DCP Update

Less than 3 weeks until I start my adventure as a Disney Cast Member.

I got the name of one of my roommates at the beginning of November. We've talked through email and instant messenger and I really think we're going to get along. We seem a lot a like which is pretty cool. I got pretty lucky for a random roommate generator =)

A few weeks ago, I got really freaked out. I guess it was around the 'one month until departure' mark. I was ready to call it all off, but I realized I'll regret it if I do, and I'm not alone. I'm sure all the other DCPers are freaking out too. It's going to be a real soul searching experience, that scares me haha but I am excited. I finally bought my plane ticket!

I finished up my academic life at UMBC for the next 6 months (hopefully all went well haha) and then I had to prepare to move out of my apartment within 36 hours. The moving process was interrupted by a surprise going away party for me. I was truly touched, it just meant a lot to me. It was my opportunity to get pictures with everyone, say goodbye. Theres even a poster that everyone signed that I'm bringing with me.

18 days!

Another Adventure

About a month ago, I applied for the Disney College Program. I had my interview, sent in my application and anxiously awaited for a response. One week ago, I received my acceptance. The Walt Disney Company had offered me a spot in the program with the role of Merchandise. Less than 24 hours ago, I accepted the position.

I knew if I didn't accept it, I'd regret it the rest of my life. There were a few things holding me back, like my friends, family, pets, organizations etc. But I knew this wasn't going to come my way again, and it could really help me not only with my career, but help me grow as a person as well.

I am a bit worried about leaving my friends, for I've noticed that even with a few of us living on opposite ends of campus, we've grown apart - what's living states apart going to do?

I'm pretty excited, but freaking out at the same time. I've been in a 10 mile radius of my house all my life, excluding my week in CA and week in Japan, but you catch my drift. 5 months away! Wow.

I leave January 7, 2009 and return May 15, 2009. This experience isn't necessarily a vacation, but I think documenting my time in this blog is appropriate, so keep a look out!

Japan Day 7/Post Trip Reflection

We woke up really early since it took 2 hours to get to the airport. So my last day in Japan was all travel.

The trip was pretty amazing. When anyone asks me "How was Japan?" I can only respond with, it was crazy. It's hard to believe that I actually went. I'm definitely more cultured now - I forced myself out of my little box where I only eat American food. Mike had a big part in forcing me out of my comfort zone. The trip was also satisfying in that I worked for it. I paid for everything myself - no help from mom and dad. Sure, it ate away at almost all of my internship money (this trip + the Disney adventure took most of my earnings haha) but it was worth it.

I'm inspired to travel to Italy (I love Italian food) and Australia. Who knows what's next for my travels :)

Japan Day 6

My final full day in Japan. We ventured a little out of Tokyo to visit Mike and Sole's friend Sanae who studied abroad at WAC. I got to see a real Japanese home and experience Japanese home cooking. Sanae and her family were incredibly nice!

After brunch, we met Siggy and headed over to Tokyo Tower. Tokyo Tower looks like the Eiffel Tower, but in fact is bigger. Apparently all major fight scenes in anime and Japanese films take place at the Tokyo Tower. The view was exquisite. Unfortunately we could see the storm and the direction it was moving: towards Tokyo Disney, so it ruined my plans of going into the Tokyo Disney resort for my final night. *Sigh* oh well.

We looked around Tokyo Tower, doing some last minute shopping. I also enjoyed the Mega Mac from McDonald's, which I am proud to say I ordered myself - yay for pointing at menus! The Mega Mac has two extra beef patties. I ate the whole meal - it was absolutely amazing. I felt it for awhile, it was an exhausting experience, but it was incredible.

We headed to Shibuya so I could see it at night. The lights were pretty awesome. We stopped to to parikua, which is quite popular in Japan. It was so fast paced, it was overwhelming and thus the reason why I have two main faces.

We walked around the town - I took it all in. It was my last night in Japan for possibly the rest of my life. We went into various places and ended up at McDonald's (again haha) for some treats. The night was full of packing and drifiting off to sleep for my full day of travel the next day.

Japan Day 5

Another late start, but that was a-ok. We started our day in Ueno, where at the station there was a Hard Rock Cafe. I got my collective toothpick holder, but we didn't actually eat there in an effort to culture me. Ueno is a little like Asakusa in that it's tons of shopping. It was just streets and streets filled with various vendors. There was the same shoe store on every street. It was packed with food, fish, clothes - everything. The owners of each stand would yell out to advertise their products and prices. There was one stand that sold fresh fruit on a stick. I enjoyed some chicken and potatoes for lunch - I justified my food choice in that it was in fact purchased on the street, not at a worldwide American chain. They had a gaming center where one floor was just claw machines - in one of them you could win a fish. Crazyness.

