A Little Magic

It may be really dumb to start the hardest job you’ve ever done when you’re as old as us, but we have just done it. Tuesday was my ‘Traditions’ – an all day class introducing the basic rules, mottos, creeds, fun that we will have, etc. That class was super informative, but not as tiring as Thursday, where we had to wear dress clothes, which I did, but I cheated and wore new black sneakers with my dress pants. Then we proceeded to walk 6 hours in Fantasyland and check out our costumes. This is what I wear everyday.
Very comfortable and easy. I was exhausted, but Gary and Donna met me in the parking lot at 4:30, where I added some socks and a sweatshirt. Then we headed back to Magic Kingdom for dinner in the Mousketeria down in the ‘tunnel’. Great food, and cheap. By the time we got to the “surface”, it was dark. We headed over to where Gary works and here’s a pic of his little restaurant that serves funnel cakes, pizza, corndogs, Mickey-shaped waffles, ice cream sandwiches and all kinds of drinks.
He introduced us to his manager, Jim, and then we headed over to watch Cinderella’s Wish (the lighting of the castle). It was already purple like this,
but Fairy Godmother came out onto the balcony and asked the audience if they would help light the castle on the count of three. It happened slowly, parts of the castle at a time, done to music and it was magnificent as you can see.
Since my legs were about to fall off, we left out the front gate looking over our shoulder as we went and it just got prettier and prettier with shades of turquoise, periwinkle and purple.

Friday was another early day (up at 5:15) meeting our group of 6 for more training. The best part is that we get to go on every ride. We received our assigned location spots that we will be working exclusively. Three of us will operate Winnie the Pooh, Snow White’s Scary Adventure and the Mad Tea Party. Cool. After all kinds of learning and testing on the computer, we rode It’s a Small World, Pooh and Toon Town’s Barnstormer Rollercoaster. Enough of Disney.

Today we awoke at a normal time and went out into the real world. Breakfast at Panera, I returned shoes that I didn’t like, a Walmart run, and came home and did wash. This evening Donna, Ron and we hung out here and Bob came over with his guitar, Gary got his, and all five of us sang some songs together. We need a little practice before we do this publicly. Bob’s got a campfire going by the lake, and we’re going to head over there after dinner for a while. It hasn’t rained in weeks enough to keep the lake filled, and the bottom is showing in places.

Gary works on Tuesday, but I don’t work again until Dec. 1. I think we’ll go visit some of the other parks in the meantime! M-I-C, K-E-Y…….

First Day at Work

Yesterday was my last day off. I did very little. Bob and Mary were leaving for home, so I rode my bike over to say good bye, safe travels. They will be back in January to work a few days. This will allow them to keep their ‘employed status’ for 2011. I checked for mail and found Gary’s and my Family Holiday Pass. That will allow 3 people in with each of us for free until February. We’ll have to plan dates for our daughter, Mandy, and her family to come down.

After lunch, I went for another walk in the ‘woods’ to see what kind of natural stuff I can use for our holiday décor. I picked up some giant pinecones and found some pine branches and some red berries on something (I hope it’s not poisonous). Closer to Christmas, I will return for some treasures.

As you may know, I am not a morning person, and had to wake up again at 5:30 to make it to Traditions (Disney University) for all day classes. There were about 27 in our group, and we all took the bus to Magic Kingdom after lunch. We were there for about 30 minutes. Part of our tour was a trip through the ‘Utilidor’ – a vast underground corridor that runs under the Magic Kingdom with exits at various locations around the park. Only cast members are allowed down there (which actually isn’t ‘down there’ at all. The tunnel was built on top of the land, and then covered so that the Magic Kingdom could be built on top.) The costume department is the size of a super Walmart! Then there is the Mouseketeria where Gary has had dinner for the last 3 nights. It’s open until 3 am!

My next day of work is Thursday, and that’s Gary’s first day off. I hope we get a couple days off together so that we can have some fun. I also have to be at work at 7:15 in the morning. It’s a 40 minute commute for me, but I found out that some people have an hour and a half each way. I won’t complain too loudly anymore.

