The Disney Adventure

The Disney Adventure
The Cinderella Castle!

Friday, December 2, 2011

Exciting news!

So I've been a little bit worried because I haven't officially had a contract for Paris and I've just had the word of my recruiter that I've got a position. Which is fine except the closer I get the more nervous I get. What if they changed their minds? All kinds of questions arise. Well I spoke with my recruiter the other day and she informed me that as soon as I have my working visa (dec 28th) and I fax a copy to her, she will be able to tell me my position and start date!! So that's very very exciting! I feel so much better have a little more reassurance. I guess if I think about it from their point of view, they can't just go off giving everyone contracts without proof that they can work in France or else a lot of people wouldn't show up and whatnot. Also, I'm currently typing this from my very own brand new IPAD!! As a vagabond gypsy, large computers arent really on the list of things that fit in my carry-on. So as my birthday/Xmas/going away present, I am a very lucky girl and have received an iPad. No word yet on what her name is but as soon as she has one I'll let you know. Yay!!

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Awards

I received a very exciting letter in the mail a little while ago. Sidebar: isn't snail mail just the best?! I love getting postcards and letters and fun things like that, and I also love to send them! Since I've been home I've been over to various friends homes and seen postcards that I sent them from Florida on their fridges. That just warms my heart! Anyhow, back to my letter. It was from Camosun and it said that I won this year's Hotel and Restaurant Co-op Award! How exciting!!!! I'm so thrilled and proud of myself. It's really amazing when your hard work pays off, isn't it?! Awards ceremony is on monday, I'll try to get a nice picture to post! Have a magical day!

Torn

Well it's almost December, I have an appointment with the french consulate to procure my working visa, I'm preparing to move across the world and I'm just waiting for my contract to be ready. It's the most excited I've ever been in my life. And most possibly the most terrified. I'm loving being home and hating it all at once. I absolutely adore my family and have a really hard time living without them, so leaving them is something I'm dreading. The other thing that's really tough is how many amazing friends I have here. The more I stay at home, the more I can see my life as it would be if I stayed here. Leaving my amazing Victoria life will honestly tear a piece out of my soul. However, I have come to know myself well enough to know that if I don't leave I will end up resenting everyone who made me want to stay. I'm in a constant state of delirious happiness mixed with insatiable sadness and restlessness. I have this insatiable desire to see EVERYTHING. When I think about moving to Paris, the mere thought of it literally stops my breath in my chest and makes my heart skip a beat from sheer excitement. As much as I'm sad and scared to leave my life and my loved ones, I know that I would be far more devastated if I didn't leave. It's also been a tough few weeks of loss for me, which I won't get into, but it makes me realize that life is far too short to compromise. I HAVE to follow my dreams and my heart because I owe it to myself to do anything in my power to be as happy as possible, and to sell myself short of my own dreams would be equivalent to dying right here right now. and I'm not ready to die. In short, I am so very ready for my next adventure, no matter how much it will hurt to depart upon it.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Everyday I dream of Paris

Well, as you can imagine, I'm freezing!! Apparently I got really spoiled living in Orlando. Brrrrr. Also, just my luck, they are saying that this will be the coldest winter in 20 years. Awesome. Anyhow, sorry things aren't very interesting right now, I promise that come february I'll have a million wonderful photos of Paris for all of you! There is one interesting thing, I was interviewed for an article for Camosun about Disney and my upcoming opportunity in Paris and it is currently on the front page of the Camosun website. Yup. Little old me. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, here is the link. www.camosun.ca I'm not sure how long it will be up so go take a look right now! It's very exciting actually. I've done some guest lecturing in some tourism classes about Disney and international tourism, which was frighteningly amazing. Somehow I became a grown-up. People take me seriously, it's very unnerving. I have a few exciting things happening soon, one of my favorite friends from the Disney College Program is coming for Christmas all the way from Spain! So that's wonderful. I can't wait to see her! 47 days until her arrival. And in 86 days, Paris. I can't even wait. Sometimes I think about it and get so overwhelmed with excitement I can't even handle it. 86 days.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Winter?