After Ueno we headed to Akihabara which had an 8 floor electronics store. They had everythign from ipods to dishwashers. It was like Best Buy but 10 times bigger. We then headed to Shinjuku to meet up with Hiroki, Siggy and a few of her friends. Hiroki was Mike and Siggy's "buddy" meaning he helped them get used to Japan and the school when they first arrived.

We had dinner at Tiki Tiki, a Polynesian restaurant. We all got pretty drinks that fit the atmosphere perfectly. Then the dancers came out and beckoned Hiroki to join them. He did a fine job. As he was dancing, I turned to Mike and said "next time, I'll dance." Mike says "Maria wants to dance!" and Hiroki took the opportunity to end his public dance show. He tied the hula skirt around my waist and handed me the pom poms. I figured I'm in Japan, what the hell? So I gave it all I got haha. I got a free pretty drink for it too!

The food was fantastic and I really bonded with everyone there. Mike said Siggy and I would have been best friends if I hadstudied abroad there. As a group, we ordered the ginormous parfait and pretty much killed it. It was an excellent night.

Japan Day 4

We slept pretty late today and didn’t really get a start until the afternoon, but it was fine – we all really needed sleep. We went to Asakusa which had this long low of shopping and food with a temple at the end. These shops had tons of souvenirs; luckily I had gone to the bank before we got there. I got a melon frozen drink there, it was absolutely delicious. Towards the end of the row we got lunch – I got fried noodles. I was less awkward with the chopsticks and even enjoyed my food. We topped lunch off with ice cream – I went for the melon flavor. It tasted just like cantaloupe – absolutely amazing.

We went into the temple, which was pretty cool. I felt like the tourists may have been disrupting the prayer going on, but they kept us far enough back. Outside and inside the temple they had fortunes. I did one inside the temple. You put in a dollar and shake the can so it disperses one little stick that tells you what drawer to pull out for your fortune. Mine was very bad – it said I wouldn’t get what I was chasing after, my wishes were hard to read and that I shouldn’t make trips. If you receive a fortune you don’t want – like I just did (especially with the trip part…), you tie it around one of the wires on the racks they have there.

We walked a little more around Asakusa and then headed to see Mike’s school: Meiji Gakvin University. The school was gorgeous, although we couldn’t walk around it much since it was closed for summer. We then walked the 20 minute walk Mikey had to make everyday to go back to the station to return to his dorm. We went food shopping and Mike made a fantastic stir fry for us!

Japan Day 3

Another early day - but not quite as early as day 2. We boarded the train for our adventure to DisneySea located in Maihama. My one request for my stay in Tokyo was to go to Tokyo Disney. I chose to go to the DisneySea park rather than the Disneyland one was that DisneySea is unique to Tokyo – there’s no other park in the world that is like it. We had a couple train changes – one in Tokyo Station. This station is ginormous – it’s like Grand Central Station. While on the train, someone asked Mike if he was familiar with the train system – and was grateful we spoke English.

As we got off at our stop I was filled with excitement – I could see all the Disney signs and eventually saw the castle. I was glad I could see the castle, that was the one thing I was upset I wouldn’t get to see, but I saw it! We wandered around until we realized we had to take the monorail to the park entrance. The train had Mickey shaped windows and Mickey shaped rings for the people standing. It was very Disney.

As we got to the park, we went through a long line until actually entering the park. We followed the crowd to the first attraction which was Journey to the Center of the Earth. It was a mine car like ride. We went on 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea (with a FastPass luckily) which was kinda disappointing. This park had a Little Mermaid and Aladdin section which was really cool. I felt like I was actually in the movie.

DisneySea lacked attractions – it was mainly places to eat and scenery. I don’t regret going at all – the park was absolutely gorgeous and the Italy sections made me want to go to Italy. We took a gondola ride where our obviously Japanese rowers told us they were Italian haha. There was an American land that had the Tower of Terror. It was different than the ones in America, which was awesome. I loved the architecture and the ride is always fantastic.

We had lunch in a Mexico-ish land, where they had mandolin players. We waited in line for the Indiana Jones ride – by the way, Indiana Jones was there. So cool – they had a lot of more obscure characters. I got pictures with Marie, Daisy, Scrooge and of course Indiana Jones. There are different characters popular in Japan – they really like Stitch, Marie, Donald and Chip & Dale. Basically, Kt would be in heaven. We waited in line for Storm Runner which is an attraction like Star Tours but instead of being in space, you’re journeying into the eye of a storm. We even got wet!

