Last Few Months at Disney

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Its almost over

I officially have 25 days until my college program is done and I'm home and straight back to school. I have no idea where November went and december just just rushed by. I have finals for my online classes, christmas stuff to begin and then soon, moving back home. I have really enjoyed my time here and love the people I have met. I do see Disney being apart of my future..sorry mom..she's not ready. But this will make us all grow and love and miss eachother that much more.
For the Holiday season, I have been busy will full work loads and fun activities. I have been visiting Santa in the park with Dario and some friends from work. I just attended the Family Holiday Party which is where only employees and their family members come to the park. FUNN! Today I visited the Walt Disney Studios to watch the Princess and the Frog. AMAZING I recommend it to anyone and everyone.. so matter what age. The best Disney movie in awhile. I'm glad that Disney has begun making 2D movies again. The composer of this movie also did Aladdin and Lion King, so you know its gonna be awesome. GO WATCH IT

Miss everyone.. I'll try my best to put up more pictures. :)

Thursday, November 12, 2009

ATTENTION!

I'm coming home today... will be in the Bay from thursday night til monday morning.

See you soon :)

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Time Flies

CRAZY!!! Its been over a month since I last posted. Please don't think I'm just partying it up over here because as much as I'd like to say I am, my life is working. Since I last posted, I have visited home and been trying to get out of my corner in Anaheim.

Going home was great. I really missed everyone and just the fact that I haven't been home to help with the decisions of some new changes; Joseph starting college and playing college ball, Mom getting a new car and selling her trusty rusty, decorating the family room with new sofas, and seeing baby Felix grow (he's matured.. he pees like a boy now.. lifts his leg and all). It was an extremely busy four days being home.

I didn;t sleep like I planned on. Started out by going straight to starbucks to see if I could catch any friends, then home to quickly get ready for Joseph's game. Later that night, football fans came over to enjoy the rest of the night with booz and good food. Two o clock in the morning came real fast. Day 1 done. Saturday was an early day over to the salon to get my hair cut and then straight home to shower and head to Manteca. Spent the whole day with grandma and my aunt, uncle and cousins. Day 2 flew by even faster. Sunday was the usual ritual of getting up and having a full breakfast with the family and Bingo by 1. Then it was over to hayward for a family member's surprise birthday party. Before you know it, it was getting past dinner time and heading home. What was so awesome and something that just keeps me missing home, was dad's craving for taco's at 9 o clock at night and him and Joseph running to Jack for I believe 12 tacos?? UGH! My roommates aren't cool like that and do that over here. HA Enjoyed every second I was home.

Since the end of September, the Park has been celebrating Halloween. Its the coolest thing. Disneyland has updated some attractions to make it Halloween friendly including its usual Haunted Mansion make over into the Nightmare before Christmas and its newest attraction: Space Mountain, Ghost Galaxy. A ghost (more like a crazy demon looking thing) has trapped itself inside space mountain and has made the ride super scary by Howling and chasing you throughout the ride. Not a favorite for me, but many are enjoying it. California Adventure has continued their Halloween festivities with Candy Corn Acres taking over sun plaza with all the characters out in Harvesting costumes and Heimlich (the caterpiller from A Bug's Life) eating away at the world's largest candy corn. They have also continued Mickey's Trick or Treat Party on Thursday and Friday nights where guests can buy additional tickets to trick or treat throughout the park. Big attractions are open and the villains roam the Park. I fortunately get to work this event on Friday and am anxious to see what everyone has been raving about. It's no neat and I'm glad to say I've experienced Disney during Halloween.

The downside to all this fun Halloween treats is that guests have overwhelmed the parks to capacity three times already this month. Its been record numbers at the park ever for Halloween time. This has unfortunately blocked out cast members and their families from enjoying the parks on Friday's and select Saturday's for the rest of the month. Thank goodness for my annual pass that I bought, at least I can roam around the resort like a loaner on Halloween and not be kicked out. SCORE!!

I miss everyone and will be visiting the Bay again the second week of November. I hope everyone is doing well and keeping just as busy as me. I'll try to sneak away when I can to update this some more. Love you all.

Cindy

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Exciting times!

It has been a very busy but exciting past couple of weeks. I have decided to involve myself in doing more activities outside of Disney and to get out of my apartment! As fun as room mates can be, I'm branching out and looking for a funner crowd.