Well it's been a little while since my last post, mostly because I'm home now and I'm in full swing with being back at school and work and riding horses and whatnot, also because non-Disney is so much less fun to write about! I'm getting my condo ready to sell, finishing the last class in my program, and trying to not miss the sunshine state so much. Victoria was glorious the last week or two and then something happened and now it's freezing!!! So upsetting, I'm so cold all the time. Orlando made me a big baby about cold!! My mom and I went on this really cool house tour of 6 amazing houses in Victoria. It was really neat to see, I love architecture and big houses and I'm one of those really nosy people who always wonders what the inside of other people's houses look like. So it was a great little afternoon adventure for us. It made me really think about priorities. Having a really nice fancy house on the ocean really seems like something I really want, in theory. But then I spent the day really thinking about what is most important to me, and I would rather have no home and a passport than a big fancy house tying me to a city. I love travelling and seeing the world. Obviously if I had unlimited capital then I'd buy a fancy house on every continent. But at this point, I'll settle for just getting to every continent. And that's what's important. But gosh were those houses gorgeous!!!

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Customs

Well I'm in the Seattle airport awaiting a connecting flight. I know what you're thinking, and yes, I'm off again. I'm headed back to florida for a little bit, I'll be back on the island again by Monday. I just have to talk about customs agents for a minute because I think they don't get enough credit. Everyone complains about them but I love them. I've never had a bad customs experience. Even today, I was selected twice for random extra screening and all of my customs agents were great. The first one joked and laughed with me and we had a lovely time. I think that they have a job that sometimes sucks but if you are happy and co-operative with them, then in my experience they are the same way with you. Call me crazy but I always have fun going through customs. And I got a special screening test today that I've never had before, they wiped my hands with a gun powder residue pad and then scanned it!! It was just like CSI, I was so excited!!

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

New Friends

I have been meaning to post this photo for quite some time, however with the travelling across Canada, it was a little bit difficult. I met a couple of lovely ladies just before I left Florida, they were staying in the resort and I got to chatting with them. Carol and Deb were delightful and are a fabulous example of the amazing people that I get to interact with on a daily basis at the lodge. They had some great advice for me in my future endeavors and even took a photo of us on the 6th floor! If you ladies are out there reading this, it was a true pleasure to meet you!!

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

DLP

So I'm home now, and it's amazing to be back here.  I just adore Victoria and am so happy to be home. I miss Orlando tho, and I'm excited to go back for a visit next week. I have some great news, I spoke to the recruiter from Disneyland Paris and they've approved me for a later start time. I still have one class left to finish to graduate and I wanted to take an advanced french class as well, just to make sure my french is up to par, and if I started in September I wouldn't be able to do that. Plus this way I can tie up some loose ends here at home and that's very nice. It's a big weight off my shoulders, moving to another continent is a wee big stressful!
So I get to stay home for a bit, sell my condo, etc, and sort my life out before I leave! Yay!

Monday, August 22, 2011

So much to say

Well it's been a delightful time! We went to Banff, visited my friends over there, saw the mountains, and ate at my favorite restaurant. Which is 'The Grizzly House'. It's a fondue/hot rock restaurant and it's so much fun!! I adore it there. Derrek ate all kinds of crazy animals. Snake, shark, venison!! Etc. I ate chicken!! It was so wonderful to see my Banff friends and catch up. As per usual we didn't get to stay long enough, and it was hard to leave. From there we went to Penticton to see Lindsey which was wonderful also! We floated down the channel and enjoyed the sun! We only got one day there and then off to van we went. I got to see an old friend there that I haven't seen in a very long time so that was amazing. And now I'm on the ferry to the island!!! Huzzah!!! I can't even express how happy I am to be going home. I'm giddy!!! I haven't been home since January! Yay! .
This is the view of the Bow valley from the resort I used to work at in Banff, the Rimrock! So many memories
The Bow Falls.....still unsure why they call them falls, they're just big rapids!
You know you're in Banff when you run into lots of these guys!
This is actually Penticton as seen from Lindsey's balcony!
 

Monday, August 15, 2011

Niagara Falls

So we left Toronto and headed to Niagara Falls for the day! The way the buses worked out, we got to Niagara at noon and then would be able to leave in the evening for Winnipeg! So we spent the day at the falls. When you get into Niagara, the area around the bus stop is the 'old downtown' area and it's kind of like something out of a zombie movie! It's all boarded up and desolate. No people anywhere. We opted to walk to the actual falls and by the time we got down there, it looked more like civilization again. The falls are stunning!! Absolutely gorgeous! Then there's this random street called Clifton Hill that is like a little mini Las Vegas that just appears from nowhere. It also reminds me of highway 192 in Florida. Crazy buildings and haunted houses and massive dinosaurs coming out of buildings and stuff. Totally random. Massive tourist trap. There's also a few lovely parks and things that we wandered through. Overall I really enjoyed Niagara Falls, I would like some more time to explore it!!  