We got Cappuccino popcorn (they had a different flavor at every stand, it was pretty cool) and then we did our shopping and headed back. I was in and out of sleep starting at 8:30. I was probably dead asleep by 9:30/10:00.

Japan Day 2

We got up around 4 – taking advantage of my jet lag, and went to the fish market in Tsukiju. We arrived at 6:00am and there were a lot of people there. We walked around and picked a spot for sushi. We waited for 20 minutes until we were seated. It was insanely overwhelming. I’ve never had sushi before, and I don’t speak a word of Japanese. I first had shrimp with wasabi and rice. Not bad – but next I tried squid, and almost vomited. This turned me off to everything else – but Mike enjoyed my leftovers. We walked around the town for a bit, coming across a temple which was gorgeous. We went for coffee at Starbucks. I got a tall which was so tiny – everything in Japan is so much smaller. We sat and chatted – I heard all about Mike and Minsu’s friends who left the week before my arrival. It was around 9, and we were tired so we headed back to the fort for a break. I checked my email and slept amazingly – no crazy dreams!

After a nice break, we headed of Hiroshuku which has tons of shopping. If you recall Gwen Stefani’s posse – they were the Hiroshuku girls. Japan is really into fashion, so it was packed. There was a variety of styles, but I couldn’t find much that I liked, but when I did it was quite pricey. As Mike said, “It’s expensive to be punk in Japan.” Although there was a three level dollar store, excuse me, 100 yen store there. We met up with Mike’s friend Signe – another international student from Australia. We searched for some coffee, and on the way I stumbled across the store made for me – an entire Elvis, rockabilly shop. The sad thing was – I could point out at least ten things I already owned in the shop.

We decided to eat at the Elephant Café which was absolutely gorgeous. We ordered a variety of foods which I tried but didn’t really care too much for. I got some cake that was chocolate, cream and strawberries – that was quite good! The restaurant was dark with elephants and various other statues. After a nice relaxing dinner, we walked up to Shibuya which is like the Time’s Square of Tokyo. We went to the Disney Store so we could buy our tickets for DisneySea. Just from the store I could tell different characters were popular here. After purchasing our tickets, we went to Starbucks (again haha) which was on the second floor. So we hung out and talk while witnessing the crazyness going on below on the streets. We were pretty tired, so we headed back to Mike’s place. I showered, called my mom and went right to sleep.

Flight/Japan Day 1

My flight left Dulles around 1:00pm and traveled over the United States and the Pacific Ocean for 14 hours. I flew ANA and I highly recommend it. They served us well, and even in economy there was nice foot room. Each seat had it’s on TV and you could choose what movie you wanted to watch. They even had a camera on the plane so you could see the sky. It was really cool to see the little shadow of the plane as we took off. We passed over Alaska and Canada so that was pretty cool. The flight went by pretty fast, surprisingly. I hardly read, I tried sleeping but that didn’t work out too well.

We landed in Narita early (3:15pm), even though our flight was delayed 40 minutes. I followed the crowd, while chatting with a new friend who was stationed in Tokyo, through immigration (where I was finger printed), baggage claim and customs. I walked out the door and didn’t see Mike. I was worried for a bit, deciding when the proper time was to freak out. But soon enough, I saw him, so I ran (well quickly walked, I had luggage!) to him. He didn’t see me and thus why our first encounter was a body slam rather than a hug.

He gave me a train pass and we boarded the first of a few trains back to his dorm. We chatted the way – catching up, him giving me details on various things in/about Japan. I took a shower as soon as I got in, and then met his friend Sole who is staying with him as well and later met his friend Minsu who is an international student. We walked around his town in search of dinner – the wanted restaurant was closed so we ended up at McDonalds, which I was ok with since by this point it was 7:00pm and I was starting crash. My body wasn’t very hungry – not even for McDonalds. I was in bed by 9 – I slept on the top loft while Sole and Mike went to Minsu’s. I tossed and turned all night. My brain was so overwhelmed by the day’s events that they all came together at once causing not a very nice sleep.

Pre Japan

So...in 21 hours I leave - which means in 35 hours, I'll be in Japan.

I'm still packing because I apparently really like to procrastinate on that. I just hope I did everything I needed to do for the trip.

I'm a bit nervous about traveling solo, but I think I'll be ok. I'm wearing my Jonas Brothers concert shit so people will think I'm 11 and cut me some slack haha.