My fun began two weeks ago on the 31st, after working a number of night shifts in a row, I began one morning with getting up at 5 am to wait in line at 6 to meet the beautiful and elegant Julie Andrews. She was holing a meet and greet signing celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Mary Poppins. She actually spent the time to talk and meet each participant. I was number 87 of 250 that got to meet her and get a painting autographed. She was wonderful. I was a bit star struck when I approached her. Was silent for a minute before finding some words to say. The experience was amazing.

That same night...still surviving on 4 hours of sleep, I decided to go to Angel's stadium with my room mate to watch the Angels take on my Oakland A's. Amazingly in the 7th inning, the A's were winning by 1 point and were able to hold the Angels to anymore runs. I sure did my share of screaming from way up above and made my mark in Angel's stadium. Since we won, I don't see any reason I need to go back. :) The fans were nice, there were plenty more A's fans like myself...it was an overall fun time.

The following week, I got the chance to be part of a live studio audience for the TV show Rules of Engagement. It is taping it's fourth season, and sad to say, I had never watched nor heard of the show prior to this. It was awesome. I knew most of the lead actors, including David Spade, Patrick Warburton, Megyn Price, and guest star Alan Ruck (Cameron from Ferris Beuller!!!!). They were so awesome and some signed autographs after the show. Really cool to see the amount of time and dedication it takes just to film one show; over 6 hours! The butt was gone asleep after the first couple hours.

The following day, some co workers of mine and myself decided to go on a hunt for celebrities by visiting Melrose Place in West Hollywood. That was a big fat NO. Saw no one. Just walked into stores that quickly made you feel depressed when you realized nothing there would fit and if it did, you couldn't even afford a fraction of it. It was an interesting start to the day, but we soon decided to venture to Beverly Place which is very similar to the Nemin Marcus mall in San Francisco. I soon found plenty of stores to spend my pay check in and ended the day with fun outfits to wear when I come home. Overall, a very joyful day.

The rest of the week leading til now has been plenty of work and school work with school starting. I am taking a couple online classes and a collegiate class through the Program to stay a full time student. The park has been extremely slow with everyone back in school, so I anticipate many visits from family and friends soon. I will be seeing the Puccini Family next weekend and at the beginning of October, the Kanaze's will be visiting too. Can't wait to visit with everyone. Miss you all. Thanks again to those who have been commenting. You don't know how much i appreciate it. See you in two weeks.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Its Peak Season

The past couple weeks have been quite intense. I got a cold almost two weeks aged and am still fighting it. With working 6 day weeks and racking in 50 hours a week, its hard to rest and relax. With the park ending sometime events and preparing for big events and upcoming holidays, we've been super super busy. September 9 is the Haunted Mansion's 40th anniversary. Halloween will be celebrated starting September 25. The park is suppose to slow down after labor day and hours will be cut back.
The first round of college program students just graduated last week and headed home. With all the open rooms and parking spots now available, i got a new space right under my apartment building. No more walking a block to and from work everyday just to go park my car. Its quite amazing. We've also acquired a new room mate Moria. She is wonderful. My roommate and I met her early in our program and had put in a request for her to be the new add in. Since the program is growing so much, 5th roommates were a possibility is most rooms and so we're glad we got to choose who we wanted. My room now has a bunk bed and a single twin bed. So far, the past few nights have been good, so hopefully it stays that way.
My job has been getting more interesting and exciting as the weeks go by. I get new and better positions to photograph in each park. Yesterday I was a breaker for Mickey's House. It was awesome. My 8 hour shift consisted of me giving breaks to photographers who were shooting in each of the 4 film rooms that you can meet my boss, Mickey Mouse in. I'm getting more and more use to being here and living on my own. I do enjoy cooking for myself and not spending money everyday. Its nice. I have broken into my Rachel Rae cook book the other day to make some delicious garlic shrimp. YUM! I'm going to utilize that book at least once a week from now on.
I've been missing everyone from home a lot. I hear of all the family gatherings and events that I've been missing and I get jealous. I get home after an 8 hour day of work on a Sunday and I get a call from Joseph that he's been lounging around the house all day with baby Felix and he's waiting for mom and dad to get ho0me from Bingo so they can go out and eat burgers and watch a movie. Not fair! I miss and love everyone;. I plan on coming home in September to watch Joseph kick butt at one of his games and then head over to Manteca to wish Jenna a happy 6th birthday. Hope everyone is well. Love and miss you all.

~Cindy

Sunday, July 26, 2009

BIRTHDAYS!