Toronto

So we just left Toronto. It was lovely. I enjoyed it a lot more than I did the last time I was there, probably because I had some friends to show me around. We had a lot of fun wandering around during the day, we went to Chinatown and all over! Then we went for dinner with some of my friends from Banff, it was so nice to see everyone!! I enjoyed Toronto. I think I could live there, I like how much is going on all the time!  

Sunday, August 14, 2011

More Ottawa

I think one of the most amazing things about visiting friends while traveling is that you get to gain an insight into their lives. In Ottawa that meant two kids. Now if you know me at all you know that I'm not good with kids. Not even a little. In fact it's comical how bad I am with children, probably because I never want any. But Aly's kids are different, we got along famously. So I had to take this chance to mention that I can be trusted to ensure that children don't explode or hurt themselves. Derrek is fabulous with kids, he just laughs at how awkward I am with them. I took photos as proof!! Aly and Jasmine Derrek teaching Jas how to use his camera Grocery shopping with Auntie Erica  

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Ottawa

We have spent the last few days in the capital of our lovely nation!! When we arrived, my lovely friend Alysn picked us up from the airport with her two kids! I haven't seen her in a few years so it was a really fabulous reunion! We spent some quality time catching up while the kids (and Derrek) napped. The first night we went on a really cool walking tour of Ottawa and heard a bunch of ghost stories and stuff. The highlight was a hostel that used to be a jail!!! We got to go up to the top floor and see the cells and they were so tiny it was crazy. The jail was eventually shut down because of the inhumaine conditions!! So cool. It also has this awesome gallows that was the site of the last government sanctioned hangings in Canada. SO COOL!! If we hadn't had a place to stay I would totally have wanted to stay there! Apparently for a long time they had an offer at the hostel where if you could spend the whole night in one of the cells your night was free. However noone ever made it though a whole night so they stopped doing it. I bet I could last a night.
The jail cells!!
The location of the last sanctioned hangings in Canada!!
Aly and little Jasmine! Bedtime stories!!
z

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Bus Adventure

So we are on a bus! We were waylaid a bit in Moncton but we are now back on track and are on a bus to Montreal!! That is a 15 hour bus trip, just so you all know. It's been fun. And wierd. There's always interesting folks on busses. Currently there's an intoxicated French man talking to himself about how we all 'Le text message' too much. So that's fun. About 3 more hours left until Montreal. I love how noone speaks English here, it makes me practice my French. C'est Bien!! I also forgot to mention that we spent our last night in Moncton at a lakeside cabin belonging to some friends of mine. It was gorgeous!! The lake was lovely and warm. There was a thunderstorm too, and the sound of the rain on the roof was so soothing and wonderful. I have some photos!
 

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Peggy's Cove

So yesterday we parted ways from the lovely companionship of Chelsea and David and met up with my friend Mat. He's from New Brunswick so he came to meet us in Halifax! We went to Peggy's Cove, which is gorgeous and in fact I believe it is the most photographed place in North America!! It's absolutely stunning!! I loved it. Ive never been to the east coast of Canada and I'm so happy we came. We decided to camp at a site near the cove. We went to the store and Derrek decided he wanted to cook up some Nova Scotia lobster. So he tried to buy a pot, but they were really expensive. So he found a tin flower vase at winners and got that. And we managed to cook lobster in the vase over a campfire. It was pretty epic! The sunset was gorgeous and we had a really great evening by the fire. Today we are headed off to New Brunswick and are camping somewhere there!! I love the gypsy life!! I could get
used to this!!
  Sunsetz

Friday, August 5, 2011

Living the dream

Not that I needed a new definition of friendship, but I have found new depths!! Every step so far on this journey that I have met up with old friends, and every stop feels like I never want to leave! I think that's a true friend, one that you never want to leave. We are in Halifax with Chelsea and David and I could just stay here with them forever. As I could have stayed with Katie forever. I think that all we can hope for in life is to have friends that are so close that you never want to leave!! A friend from New Brunswick is on the way to come get us!! The adventure continues!!
All I want to do is travel the world until I've seen everything!!
Best friends!!
 