So exciting!

Post Trip Reflection

This trip for Katie and I was more than just a vacation, it was life changing in a way. I know that sounds ridiculous, but it's true. The trip exposed us to a lot of different working environments - we saw what the world has to offer, and now we want to experience more. I've written most of this blog while at work - and reminiscing makes me feel a little better about my day.

At the beginning of the trip Michelle told us we would all be best friends by the end, and we would be crying at the end. I didn’t believe her, but surprise it happened. It takes awhile for me to feel comfortable around people but I felt at ease with my fellow adventurers. We all had similar tastes and I knew they wouldn’t judge me for my qurkiness. It was really nice to know I was accepted for me right off the bat. It's hard to find that on a college campus.

I met some incredible people on this trip and I'm really glad I got to share it with them. Our guides - Quinn and Michelle - I'm going to miss them the most. They made this adventure an experience I definitely will not forget. They're responsible for us getting closer as a group, and thanks to them I feel I have 37 more friends. Each person has a place in my heart (awwww).

I finally got to go to California, and I did it in style! Definitely the best trip I have ever taken - I wonder how much more incredible it would have been if I was perfectly healthy? Hmm maybe I should take another adventure and find out...

Day 6 - Now It's Time To Say Goodbye

I woke up feeling absolutely horrible. The long days had caused my cold to catch up to me. I also woke up burning hot - I thought it may have been the fever, but I had all the covers on me all night - I was so out of it, I didn’t wake up to take off some of the blankets. We started packing and headed down to breakfast a little after 7.

As soon as we entered the Storybook Café, which was in our hotel, I saw Meeko, which already made me feel a little bit better. We sat down, and our waitress was seriously the nicest server I have ever had. She was only responsible for beverages since it was a buffet but she brought over juice immediately, along with Mickey Mouse waffles, and she was always there refilling my coffee. I don’t know, she just stuck out.

The characters came around - first was Meeko and he gave me the best hug I have had in a very long time. It was the hug I needed. I call them epic hugs. Later was the bear from Brother Bear (which I haven't seen so it's ok I don’t know his name, unlike Katie who has seen it!), then Chip and Dale. Let me just say, this Chip…..he was not fun. He was totally lame, and it upset me. Dale was fine, I adored him and he appreciated my shrit (which was Chip n Dale). Turk came around and I don’t really like monkeys, but it went well.

I started getting emotional gain - since I felt awful and it was the last time I'd everyone. And I was talking to Michelle again about life and dreams and yeah the water works just started. Then Meeko came around again, and I told him I needed another one of his epic hugs - and that’s just what I got. Then I started tearing up again. We explained it was our last day and we were very sad about it, we didn’t want to leave. Meeko dried my tears and gave me another hug. Then music started playing, which was the que for all the characters to dance along with anyone else who wanted to join (mainly children though) - much like the dancing at Goofy's Kitchen.

Meeko grabbed my hand, and led me into the line going around the room and eventually ending up in a circle in the middle of the room. They called out moves for us to do, so I did them. Immediately as the song ended, he grabbed my hand again, and took me back to my table. He high-fived the kids that came up to him as he was escorting me back, but he never let go of my hand. I asked him to come home with me haha that I could be his new Pocahontas, since he implied she was off all the time. I sang to him, and I think he accepted me as his new Pocahontas haha. He gave me one last epic hug and I did feel better. It's an experience I'll never forget.

After breakfast we headed back to the room to finish up packing and head to Disneyland since that is the better park in our opinion. We headed straight for Splash Mountain because we hadn’t gotten a chance to yet and wanted to make sure we got that in. A wave came and hit us write in the side, so I had one wet foot all day. We then boarded the Winnie the Pooh ride, enjoying the ride dedicated to my hubby. We shopped around for Katie's crazy hats and eventually headed over to Pirate's Lair to meet Jack Sparrow.

He was fantastic. When I asked him to sign my shirt, he wanted to sign with all the markers, which I think would have been awesome, but he had me hand them all to him one by one as he examined them, evening smelling a few until he found the right one. He ended up with green, and when he saw that he exclaimed "what, where is the red one!?". So I gave him back the red one. Everytime he tried to cap one of the markers (I had the cap in my hand, he had the pen) he would stumble and ask me to stop moving. He signed my shirt with a very nice signature and as we posed for a picture, he first put it over my face, and then lowered it. He was quite nice and he makes me laugh, we're a cute couple I think. It was Katie's turn, and he stared her down. When one of the pirates came up to him and asked what he was doing, Captain responded with "I'm marking you" and proceeded to chase around people with my red sharpie. He soon returned it and we said our goodbyes. (Don't we look like a cute couple? Don't tell Pooh!)

