stacey had to work. Maybe I'll start my hotel project today. I'm going to go to all the hotels and have my picture taken somewhere in them. Maybe I'll make a point of watching some fireworks tonight. That sounds good.
I really hope I don't have to wear white pants...or shirt. That would suck. But I really hope I get to wear white tennis shoes. Then I wouldn't have to buy new shoes. Probably won�t happen though. Most of the people seem to wear solid black tennis shoes. I really don't want to go to Walmart again. I've been there 3 times since Thursday.
Monday, September 1st, 2003
This morning I woke up at 9, which is very rare for me. Tomorrow, I have to be at MGM by 7:30. Which means i have to learn how to screw with the bus.
First, I thought I would work on my hotel project, as a reminder, this is the one where my have my picture taken by something representing an individual hotel.
I drove out the All Star Resorts. When I got to the gate, I showed the security officer, (they are all incredibly old guys) my park ID and they let me in for free. That was the first time I ever used it. I parked at the Sports one, which is the first one you come to on the road. Unfortunately, I couldn't get my picture taken at all the sports ones. I stood around outside the tennis (which has a Donald Duck thingy) and basketball one for a long time, no one came by that I could ask to take my picture.
I then walked to the music hotels, didn't get the Jazz or Broadway ones.
I walked over to the movies, got my picture taken at all but the Mighty Ducks pool with Goofy as a goalie. While I was there, I got my cup with the free refills on it refilled, twice. Walking from one end of the whole thing to the other is very long. While I was at the All Stars, I got a price quote on rooms there for when Kelly wants to stay (and eventually my mom too). You can stay at a Disney All Star Resort, on property, with all the goodies that come along with that, including early entries to the parks, and free parking, for $37. That is better than most Motel 6s.
Then I drove to the Coronado Springs hotel where we stayed last year. I got their rates. I drove (not walked) out to their pool where they have a combination Mayan Pyramid Temple/Waterfall/overlarge pool decoration. As soon as I got out of my car, it started raining big drops, not a lot, but the size made up for the frequency. I got my picture taken by that. As soon as I got back in my car, the rain stopped. I drove over to Blizzard Beach to see what kind of discount I could get there.
Then I drove to Boardwalk Inn. I took the picture there by the playground where they had elephants squirting water and an archway, and got their rates. I had never been there before. It was a nice place.
What I failed to realize was that the Boardwalk was part of a series of hotels on a waterfront called "Stormalong Bay." I started walking around Stormalong Bay, when I saw that the water in the bay went through a narrow channel. I thought I might know where it was going, so I followed it. As I followed the water, I looked to my right. On the bank was what I thought to be the France pavilion in Epcot. Sure enough, a few feet ahead was a gate to Epcot. I put my card through and went in the park. I figured, since I was so close, I would go say hi to Stacey (who lately has been operating under the alias Lynette, because she lost her nametag, already) at The Land. She was glad to see me.
I walked back out to the hotels. I walked to the Yacht Club Resort and The Beach Club Resort. They were interchangeable, and very boring. There were 2 good things. One was a thing that looked like a shipwreck that people could sit/play on, and the other were the pools between the two hotels. They were boring, unthemed pools. But they were great for an unthemed pool. There were all these little alcoves and waterfalls, and it just seemed to go on forever.
I then came to the Ugly Fish Hotel (better known as The Dolphin) I'm not sure what their deal is, who owns them, why they are in the middle of everything, if Disney once owned them. I call it the Ugly Fish Hotel because on the outside are 2 big ugly fish that are standing upright on their heads. Dolphins are truly beautiful majestic creatures; I don't know why they just didn't go with them for the outside. The inside was very Floridian, teal, coral pink. I got my picture taken by a fountain. All the visible rooms have balconies. I think they are supposed to look like they have univalve shells on them, but really they just looked like fat lady's butts. The best part was I saw one of those little brown rabbits eating grass at the hotel. I took his picture too. I am surprised at how much wild life lives in Disney World, including those rabbits, the deer, I saw a squirrel running around the buildings at MGM.
The next hotel, across from the Ugly Fish is the Swan. It is practically interchangeable with the Dolphin (except they actually used swans on the outside instead of retarded looking fish). The coloring, style, and everything else is exactly the same.
I walked back to the Boardwalk. I really wanted my picture to be on the outside with all the boardwalk lights lit up, but it wasn't going to happen for at least a couple more hours. So I went to the pool, where they had a waterslide that looked like a clown's mouth, to the playground, where they had elephant's misting from their trunks and took it there.
I tried to find the Caribbean Beach resort to get the picture and their rates. I'm not sure how i missed it. All I know is, i drove past where they are putting their newest hotel, the Pop Century. It's going to be opening while I am here. Most of the outside is not decorated yet. One of the buildings that was looks like it has big ol cell phones on it.