Sorry guys... I know its been way past my once a week posting but its been an exciting past two weeks. It all started with my birthday. I worked that morning having fun with guests who shared the same birthday. Then I rushed home to change and did the park the rest of the night with the girls. It was so much fun and we had such a blast. Then I was counting down until the family comes to visit. Plan was for mom and dad to drive on the 22 and Joseph to fly in that night. Well, that happened with a minor set back... poor mom and dad had the car break down on them that delayed their trip 3 hours. They ended up arriving the same time as Joseph. We did Disneyland for Mom's birthday on Thursday and then California Adventure Friday which Dad has never visited before. We had the best time. I have missed them so much within this past month and I just enjoyed every minute of being with them. We had plenty of laughs with Dad's reactions on the attractions and Mom's birthday party with all the little kids. I wouldn't have changed a thing...,maybe but mom and dad getting here without issues.. but hey, it wouldn't be a Mestre trip without something adventurous happening :) Anyways... enjoy the pictures. They are a mix of my birthday and the family trip. Love and miss you all!

~Cindy

Friday, July 10, 2009

Fourth of July







I know I know.. I am totally out of order with updating you all but so many things happened that I need to share. I fortunately had the fourth off and my cousin Kristen and soon to be cousin in law Brian who i already love so much invited me to spend the day with them. We spent the day at Laguna beach with Brian's aunt who is also such a wonderful person. We later went to her house and Brian barbecued carne asada. YUM! It was sooo good. Thank you again to them for inviting me. I had no other plans for that day and it made it special to be with family since I've been away from home. Love you guys

~Cindy

Santa Monica








Thursday and today are my days off this week, so the roomie, Moria and I decided to spend the day at Santa Monica Pier. None of us have ever been and we were craving the beach. We had a blast. The beach is beautiful and so clean. The pier is a bit small.. the boardwalk is better but it was fun to get out of our Disney corner and venture through Southern California. Enjoy the pictures!!!

Loving every minute




Hello all..

Sorry about the long time between blog updates, I've been pretty busy. I have a set 40 plus hours a week photographing guests or working the store that sells the photo packages. It's so fun. The guests are really grateful for the service we provide. It's really easy for us to take pictures for the guests, one less thing they have to worry about. They like having fun posing different ways and being able to have magic shots taken by adding tink, mickey, or minnie to their pictures as if they were really there.
Tuesday and Wednesday I sold packages to two couples who were proposed to in front of the castle. They were able to have our photographers shoot an entire session of them proposing and everything. Its really the cutest thing to see. You cant help but feel so happy for them... and jealous!! uhg! where's my prince charming to do that??!! :)
But all is well. I have had no relapses of dehydration or anything. I'm careful to be drinking lots of water and staying cool. I am adding pictures of me in lovely uniforms.. I have one of me in a skirt that is for working on main street in the photo shop. Walt Disney designed Main Street to look like the 1930's and so why we have to wear these hideous "costumes." My normal costume is blue slacks or shorts with a white button up and a safari looking vest while i am shooting in the park. It is a lot more normal looking and comfortable.
I hope all is doing well. I miss everyone so much and I thank all of you for my early birthday wishes and update phone calls. I will be working on my birthday then going to play in the park. Should be fun. Miss and love you all. Take care!
~Cindy

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

UPDATE!

ATTENTION! Christian sexy Bale was in California Adventure today while I was working there!! Ahh! As I head from a fellow cast member that he was in close vicinity of where I was training... I immediately got goose bumps. For those of you who don't understand my passion for him or if you live under a rock and don't know who he is, he plays the latest and sexiest bat man! God, my heart and blood pressure was going the rest of the day. But of course, i didn't get my look at him let alone a word or photo... :( But, on the good side, I had such a fun day shooting guests. I actually got to go live, meaning shoot for guests in the park, and they came out great. I'm definitely going to enjoy shooting character shots, especially Fantasy fair Princess meet and great and Pixie Hollow (where you can meet Tink and her fellow pixie fairies). I have not written a full post because I'm waiting to get my full uniform to show all of you. They are quite interesting. Miss and love everyone. Thanks for keeping in touch.

~Cindy

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Oh man.. If you haven't already heard...

So Friday, Saturday and Sunday were suppose to be my first orientations. I made it through Friday and half way Saturday and then my bad luck hit me. After lunch, the group took a tour of the park, and at the end, I got extremely dizzy and faint and ended up being rushed to the ER on an ambulance.