We explored the island, going through a cave and getting a wee bit lost haha but we made it back to the dock to wait for the raft to take us back. As the raft came over I exclaimed "it's our pirate!" and pointed. It was the same pirate from lunch the other day. He looked at me with such a pirate look, but I think he knew who we were. I like to think so anyway.

We checked out all the shops around Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean, and while in one I realized I was missing my ring, which was my favorite thing that I had bought so far (it’s a single silver ring with a Mickey and a star in my birthstone). I quickly ran back to the bench where we had stopped to apply sunscreen and figure out a game plan, and luckily it was there, yay! We found the infamous Club 33 in our travels - and even saw someone go in! CRAZYNESS

We wandered to Main Street going in all the shops, I was on a missing for a sweatshirt that World of Disney didn’t have my size in. After spending lots of money, we were a bit hungry so we headed to Tomorrowland in search of food. While in line, we saw they were selling Buzz Lightyear Souvenire cups - we discussed and debated and decided to get them, we felt we really would use them again. I have to say, getting the cup was an excellent decision, he is pretty cool. After lunch we went to Innoventions which was actually kinda lame, maybe because it was crowded. But we headed back to Main Street to finish up the shops where I purchased a new set of ears since I got mine when I was a toddler and they were pretty beat up now. We aldo ran into Mary Poppins and Bert!

We decided to go over to California Adventure and wait in line for Midway Mania. On the way, I stopped in a shop and found my sweatshirt! Katie and I got in this mindset where we didn’t really care how much money we spent, in fact we would try to get to 50 dollars so we could get 10% by showing our Disney Visa. It's not going to be fun when that bill comes!

It said it was an 80 minute wait for Midway Mania, but it only took 50. They were pretty good about keeping the line in shaded areas, and they had drink stands right near it. It was worth it too - the ride was pretty incredible and a lot of fun. I was even beating Katie for most of it, but no she had to go and score lots of points in the end. After Midway Mania I wanted a Churro because I smelled them for the past three days and they smelled delicious. So I got my churro, and it indeed was delicious. It was a day of spending money.

We headed back to Disneyland and went on the Storybook Land boat ride which was relaxing and entertaining. We headed to the Enchanted Tiki Room and enjoyed the room where the birds sing words and the flowers too (or croon? It's a mystery!). To end our Disneyland experience properly we headed to the monorail and rode it to Downtown Disney and then walked to our hotel.

We got our bags and strategically packed all our new souvenirs so we wouldn’t have to check more than one bag of luggage - go us! We said goodbye to Quinn and got into the car. Our flgiht was delayed and delayed, it was supposed to take off at 10pm, but it didn’t end up leaving until 1:40 in the morning, but we made it home - back to reality.

Day 5 - Behind the Orange Grove

Another 7:00am day and another character breakfast, this time at Goofy's Kitchen in the Disneyland Hotel. An interesting collection of characters again - Goofy (of course), Pluto, Alice, Gippedo and Jasmine. As soon as Goofy was going to sign my shirt, a song started playing so he left. I wasn’t sure what was going on at first, until Quinn informed me that it was time to dance, and that we had to wait for the song to be over, or we could go dance with him. Would Katie and I ever pass up an opportunity to dance, let alone with Disney characters? Of course not. There was a semi circle of kids just watching, so Katie and I busted through and started dancing with Goofy and the gang. We didn’t really care what people though - we had a grand ole time.

The brunch buffet had a variety of food, including peanut butter and jelly pizza which I didn’t get a chance to try and cupcakes with chocoalte Mickey's on them. We got our shirts signed, and many pictures - during which Jasmine showed us the Princess pose.

It was off to California Adventure! We entered through our hotel - it had its very own entrance to the park. Again, we got to go into the park before anyone else. As we were waiting for our next destination to be ready for us, we took a quick restroom break, put on sunscreen etc. During these activities a horrible thing occurred - Quinn broke the sign. I was hoping they would auction it off - Katie and I would have offered big bucks for that sucker. After the shock of the broken sign, it was time to go to our next destination: Soarin Over California.