I then tried to go to Property Control, where they send the damaged merchandise/items, and other unusables (including office furniture, and hotel room items). I couldn't find it, I think it was closed anyway.
Since I was in the area, I went to the Contemporary Resort. This was WDW's first resort, and the monorail goes right through it. I got their rates. They had a model of the "Tower of the Four Winds" which was a big ol� thing that they had on display at the 1964 World's Fair in NY. It looks kind of like the style of Mary Blair, who designed the outside of the Small World attraction in Disneyland, among other things.
It was getting dark. I went out to the Wilderness Lodge for their rates. It was very wooden. I got my picture by a totem pole of Disney characters.
My plan was to go to the Polynesian Resort, and sit on the beach right as the fireworks were going off over the Magic Kingdom (they actually shot some off on my attempted way to property Control, it was daylight). However, of course there were no fireworks. So I just drove over there and got their rates. I can get 50% off of this hotel's $300 per night rate. This is especially important because it is the hotel that my mom has always dreamed about staying in, and says, "Someday I will." It was too dark for the picture.
I then accidentally found the Port Orleans and got their rates.
I drove over to Downtown Disney/Pleasure Island. I went over to Disney Quest, to see about discounted ticket info. I also went in the House of Blues, and bought my first thing with the discount, $1 worth of 4 pins with American flags and peace signs on them.
I went to the ticket window at Pleasure Island (they like to call it PI around here) and got their discounted information. I also had my camera on me. I thought if i were ever to come back, I would not want to have my picture taken. So i got mine done in front of a big neon sign of Jessica Rabbit.
I can see fireworks from Pleasure Island from my porch at midnight! It's cool!
I came back to my apartment, fried, tired, feet hurting, hair dirty/fried/sweaty. Stacey was going to PI, Monday and Thursday is Cast Member night, it's free for us. Most of the people who attend those evenings are cast members. I was going to bed because I had to get up early for a walk thru of MGM starting at 7:30. She was going with Kyle, who had the toga party, and some of his compadres. (Kyle really digs Stacey, but I don't think Stacey digs him back quite so much). She turned to me and asked me to go with her (which is different than "invited"). Against my better judgment I agreed. I showered, put on too much eyeliner (I always wear too much eyeliner), my new Stones shirt, my plaid skirt, and my platform boots. Anyway, I was very glad for those boots. For one thing, you don't have to worry about puddles; they turned out to be a good place to keep all my necessary cards; I figure at a place like a club or something, no one is going to mess with you in them, you don't have to worry about getting stepped on, (they should worry about getting stepped on by you); they were very popular, everyone I communicated with commented on them. I am so glad I have them here.
We went to PI, which was something I had never fully enjoyed as I ought before. We went in practically the first club we saw. It was playing hip hop music, as anyone who knows anything of me knows, so not my scene. I thought I would make an effort to hit on guys. I got jealous of Stacey. She is gorgeous, tall, skinny, blue-eyed, and blonde. Ergo, many different men hit her on a bunch of times. I went to the dance floor to attempt to pretend that I knew what I was doing. Somewhere, an older guy started hitting on me...of course. Thus just reproving what I have known all along, A. There is one in every crowd, and they always manage to find me, B. Only older creepy guys hit on me. He started talking to me. Asked where I was from. "What do they do out in California?" (How should I know?) "How do they dance?" (I don't dance). "Show me how they 'grind' in California" (Fiiiine. Maybe I you'll get distracted by something else). It was just kind of one of those things like, you just don't like the person and want to get away from them. I kept trying to talk to guys.
I eventually picked one the floor. I tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around. (Let's cut the crap and get to the bottom line) "Are you here by yourself?" I asked. (Do you have a girlfriend and is she here?) "Uh, yeah." He said. (Time for bold move #2). "Wanna dance?" He looked back at his compadres as if seeking their approval or permission. (I didn't even know where anyone I came in with was). They waved him on. So we started dancing. After the song he said, "Do you want to go outside?" I said yes. We went out where we could breath and didn't have to shout in people's ears to be heard. We talked for a little bit outside. He said is name was Louis, also a Cast Member...at MGM. He had to go. He invited me later to hang out with him around with him, around 2:45 (potential dating partner...be awake for work the next morning...you probably can guess what won). So I agreed to see him again later. I was pretty pleased with myself. We soon left PI.
I went back to the apartment (I don't quite know where Stacey went) and waited. He did call, earlier than I thought. We met up in front of one of the buildings at the apartment. We sat on a bench and talked about stuff for a while. Then we started walking around the buildings. We came to the picnic benches beside one of the pools. He then lay down on the cement to look up at the stars. I lay down next to him. It was about 4:something by this time. I had already decided sleep was out of the question. It got to be 6:15. I wanted to be on a 6:40 bus for MGM to be there early enough to go to work and get situated. I didn't want to leave. I told him I had to go, but I wanted to see him again. He concurred. He walked me to the door. I thanked him for the morning.