David and Chelsea have the best dogs ever. Derrek has a new best friend
 
Magpie!!
 

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Halifax

For all those who are only checking this blog to make sure that Derrek and I make it across the country, we made it into Halifax. Our plane did NOT get struck by lightning, we are here!! And it is COLD!! There is a delightfully cheeky little thunderstorm going on outside, which I love. We are staying in a hostel, which is a first for Derrek, so check that off the bucket list. I don't really have much to say, because I am sleepy, however, I can tell you that I was REALLY excited to see Tim Horton's....and a street sign in kilometers, and tomorrow I'm hoping to see some Canadian money....I'm basking in the glow of Canada...or maybe that's just the lightning.

Caves!!

We had SO much fun today!! We took off on scooters across the island to explore some caves! There's several different cave systems in Bermuda and one of them is touristy and they run tours through it and it costs money, and the other one is not well known and free and you can swim in the water in it!! In the caves you pay for, you don't get to swim, you just walk through them. So we explored some caves. They were pretty amazing. And a little creepy. I definitely felt as though we were in the beginning of a horror movie a few times. Im in love with bermuda. It's so lovely here. I never want to leave!! I'm still not used to driving on the opposite side of the road, and the scooters make things much more interesting!!   
I also forgot to mention that we had a lovely lovely breakfast with the crew before the other two had to leave (by the way, their plane got struck by lightning and they got stuck in Bermuda, something we are hoping doesn't happen to us!!) and this was our lovely breakfast dining room!!! Pretty!!

Island Time

Last night we had a phenomenal dinner at the fairmont, it was amazing!! I took some stunning
photos of the property. We had a gorgeous table on the patio! The sunset was unbelievable!! Day one in Bermuda was amazing!! There's this thing called the 'Non-mariners Race' and people build boat like floatation devices and see who's boat goes the furthest with the most people still on it! And the rule is if you fall off you aren't allowed to get back on so competitors will jump to other people's boats and try to push them off and stuff. We didn't actually see the race but it sounded really cool. We got some inflatable boats and chairs and stuff and tied them all together and floated around in the cove. It's really cool because there's like 150 or more boats in the cove, all there to float around and watch the race. People tie their boats together and go onto other peoples boats, or will jump off their boats and swim to other people's boats. It's pretty neat. So we spent the day pirating around the water, we visited other people's boats, and then we found our own private island!! We explored the island, had some nap time in the sun, and were beach bums in the Bermuda triangle all day long!! It was just lovely!! Tomorrow we get to go see some caves!! Exciting!!  

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Bermuda!!

So Derrek and I made it to Bermuda safe and sound! We landed last night around 8:30 and got a cab with a fabulous driver in a giant taxi van who drive fast around tiny roads with hairpin turns!! And on the opposite side of the road from what we're used to! We got to my friend Katie's house and there was a lovely little note waiting for us as she was still at work. Shes been working at the Fairmont here and living in the staff housing so as you can imagine I was very interested in seeing both the housing and the hotel!! The housing is fabulous!! Small but adorable and she lives by herself which is more than I can say for all staff housing I've lived in! So we walked down to the Swizzle Inn by her place and had some dinner and that's where she met us! Katie is one of those amazing friends that no matter how long you haven't seen eachother, it still feels like you've been together the whole time! So we had a great time catching up! Then this morning I went with her to work and took her scooter back with me. First of all, scootering takes a bit of getting used to! Second of all driving on the other side of the street takes some getting used to!!! But I managed, I did scrape my toe, but other than that I survived!! And Derrek was a fabulous passenger!! Katie has so many exciting things planned for us!! Tonight we're going for dinner at the Fairmont because she gets 50% off! Then tomorrow we go on a boat to explore!!! I'm excited. We want to find the lost city of Atlantis, which we feel certain is located in the Bermuda triangle somewhere. More later!! And photos too!!  

Friday, July 29, 2011

Bye bye orlando!!

So, we are sitting in the Miami International Airport waiting to head to Bermuda. It's wierd to leave Orlando. I don't really feel like I've left for real. I still feel like I'm on vacation and will come back to the lodge soon. I had everyone write in a little book for me before I left and I read what people wrote on our flight here, it's overwhelming the nice things that people had to say. I really feel lucky to have made such amazing friends. So here are some photos from the airport while we wait!!   