We split into our two groups and watched the safety video. The other group's door opened and they boarded the ride. I figured once they were done, we could go on, but when the last person in the Mickey group walked through the door, Michelle said "Ok, come with me." Ooo a surprise! We were headed down stairs, around corners and into a door where we were under the screen for the ride. It's a metal mesh so we could see the Mickey group on the ride, but they couldn’t see us. It's mesh so that the sound from underneath can pass through - there were some big speakers. It was really cute to see everyone swinging their legs and react to what was going on. We then go to experience the ride. It was pretty incredible - I even ducked at one point, it felt that real. The ride ends with a Disneyland scene with fireworks, it was pretty awesome.

After Soarin' Over California we walked through the empty park to the Animation building they had where we did Turtle Talk with Crush. It was pretty neat how he could interact with the audience. There was a feud going on amongst some adventurers over which was better - Disneyland or Disney World. I liked both - I haven't been to Disney World in awhile so I couldn’t make a fair judgment, but I had fallen in love with Disneyland. Anyway, one of the Katie's asked Crush which he preferred - he chose not to answer. But it really bothered me when she said "I hate Disneyland." If it hurt me, imagine how Quinn and Michelle felt. She celebrated her birthday while on this trip and was receiving a lot of special treatment. Even if those were your feelings, have some respect - these people have tried to make your experience magical. It just really bothered me, sorry.

After talking with Crush we learned out to draw Mickey. Katie received all the visual artistic genes - I like to think I received more of the performance artistic genes, even though Katie dances as well - so hers looked amazing. But I was quite proud of mine - I named him Math Major Mickey. His left side was appropriately larger than his right - and I didn’t even do that on purpose! We were cut loose after out drawing lesson.

We thought we should head over to the new Toy Story ride, which opened about a week before we got to California, but we were informed the line was already over an hour long - apparently they allowed peopled to get in line before the park opened. So we decided to do Tower of Terror first, a favorite of ours. Afterwards we found a map and walked around embracing California Adventure. We wondered into the Bugs Life town, where Flik was signing autographs - we ran up to him but he was on his way out. This happened about two more times; we never did get that autograph.

We wandered around trying to find the entrance to California Screamin, and ended up walking around the whole park. We rode one of those rides that’s up high with sudden turns (I can't remember the name). I generally freak out to the point where I am screaming so hard that everyone in a ten mile radius can hear it, but I was proud - I controlled myself. We finally found the entrance to California Screamin and enjoyed the ride. We made a quick call to our guides to see if Ariel's Grotto was going to be part of our surprise - it wasn’t, so we headed over there.

Ariel's Grotto is a character dining place featuring princesses. We found out we had to come back in 30-40 minutes to put our name down. We planned to go watch Muppets in 3D but we got distracted by Stitch along the way. As I was having Stitch sign my shirt, I hear someone asking if they could sign it too. It was Jeremy - a photographer for Disney. As he was asking, Stitch gave him this death stare, it was fantastic. He said he was Jeremy the Jamaican Prince haha, so I said why not and had him sign it along with two other cast members. We made Jeremy's day - he even showed our shirts to Mickey and Minnie saying he signed it, they were very excited for him. So we got pictures with the Jamaican Prince as well. We chatted for awhile, and he told us Ariel's Grotto fills up fast so we headed over there to get our name down ASAP.

We waited about 20 minutes, and luckily we made it in. We headed down the stairs and met Ariel, who was wearing a dress! She asked me if we had left our princes behind, I told her I sadly did not have a prince. She said it was the year of a million dreams, so I might find my prince in Disneyland. She was gorgeous and I loved her hair - it made me miss my full red head.

We were seated outside, with 3 or 4 other groups. It was a nice few of the lake in the middle of the park, along with some of the landmarks in the park. Another huge lunch, but it was delicious. Belle came around first, looking stunning in her yellow dress. I asked her if the Beast was as handsome as he was on TV (seriously, when the Beast transforms into a human, he’s not a bad looking cartoon character). She said he was, but what is on the inside that counts. We talked about Gaston and how I've known a couple Gaston's in my day - Belle and I bonded.

After Belle it was Snow White! She was so honored to meet the Princesses of Baltimore. Yeah, we are princesses; we made crowns for ourselves and everything. I wore it around the rest of the day - it was a good conversation piece. Next was Jasmine, who changed for us. We told her about Adventures by Disney and she said she wanted to join the adventure. I told her we were meeting at the Hyperion theater later if she wanted to join us - she was performing there so I didn’t think she could make it. Saved the best for last: Aurora - my favorite princess. I told her I loved her castle and that she was my favorite - I know I'm a dork, whatever haha.