I was extremely dehydrated, under a lot of stress and full of caffeine. Because of all of these issues, it made me very weak and why they ruched me. I ended up being transferred to Kaiser of Irvine where I stayed until Sunday afternoon. When my vitals were being checked, they notice I had abnormal heart rhythms (PVC's). Because of this is why i ended up staying over night. :( I was not a happy camper.

I missed the rest of my Traditions orientation and my Welcome to.. orientation. Because I missed these two mandatory training sessions, I am not allowed to do any further training until they are completed. So, for now, i have the week off. Mom flew Sunday morning to be with me and is leaving today, Tuesday. So we ended up walking Down Town Disney yesterday and just hang out in town. It was nice being with her, but not really the way I wanted her to come visit me.

But it ended up working out. We further planned the family coming to visit next month, got reservations at the hotel and reservations to eat at the Blue Bayou for Mom's birthday. So for now, until Saturday, I am lounging around the apartment, I'm going into the park today with my roomie Jillian. This Friday, I have Starbucks partners coming to visit, so I'm excited for that too! I'll keep you all updated. I am doing fine as of health and am enjoying my stay at the apartment.

Love you all!

~Cindy

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Thursday night...

What a DAY!
I started my day out by hitting the road right before 8 to head to orientation. The drive was surprisingly easy considering LA traffic. Once I found the apartment complex, check in went smoothly; roughly took 2 hours of checking in paper work, and getting assigned a room. Since I was the first of thirty to check in, I got an empty apartment and got first pick. I got a room with a nice view, a bed with a window next to it, and best of all, a walk in closet. No other room I've seen had one. HA. Love it!

My room mate is named Jillian, and she too is from the Bay Area; San Mateo to be exact. She is my long lost twin and I am thankful that so far I have good roomies. I also am sharing the apartment with two middle aged women who have the other room. I'm hoping cleaning and cooking won't be an issue with motherly figures around.

My day consisted of an hour of unloading my car, parking in a complex two buildings away from my apartment building, and moving everything in. Then, orientation was at 3 pm. Just a general info meeting about housing rules. From there, my room mate and I headed back to our room to make a list of necessary things we needed; food, toilet paper, utensils....etc. Our apartment was naked, and seemed like a lot of the amenities that were suppose to be included were missing and so they will be delivered tomorrow...hopefully.

It is a little past ten and am now settling into bed enjoying grape nuts for dinner. I was so busy today, running around everywhere that my entire day consisted of a cup of coffee and a biscoit for breakfast, a tuna melt for lunch, and a bowl of grapenuts for dinner; with plenty of water throughout the day to keep me hydrated.

I had to soak my feet in hot water before getting into bed. I felt like I did a day at Disneyland, walking around non stop. I can just imagine how I'll feel once my job starts going. I need my Dr. Scholl's!! Haha. Mom made sure I was supplied :) Love you Mom! Well, I think I'll call it a night, I have a busy next two days with more orientations and meetings, so I'll try to keep you updated daily at least for the next week or so. I am enjoying your comments. I will be responding, so please look out for that as well. If you have any trouble leaving comments, just choose the name/url button under the comment page and just enter your name. You don't need a url.

Thanks guys. I miss and love you lots!

~Cindy

Thursday Morning

It is ten after 7 in the morning and I am wide awake and my nerves are working me. I was excited up to last night and now I am just anxious and nervous. I don't know what to expect. The butterflies have taken over my stomach.

I will be on the road about 8 0 clock just because I know what LA traffic will be like. I anticipate arriving at the apartment building about 9-9:30 ish. I have orientation and then I am sure I'll head over to my room!! I am excited about that, for sure!

I just wanted to post a quick something in case anyone is anxious to see how I am doing. Thanks to mom for keeping me company on the road with all her check ins yesterday, and thank you to Leslie, Briana and Veronica for my evening calls to see how everything was going. I miss everyone already! More news to come. Love you!!!

~Cindy

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Only the beginning...

So.. it is Thursday night, one week before I leave for Anaheim and I feel like I have no time to prepare. Joseph's graduation and party are all coming so fast. I still need to run around town for last minute items, and packing has yet to start. My bug is going to be filled to capacity for sure. This is my first post to let you know you came to the right place to keep up with my adventure at Disney! I haven't even left yet and I'm already missing so many people. It'll be exciting and an opportunity of a life time. Please leave comments to anything I put up. My goal is to post weekly and let everyone know how my internship is going. Love you all. My next post will be next week when I arrive. I hope to see you all Saturday for both Joseph's graduation and my going away party.

~Cindy