Fireworks!!

There's something I totally forgot to mention before. One of our engineers took me up on the roof the other day and it was so high up that we could see the fireworks from all three other parks, MK, Hollywood Studios, and epcot. It was amazing!!! Such a phenomenal view. I took a picture of the lodge so I could show you the ladder we went up to get to the top of the lodge!!
So if you look to the immediate right of the peak thingy you can see the ladder that we climbed up!' I was waaaaay up there!!!! 

Monday, July 25, 2011

Things I'll Miss

One of my co-workers asked me last night what I'm going to miss about Orlando. I'm going to miss taking balloons away from children, for sure. That's one of the best things about working at the lodge. NO BALLOONS. Anyhow, people also often ask what I miss most about home, so I thought I would give you Erica's Official Lists of things I (#1) miss about home and (#2) will miss about Orlando:

Things I miss about home:
* Fresh air
* The metric system
* The smell of the ocean
* My family
* horses
* my friends
* temperate climate
* not being made fun of everyday for being Canadian
* my car
* not having to cover my tattoos with makeup everyday

Things I will miss about Orlando:
* humidity
* lightening storms
* the parks
* Disney
* how noone thinks it's wierd that I name inanimate objects
* my friends
* my job
* taking balloons from children
* seeing giraffes every day
* my resort themed greeting (i really will miss saying 'dumela, and welcome home')
* the Tower of Terror

Those are just a few things.....and for the record, yes, I actually do miss living under the wise and benevolent rule of the metric system, who starts a temperature scale at 32 degrees??? It doesn't make any sense.

The Final Week

I'm sitting on my bed in my room, surrounded by the last few boxes that I need to ship and I can't believe it's almost over. I have 3 shifts left and 4 days here in Orlando before I say goodbye. I'm excited for what's to come but I'm so sad to leave. I really love it here. I've been so caught up in saying goodbye and getting organized that I haven't had too much time to be sad, but now, alone with my thoughts and Lind's and my quickly emptying room, I'm sad. So I'm giving myself some time to mourn right now, pout pout pout. Le sigh. And that's enough of that!!

So naturally, me being me, I've been scouring the web for all information I can find on Disneyland Paris because I want to be prepared and have an idea of all the places I could be possibly working. So far, I have to say that the Paris park, first of all, is STUNNING and I want to live in Sleeping Beauty's Castle. Secondly, I want to work in the Red Garter Saloon in Disney's Hotel Cheyenne. It's so cool looking. I'm looking at all the food and beverage establishments since that's the department I'll be working in!! I'm getting irrationally excited.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Paris on the Brain

I can't stop thinking about Paris!! I am looking at photos of DLP (Disneyland Paris) and it's so beautiful I want to cry. I love that the castle is pink!! And I love that the castle is Sleeping Beauty's castle, not Cinderella's castle like it is here. I like that it's different. For those of you who aren't aware, the California, Hong Kong, and Paris parks all have Sleeping Beauty castles, it's just WDW here that has Cinderella's castle. BUT...........DLP has a dragon in the dungeon!!!!!!!!! How fun is that!!?? So fun, right?? I can't wait to see it for real! AND DLP has an Alice in Wonderland MAZE!!!! With animatronic characters!!!!! That's my fave Disney movie!!! LE SIGH! For those of you who feel like you'd love to look at some photos of DLP, and get just as excited as I am. Check out this website, I've been on it all morning and I am pretty much in love with it!! www.photosmagiques.com 
There is so much to do to prepare for leaving. I can't believe it's coming up so soon. Packing kind of makes me want to curl up into a little ball and sleep for a hundred years. I'm getting it done slowly but surely. I just need to get it over with so I can get on with my life but it's just hard to motivate yourself to pack up your whole life, you know?? I sent off one box of stuff that I want to make sure gets home, like my graduation papers and certificates, and mickey ears, etc. So that's gone. I can't procrastinate anymore.....time to get packing!!!

Friday, July 22, 2011

MK

So last night I took my lil old self over to the Magic Kingdom to see the fireworks for the last time for who knows how long. It was lovely. I spent time wandering around and watched the electrical parade, which has been a favorite of mine since the first time I saw it in Disneyland! Then I stayed for the fireworks!!! I had a spot right in front of the castle and I had such a lovely time. I reflected upon my time here and just enjoyed the show. I'm going to miss MK! I need to go to all the parks before I leave. One down, 3 to go!