We enjoyed our relaxing meal since we were burned out from all these long days. We headed over to Muppets in 3D and then back to the hotel because we weren't really feelin California Adventure. We bought some postcards at the gift shop and headed back to the room to relax for a little over an hour until it was time to meet back with the group for our farewell dinner.

We were led backstage into a large room with many nicely decorated tables. I think this is where cast members could get food, but those areas were closed. We had a buffet of a bunch of different food. We all went around the room saying out favorite part of the trip, and this is when it all started to really sink in that it was almost over. My favorite parts were the creature shop, the castle, and getting away from the stresses at home. By this point I had already started to choke up. I was really fighting off this cold from taking complete control (and I was doing a good job) but being ill makes me more emotional.

They showed a slide show containing pictures that they had taken throughout the week, by the end I had shed a tear or two. Then Mickey and Minnie came out so we could take pictures etc. They even danced for us at the end. It was incredible. The feeling that you get at Disney is one you never get elsewhere. I guess it's that Disney Magic. There was also an artist at the dinner who drew a character for each family - we chose Chip for he is crazy but cute (just like us haha).

We stayed and mingled for awhile after the dinner had wrapped up. We talked to Oz and Alex about how we all want to work there, and if we up and move we intend on telling each other so we can all be roommates. We talked to Michelle about how we realized how much happier we are there and how much we love it. She told us how we have to just go for what we want, even if it is scary. It was definitely an emotional evening.

Katie didn't want to go to the fireworks, so she was going to go shopping while I enjoyed the last display in our VIP seats. First we thought about riding Splash Mountain before hand but decided to do California Screamin since it was colder at night and being wet + cold + already kinda sick = not good at all. The ride at night was awesome - we could see the electric light parade, it was just awesome. We caught more of the parade as we tried exiting the park. We had to wait for a break in the parade. I'm running over to Disneyland to make the fireworks, I end up entering where the buses are instead haha. I made it into Disneyland and asked every cast member where my group was. After a phone call and wandering around, I finally found my group. It was quite stressful, but I made it through and enjoyed the show.

I found Katie at World of Disney - it was about 10:00 now. The store was ridiculously packed. I had to get my shopping done, so that’s what we did that night. We spent most of our time in World of Disney but ventured into the other stores of Downtown Disney until eventually making it back to our room where we had to pack up some of our stuff since it was our last night.

Day 4 - Walt's World

We met in the lobby at 7am, and ventured into Disneyland, again through the exit. The park wouldn’t be open for another hour, so we had it to ourselves. Walking up Main Street with it completely empty, having a perfect few of the castle was…..well…..perfect. We all got pictures in front of the castle (with the sign of course!). We saw Snow Whites Grotto, which apparently is quite popular for marriage proposals. After taking in the emptiness of the park and taking as many pictures as possible, we headed back to Main Street for a character breakfast at the Plaza Inn.

As we walk in we're greeted by a collection of characters, including Minnie (it was her breakfast), Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, Chip and Dale. This breakfast was so fast, it was insane. We were in a small area, so it was hard to get in and out for food, but even harder to play with the characters. But I didn't really care. Brer Fox and Hook made appearances as well - it's nice seeing hr more obscure ones.

We chose out seats, and headed for the buffet, which Tigger escorted me to. I ran into Pooh, who was handing out little things of honey, so cute. But I told him how Katie married us 9 years ago, and we hadn't been reunited. Although now that I think about it, we may have seen each other on my last trip, but I don’t think so. Anyway, he gave me a great big hug and I asked him if he would sign over my t-shirt over the heart later. He excitedly agreed :)

Eggs, Mickey Mouse - well Minnie Mouse since she made them - waffles, fruit, french toast, bacon - you name it. It was really great food, and the characters entertained us. Chip and Dale loved Katie's shirt, since it featured them, and got quite excited. We tried to get pictures and autographs of everyone, but it was so crazy we missed out on Brer Fox. The characters had lots of fun which was very entertaining. They locked each other out, did famous moves as the elevator, canoe and escalator, and called each other crazy. It really was a great breakfast.

The sign called - so we fallowed. It took us to the Indiana Jones Ride where we got to go backstage. We saw how the car works, and learned more on how the ride operates. Then through the exit we went and onto the ride! It was cool riding the ride after learning how it all works. I thought it would take away from the magic, but it didn't.

We went to the Big Thunder Ranch, which was currently closed off to the rest of the public - people were jealous. We learned about the animals kept at the park, and how they're even showing some of their horses. We met Figaro, - a lovely donkey, a cow, and many goats who we got to feed. Most of the goats were named after Disney characters and wore a charm that displayed it proudly around their neck. After spending time playing with the animals, it was time to continue our adventure.