Tuesday, September 2nd, 2003
I ran back to my apartment, threw my club clothes on the bed, yanked a polo and khaki's in a stressed frenzy out of the closet. Put on some knee-highs in the dark, grabbed a cereal bar, and ran out to the bus stop. I was falling asleep on the bus, as I pondered the events of the last few hours.
They herded us to the employee break room as we arrived. I fell asleep in there, until they came and got us. The purpose of this tour was to show us all the little things that people ask about, like ATMs, Mailboxes, stores, (they never told us if there was a stamp machine on site), told us little stories about a few of the things. The asked a lot of questions about "Does anyone know...?" I got a lot of that right. They commented I was really good with the trivia.
They asked about the dinosaur-shaped ice cream stand on Echo Lake and why was that there and what was its significance? I answered. They said i was the first person to ever on a tour to get it right.
They let us ride Star Tours. They took us behind the scenes a few times. I didn't see any characters unmasked walking around back there, or Belle smoking a cigarette, or Peter Pan in glasses. People can ride park owned bikes around back there. They took us into the cafeterias. Unfortunately, a couple of times they let us sit down behind tables to explain stuff, where they just kinda talked at us about different things. I started to fall asleep several times on these occasions. They showed us where all the office buildings were that they were going to have meetings and get paychecks from. One thing I was really surprised about backstage was how small the building that held the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster was. It's plain and beige, of course. But it's very short and a lot smaller than I would expect a building housing a big coaster to be. I guess most of it is underground.
Then they broke us up by where we were working. The made us sign more papers. Then they walked us around to our location. Where I am working is at a place called Sunset Ranch Market. It's on Sunset Blvd. It is very close to the Tower of Terror. It is a collection of several different counter places serving a little of everything.
Then they took us to the costuming department. (This is where the fun starts). This is where we got our costumes based on our work location. The costuming room is incredible. It is a big building, several aisles of clothing racks 4 or 5 tall and multiples of every costume in every size. I picked out a few in a couple of different sizes and tried them on. I think I almost cried when I had my whole ensemble together. It is a button-down blouse with short sleeves and poofy shoulders. The bottom is either a skirt or a skort (oh yay, a choice, stupid or stupider). I picked skort, of course. Both of these pieces are vertical striped white and pastel rainbow (just what i didn't want, white, fortunately you could neither see my wine colored underwear, nor my black bra through the fabric). I have one of those little June Cleaver 1/2 aprons that just covers my legs and says "Sunset Ranch Market" and a picture of a windmill on it, and a white visor, which i may or may not be required to wear. If not, then I won't because it's really stupid-looking on me; it would be stupid if I wasn't wearing the rest of the lovely ensemble. The best part about this, uh, piece is that I have to wear black socks and black tennis shoes with it. Everyone in the park wears black tennis shoe, that�s not a problem (when my mom was bugging me about shoes, they told me it depended on you work location, which is a lie when everyone has to wear the same thing). Black shoes and socks with this froofroo pastelly outfit. Who came up with that?! It looks so dorky! (The outfit is dorky, but this just increases the dorky percentile). This outfit is completely the opposite of anything I would wear.
It's funny how when you come to the park, and you see the people in whatever outfits they are putting up with, it's easy to think about how it must feel to be functioning as that person, (That job must be hard, I�m sure they get hot out in the sun all day, what they do looks fun...) but you never think about what goes on in their head (How does that person really like dishing out ice cream all day? Do you suppose they like their outfit? Where else would they rather be?). I think it all gets back to how we're not really thought of as people to guests, more like static objects that serve them because they haven't made audio animatronics that are cheap or can do the job as effectively as people.
Here amongst the Cast Members, everyone is very familiar with the commercial with the guy in the dog costume and there is a sign behind that says, "Water show Noon" and the family goes up to him and asks him what time the water show is. And he gets really sarcastic with them, which we of course are not allowed to do. It occurs to me that the person who came up with that commercial was probably a frustrated Cast Member who never got to vent.
I came home. I changed my polo shirt into normal clothes. I left a message with Louis to see if he wanted to hang out as we had discussed. No one was home. I took a nap for an hour and a half. I woke up and there was still no one here. I drove to Walmart (again) to get my black shoes and socks. That place is incessantly busy and it's really slow.
Stacey was in her room drying her hair. I went to talk to her. I told her they gave me my outfit, and when she asked what it looked like, I whimpered. Then she was really intrigued. So I put it on for her. She hasn't known me for that long, but she has been seeing what i've been wearing the last couple of days and immediately recognized it was my complete opposite. I showed Jacque and Jenny. They both laughed.
Stacey and I went out to Bennigan�s with some of her friends. (That's the 3rd time I�ve been there in the last week; it's good food though.).
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