 

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Bonjour!!




Maintenant, je pense que ce neccessaire d'ecrire en francais!!!! Just kidding, I'll write in english. I'm so conflicted!! 10 days until I leave this magical place. I already miss it. I'm trying to soak up all the pixie dust I can before I leave because I really love it here so very much. If I didn't have so much to look forward to in the near future I would be really really upset. I'm in a wierd place where I miss home, and my friends, I can't wait to be somewhere new and explore and learn, but also I'm just not ready to leave here. So I'm just trying not to panic, get all my leaving business in order, and take it one day at a time. This is also my third double in a row so I think I might be slightly delirious. Thursday I have a day off and it will be lovely. I'm planning to go to Magic Kingdom with some friends and I'll get to ride rides and watch the fireworks, I desperately ned to get to all the parks before I leave, I miss them. I'm so wierd, who misses amusement parks??? This gal. Strange. But who am I to question me...I'd rather indulge myself in my last week of unlimited WDW parks access. Le sigh.
 
On a brighter note, I'm practicing my french as much as possible. It's quite rusty, there's not a lot of people in B.C. who speak french so it's easy to lose it at home. All my to-do lists are in french and anyone who will sit still long enough gets to quiz me, looks like Derrek will be practicing his french on our road trip home. Fun for all!!! On the even brighter note, I get to see one of my best friends in the whole world in just 10 wee days!! Bermuda, here we come!!!!! The future is so bright and shiny, I'm really looking forward to everything the universe has in store for me, but I will always carry the past with me. It is not productive to live in the past, nor is it productive to live in the future, success tomorrow comes by living in the now, but you can never forget where you've been, or lose sight of where you are going.

Monday, July 18, 2011

MAGIC!

I love when I get phone calls at the club desk that start with 'Erica, it's ________, I need to make some magic, can you help me?' I always know I'm about to have a bunch of fun. I got a call like that from one of my managers today and we all sprung into action, making a little boy a birthday goody bag with a plush Tigger (his favorite character) and some special Animal Kingdom Lodge treats. SO MUCH FUN! I just love making magic!!

Also, I love our guests SO MUCH!!! I checked a couple into the club level this morning and they wanteed to go on a special safari so I booked them into the one we have that goes in the evening and includes dinner and wine at our signature restaurant and then when it was done they came back to the dsek to tell me how much fun they had and to show me all their pictures!! How much fun is that??? I just love making that personal connection with them that they get excited to come back to the desk and tell you about their day. It really makes me feel like I've done my job right when that happens
 
I had a 12 hour shift today so I managed to get my 2 breaks back to back and had an extra long time to go to the gym, so I did a  full workout and then sat in the eucalyptus steam room for 15 minutes. That is seriously the key to a happy day, usually I have an hour break so I don't get a steam in, just a workout. When I return to work after a nice gym, I feel like it's a whole new day, so refreshed and alert. I just love it. And eucalyptus really just topped it off, it's got to be the most refreshing feeling ever. I actually felt cooled afterwards for the first time since it got so hot out. I am the happiest of pandas.

Impact

So I know I talk all the time about making magic and how Disney really touches people's lives and I'm sure you don't really believe it. But it's true and amazing. Walt Disney World is a magical place and being there makes people feel more magical. On that note, I wanted to share an email that I recieved via our management:
This is what was sent to me by my manager:
 
Dumela all,

This was forwarded to me from a friend. The Hollands were staying with us from the 14th through the 21s in the Jambo House Villas. Thank you all for providing exceptional guest service to them during their last stay. We never know how much of an impact we may have on our Guests by doing ordinary tasks and what the impact may mean for them. Please take the time to read the following.

-Derrison

Dear Teams and Friends,
I lost 2 friends in the Joplin tornado.  They had been home from their 15th anniversary Walt Disney World vacation less than 24 hours when they were killed.  That time had been spent updating family and friends on what a wonderful and special time they had had and, in fact, Lorie was in a Disney Chat talking about it when the tornado sirens went off.  Her chatting about their Walt Disney World vacation was the last that any of us heard from her. Here is a short article about their love of Disney and the impact it has had on the family: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/05/27/2909582/glenn-holland-59-and-lorie-holland.html

We never know when it will be the last time we can make a bit of magic or give a little pixie dust to a Guest.  Whomever the CMs were who impacted Glenn and Lorie's trip certainly did their part and now, friends and family can remember them as just having had a wonderful time enjoying their favorite place in the world together rather than the horror of their last moments.  It is the one thing that is bringing comfort to hundreds, if not thousands of people right now, "At least they just had a wonderful time together at Disney".