We headed towards It's a Small World - which is currently closed for repairs. Tons of thoughts rushed through all of our heads, would we still get to ride it? I didn’t think so since the flume was getting replaced. We entered a door close to the ride and we were officially backstage at Disneyland. You always here that there's a whole city under Disney World - which may be true, but it definitely is a whole 'nother world backstage at Disneyland - it definitely feels like you're backstage at a production. We saw a float close up close and personal and saw where all the performers get ready for the parade. We saw where the fireworks are set off, learned of the technology they use, and how if you live near Disneyland, you have to sign something that says you understand that fireworks will be set off nightly. We saw all the horses that live at the park, and learned how they train them to resist all distractions so they will behave during parades and such. They back silver balloons in their pen along with metal plates so they get used to that feeling if they were to step on one. After walking around backstage, it was time for lunch!

We headed into New Orleans Square for a delicious lunch. We even had a visitor - a pirate. I later coined him "our pirate". He was perfect in the part - we even bonded over the fact that we would much rather find treasure than chase Peter Pan like Hook. He said to one of the other Katie's on the trip that they "were going to go cheese" meaning they were going to take a picture. He was fantastic. After lunch he made us take the oath of a pirate, and then told us we were going on a rigorous journey. We followed him out of the restaurant and for about 15 more feet until we got to the exit of Pirates of the Caribbean. He said it wasn’t long, but we made it! As we boarded the ride, he told us to say hello to his brother for him. The ride is different from what I remember in Disney World, there's a couple more drops and I actually got wet.

After Pirates, it was time for us to split into three groups. Our group first went on the Lilly Bell, which is named after Walt's wife. It was Walt's VIP car - it's very nice with couch like seats and artwork. There's also a light and fan inside the car. We took a trip around the park in style. There was a smoking jacket in the car that Michelle modeled beautifully for us. After our ride we went into a theater and watched a video on the 50th anniversary starring Steve Martin, who got his start in the Magic Shop on Main Street. Oh and it also starred Donald Duck, you can't forget him. After the short film, it was time for our group to see Walt's apartment. Since he was spending so much time in the park working, he built himself an apartment above the firehouse. It was small with one main room functioning as a living room and bedroom with a small counter functioning as the kitchen, and then the bathroom that had a nook for a dresser. The apartment was quite classy and included the famous lamp which is always lit. You could always tell when Walt was in the apartment, for the lamp would be lit in the window because that was where he was working. It now stays lit all the time to represent him. We each got a candle pin to represent this, and we could light it up whenever we needed some inspiration. A few of us got choked up, not gonna lie.

After taking a step into Walt's World (it was the theme!) it was time for the parade, which we had VIP seats for right in front of the train station. The floats were incredible, I especially liked the Little Mermaid one, and the performers were fantastic. The parade was a nice break from walking around all day, especially since I was feeling symptoms of a cold coming on.

After the parade we headed towards Fantasyland. We first rode the Matterhorn since it was completely new to us. I enjoyed it, but Katie expected more. We rode all the major storybook rides including Snow White's Scary Adventure, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (where I swear I saw Figment in the end) and Peter Pan's Flight. After completing Fantasyland we had our five Fastpasses to use. We headed to the Roger Rabbit ride, and then explored Toon Town. Toon Town has Mickey's house, Minnie's house, Goofy's house and Chip and Dale's Tree House.

We went back to Tomorrowland and rode Buzz Lightyear and Space Mountain again. I was more prepared for the photo. We headed back towards Splash Mountain, and had planned to get food along the way. We got distracted by a 1 minute wait for Haunted Mansion and various shops. We got in line for Splash Mountain and was soon informed it was broken.....again. So we hopped out of line and decided we should get food. By this time fireworks were going off like crazy, so we went into one of the shops to escape the noise. We traded pins with some very friendly cast members, who also informed us all food was closed. Uh oh!

We wandered back to Main Street and got our silhouettes done for our mom since we've had them done every other Disney trip. By this time it was past 11. We wandered back into the hotel, running into some other adventurers who gave us some tips on food. We asked the front desk for tips as well. We ventured back out into Downtown Disney.

We decided to get Wetzles Pretzels since it was right outside our hotel. It was a pretty good dinner - I also got a strawberry slushie drink that was very soothing to my throat. My back was seriously killing me by the end of the day, but it was so worth it. I curled into bed and slept for a very short amount of time until it was time to get up for Day 5!