Saturday 09th December 2006: Traditions, Space Shuttle Launch and EPCOT
Today I had to be up 6am to catch a bus at 7am. We had to go to Disney University today for something called Traditions, which involved wearing professional attire. It was basically a very tiring day involving two hyperactive members of Disney staff talk about Disney, business ethics, harassment etc. We all felt it went on for too long and could have been shortened into half a day. The only good thing was that we got our Disney IDs which let us into the parks for free and our name tags, which everyone was really excited about. Mine says Stephanie on it and then underneath it says Portsmouth, England.
Another cool thing was that we had to eat lunch in the Magic Kingdom staff canteen as the university’s canteen was closed. When we were queuing up for lunch we saw Ariel getting her lunch, she had the full makeup and red wig on but she was wearing jeans and a t-shirt - it looked really strange. Then when we sat down we saw Belle, Alice from Alice in Wonderland and Wendy from Peter Pan all done up in hair and make up apart from they were all wearing casual clothes - it was a really surreal moment!So about 6.30 Beth, Me, Celsey, and two Canadian girls - Felicity from Toronto and Caroline (pronounced Caroleen) from Montreal, Quebec went across to the Mall to buy some gloves, as it was cold but couldn't find any. Then we all got a taxi with Rob and Johnny to EPCOT to watch the Illuminations show.
EPCOT is the park that I will be working in - it stands for Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow. Or as I like to say Every Person Comes Out Tired, or as the staff like to say Every Paycheck Comes On Thursday(which is does) and Experimental Polyester Costume Of Tomorrow! Anyway one half of the park is futuristic with new technology exhibitions and lots of different rides, while the other half is a World Showcase featuring different pavillions of countries in life size versions.
We used our disney IDs for the first time and got into the park. We were very excited as this was our first time in a Disney parks since we had got there. When we arrived we stood by the fountain and watched the Space Shuttle take off, which was amazing but because we were so far away all you could seee was a light going staight up in the air. Hopefully during the year i will be able to go closer to Cape Caniveral to see the shuttle launch and get better photos. We then walked over to the World Showcase through lots of Christmas lights and trees and went to the UK for fish and chips. Then we mosied through many other countries and settled in Japan to watch the fireworks. They were absolutely amazing! They set them off in time to music and it was a spectacular display!
Pics L to R, Set 1: Pic 1 - Lyndsay, Celsey, Kirsty & Zoe; Pic 2 - Johnny, Beth, Me & Carla (Pic 1 & 2 on our way to Traditions at Disney University); Pic 3 - My name badge; Pic 4 - Me wearing my name badge; Pic 5 - Me at Disney University; Pic 6 - Disney sign; Pics 7 to 9 - Space shuttle launch (view from EPCOT).
Pics L to R, Set 1: Pic 1 - Lyndsay, Celsey, Kirsty & Zoe; Pic 2 - Johnny, Beth, Me & Carla (Pic 1 & 2 on our way to Traditions at Disney University); Pic 3 - My name badge; Pic 4 - Me wearing my name badge; Pic 5 - Me at Disney University; Pic 6 - Disney sign; Pics 7 to 9 - Space shuttle launch (view from EPCOT).
Middle Pic - EPCOT Ball at Night (very pretty and all the xmas decorations).
Set 2, Pics 1 & 2 - EPCOT'S Xmas Tree; Pic 3 - View of EPCOT Ball and Xmas tree from Japan; Pic 4 - Beth, Johnny and Me (by Xmas tree outside America); Pic 5 to 9 - IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth and Fireworks.