Gary has started radiation as of yesterday. I saw him a couple of hours yesterday and left him sleeping this morning with a whispered kiss. He’ll be home around 10:30 tonight, exhausted again. The radiation doesn’t have too much affect on him, but running to the medical center, then right off to work is really tiring. He’ll be glad to have Thursday off.

Well, that’s about it for today. I’ll have to give you some more info next time!

Family and Disney, Of Course

Friday Gary went off to work in his new costume. He looks a little like Ben Franklin, right?
Just needs those little square glasses…

I cleaned up the coach and waited for Michelle, my daughter, and four of the six grandkids to arrive. They have a new van and even though the kids have stayed with us in the coach, Michelle hadn’t even seen it with the slides out. Around 1 o’clock they pull up in this! Wow, what a van! We hung around the campsite for an hour and then headed over to Disney Marketplace. The parking lots were jammed because the Festival of the Masters had begun today. Just as we were turning into the parking lot, Graham (4) thought he was going to be sick. We pull into the bus parking spot, and head him over to the bushes. Nothing. OK, everyone back in the van. Turning right into a lot, we notice a car pulling out – and hitting the car next to it! It kept backing up, apparently oblivious, so I opened my window and shouted to her that she had just hit that car. She said no. We said yes, look at all the white paint on your bumper. She got out (of course, we are all blocking a packed exit) and looked, saying there wasn’t a scratch on it. We let her by, but got the plate number. We parked this large vehicle, got everyone together and went to look at the hit car. There was a long black paint mark. We trooped back to security (which, thank heavens, was right there) and talked to a very nice security lady, walked back to the car with her and she made a report. This was done for the benefit of the children (and, of course, the victim). We finally made it into Downtown Disney.

Festival of the Masters was happening this weekend, and the kids couldn’t have come at a better time. The first thing we found was a LEGO event. The children were handed a 2x2 inch square color-coded LEGO base. They were to add LEGO pieces according to the colors on their square. The three of them got to work. When finished, they handed it to a helper and he used a rubber hammer to attach their square onto a large board according to a number on the back. When finished, this mural is to adorn a wall in the new flagship, the Disney Dream. How cool is that! To know you helped make a piece of art that millions of people will see. . Here they are looking at their pieces on the board.


We walked down towards LEGOLAND and passed artists making chalk drawings from a picture and painting Mickey in various mediums. Arriving at LEGOLAND, all kinds of displays were shown, all made from LEGO. By the way the name LEGO was coined from the Danish phrase leg godt, which means "play well". The kids got to make a block that would be the base of an 8 foot dragon sculpted by a LEGO MASTER. While they were working on that, I got a call from my recruiter, Barbara, telling me that my original job was open and waiting for me. I start on Tuesday! YAY.

Then the kids were hungry. A few hot dogs and fruit later, we looked in the World of Disney store for their take home treats. Lance chose an ice cream cone, Lauren some Lego, and Graham a bag of CARS. Henry enjoyed the day as well, as you can see.


Saturday Gary and I needed to drive to St. Pete to pick up Michelle’s car which I will be using to get to work because my honey and I can’t carpool unless we happen to have the same work hours. The kids were excited to see us again and we hung around playing with them until they had to leave for playdates. We decided to take the scenic route over the Sunshine Skyway bridge south even though it was out of our way. It was another spectacular day and driving over that beautiful bridge looking at the sparkling water and blue sky is a reminder of why I love Florida. Two hours later we got home, did a few chores, and were invited for dinner with Donna and Ron. We ended up making merry as Donna played her dulcimer and Gary played the guitar. Ron and I sang (if we knew the words). It was a lot of fun and we finally got home around 10:30.

Today I needed to get my own lunch box and we decided it was prudent for each of us to have a phone just in case, so we visited Walmart, picked up another TracFone and some minutes. Sixty bucks for peace of mind. We won’t use it for conversations, so the minutes should last a long time. We chose the phone with double minutes for a lifetime – not a bad deal – and no contract.

Then Gary started to get ready for work (4pm-midnight) in his Ben costume after having a hot meal and packing a sandwich for dinner break.

It sure is strange to be alone again. But there is plenty of people and activities around here to keep me busy if I want. I kind of like a little peace, now and again, though, and I only have one day left before time clocks and commutes.