I hope we can all be mindful as we encounter each Guest that none of us knows what lies ahead and do our utmost to make the magic happen.  We do not have ordinary "jobs", we have a unique privilege of working where pixie dust is readily available to us and I hope we spread it generously.  I know that's what brought Glenn and Lorie back visit after visit and I know they would want us to continue making our special Disney magic for all of our Guests.
 
 
So, as touching as that is, it means even more to me because the last place that these guests stayed was at Animal Kingdom Lodge. They spent their last vacation with us before they died, and we made them happy. That blows my mind. We have an impact on people's lives whether we know it at the time or now. Unreal.

Friday, July 15, 2011

DLP....hint...the P stands for Paris

So, I said I would keep  you all informed about what happened with Disneyland Paris. So, I recieved an email that they wanted to interview me!! That's a big thing because having my resume pass the initial screening is a big deal, Disney is pretty picky. So I sent them my schedule with when I would be available and I waited and waited for what felt like hundreds of years (it was 4 days) for them to set an interview time. Which they finally did!! So I almost died of nervousness and two days ago I skyped with the recruiter, both in english and french.
 She offered me a job.
IN PARIS!!!!!!!!!!!! FOR SERIOUS!!!!!!!!!!! 
I almost died. I won't be able to work front desk there, because you ned to speak three languages for FD and I only speak two, (learning spanish is on my list of things to do, I'm getting around to it!!) so the positions she will be able to offer me are in food and beverage. Which I'm thrilled with. I love food and beverage, that's where my roots are, so I'm happy to return to it. There's a few tricky things, first of all, I need a visa, which I need to be in Canada to get. So I need to do that as soon as I get home. Secondly, because I can't start until september (I need to go home, I miss my family), it means I'd be starting in their low season, which means that they have to find a position to put me in that someone else is taking a leave of absense from. The recruiter is trying to find me a position with more responsibility because of how much experience I have in that area. So I now have very little time at home. Which is ok because my family will come see me!! I feel like it hasn't sunk in yet. I'm excited but not, because I'm afraid to get too excited in case something happens and it falls through. When I'm on a plane to France, THEN I'll be excited. I can't help but think that this is the reason that the Universe (or US immigration, but I feel like they don't know as much as the Universe) didn't let me take the position at Hilton Head, so that I could be free for when this opportunity presented itself. 
Dear Universe, Don't let me down, I promise I'll work really hard!!
PARIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMGOSH.....I can't even think about it, it's too much, it can't be real. 
 The castle in Paris is PINK! Pretty!!!

New Orleans

I have so much to say!!! I need to get all you lovely people caught up!! New Orleans, let's start there! I LOVED New Orleans!!! It's amazing. The whole city has so much character and heart!! It's like you can see history unfold right before your eyes!! There's still some places where you can see the leftover damage from Hurricane Katrina, and then there's buildings that are brand new and massive. I spent most of our time there just wandering the streets and taking pictures. I love jazz so I also wandered into as many little jazz bars as I could find. Bourbon St is unreal! People everywhere, drinking on the streets, people I'm balconies flinging beads into the street, it's like everyday is Mardi Gras! There's a really cool walkway thing that's along the Mississippi river with shops and restaurants. I also adore Cajun food!!! It's so flavorful and delicious!! I am so happy that I had a chance to visit this amazing city before I leave the states!!!

Gorgeous buildings!!
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Bourbon Street!!

The architecture is so fabulous!!

Exposed brick everywhere!!! This is in one of the hotels I stayed at

Crazy voodoo piano in a store in the french quarter

Crazy animal on the wall in a store in the french quarter

The ceiling in a fabulous cajun restaurant!

I adored this building. So much character

My favorite gate!

Hotel room

Really tall building in the sun!!

Quaint little shop's in the french quarter

They get a little angry when you try on the masks and take pictures of yourself in the store!! Whoops!!

In the arts district

SO MANY MASKS!!!

Steamboat that goes up and down the Mississippi

Warehouse district

The Mississippi River!

Run down building in the art district


As you can see, I LOVED New Orleans!!! Everyone should go!!