I've truly earned my ears!!!!

I am now a Disney International Program graduate!!!! We all graduated yesterday and it was brilliant! I cannot believe our entire arrival group has lasted out the year, no terminations, no self terming....

Vikki, Lauren N, Nicola and I spent the night at The Swan which is a really nice resort. We were upgraded to a room offering a view of the Tower of Terror. We all had a fairly early night (after a meal at Garden Grove) as I made everyone get up at 5am the following morning. With four girls and only one bathroom, I knew we'd need all the time we could get. Turns out I was the only one up and about though, the rest pulled themselves out of bed about an hour later.

Once we were all dressed, we went down to the lobby and took photos by the fountain. Then we caught a taxi over to the Coranado Springs where our graduation was being held. We arrived twenty minutes early but most people were there so we all mingled and took photos. I must be in at least 20 different peoples pictures. At 8am, they let us into the ballroom. It looked amazing. There were lots of round tables all set up with balloons and graduation hats and there was a full buffet breakfast. Everyone was going round taking photos with everyone else and to be honest, I barely ate a thing as there was so much else going on. Over in one corner were about 15 caricature artists and everyone got a caricature for free. Mine was okay; the artist drew me as Peter Pan so I was pretty happy but some of the pictures were awful. It was like the artists decided to choose the thing you were most self conscious about and accentuate it.

Over on the other side of the room was Mickey and Minnie. For the first time, you had to have a photo with them seperately which was a bit of a bummer. I queued for Mickey but I'm not a big Minnie fan so I didn't bother with her. Mickey was wearing green too so it was a pretty "green" picture!

We were all given our graduation ears which I wore for the rest of the day. Our arrival group managed to get a photo together which was important as I'm really proud that we've all finished our year. So many times I expected one of us to leave. Poor Rhys was very homesick at the beginning, twice I've come close to being termed, Pippa's grandfather died and Nic's had a major operation...It's quite an achievement that we're all still here. All the other arrival groups are missing at least two people. Some are down 50% and I know of one that had only one remaining person at the end!

We were given a speech by someone but to be honest, I really wasn't listening. I was too busy having pictures and giving hugs. Alot of people were graduating at the same time so there were alot of friends to congratulate. There were about 25 UK's and I also had to congratulate my Norweigan mates (particularly Rene, Iselin, Siri and Vader!) and a few Mexicans, Germans and Canadians that we have come to know. Our leaders were there, including Rachid who was reassigned a while ago. I was very happy he came!

As the graduation was winding down, I went back to my table and did a quick change. I put my blue dress over my head and shimmied out of the green right there in the hall. It's bizarre that there were 500 people and no one saw me do it. When people came back to the table, there were some confused looks about how I was wearing an entirely different dress! I wasn't being a diva though, there was just no way I was wearing two and a half inch heels round the park! Plus, I didn't want my green dress ruined. I love that dress!

We all stole the balloons from our table and then headed off into the parks. I went to MK with Vijay, Vikki, Nic, both Laurens, Rhys and Andy. We stole the balloons from our table and had one each. I got the blue green one which was very apt with the dress change! It's tradition after graduation to go round the parks all dressed up and wearing our graduation ears. We had the obligatory photo taken at the castle and then Vijay and Vikki went home. Vijay had work and Vikki was hot. The rest of us took alot of photos and then watched the parade. We also headed over to Toontown where we all got our graduation ears embroided with our name (something Disney lets us do for free!) Andy had had the foresight to make reservations so we had lunch at Tony's, the Italian restaurant on Main Street. I actually really like that restaurant, I'd never been before.

As it was fairly hot, we decided to switch parks and enjoy the air conditioned bus ride over to Hollywood Studios. Once there we did Tower of Terror and the Rock 'n' Rollercoaster. I had a slight dress situation in that I nearly ended up flashing on the ride photo but it was okay. We also watched the Beauty and The Beast show.

By this time we were all flagging a little so we took a break at The Dolphin resort for a drink. Then we went back to MK for Wishes. Standing there watching the fireworks just reminded me of standing there at the beginning of this year thinking "wow, I'm a cast member". Now it's nearing the end.

I can't believe it's nearly over. It's been an incredible year. I've laughed and cried, stressed and played. I've floated home on Pixie dust and cried my eyes out in my room while begging to go home. I've enjoyed my time but I miss my family terribly. Every second I'm here is a second I'm missing with my little niece, she's growing up so fast. I've gotten closer to my sister in the time I've been away which is one of the best things to come out of this year and for once I haven't freaked my mum out with news of lightening strikes, hurricanes or spider bites! I've made some really good friends in Rene, David, Stephie, Vikki and Kevin AND I've even managed to go back on the cruise! In a few more weeks it'll be my throw out and I'll be heading out of the Disney bubble for good. In a way, I'm glad as there's only so much cheese you can take but I'll miss the pixie dust. Still, I may be going home and growing up but I truly believe you can still be a kid at heart. I intend to be like Peter Pan and never truly grow up. As long as there is faith, trust and pixie dust, your dreams can come true.....

Cruising!

It's been a pretty good few days since I last blogged. It would have been excellent except I've been ill for the last three days. Anyway, I left you last on June 8th just before my final AM shift of the week. That went fine and once we were done, Vikki, Nia and I went to the Florida Mall for the evening. I needed some shoes for my graduation dress, Vikki needed a dress and Nia just needed some retail therapy! We spent the whole evening there and I picked out a really nice blue and white dress that I thought would look good on Vikki. It didn't look good, it looked absolutely amazing! She is so pretty anyway but that dress really makes her look beautiful. I am so jealous! Still, I feel a sense of pride that I helped pick it out. Especially as it was the only one in the whole shop and it just happened to be her size!

We went on the cruise this week and it was brilliant. It felt really weird for me though. I never expected to even see the Wonder ever again but I got a huge thrill of excitement when I saw her in Port Canaveral. It was a strange mix of the familiar and unfamiliar. I knew the ship, I knew the procedures, I knew where everything was and the difference between forward and aft but I didn't know what the guests could do and I've never had whole areas of the ship that are off limits before. I can see why people would come on a cruise and decide "wow, I want to work here!" The guests are treated so well. Plus, there is just so much to do! We were busy from the second we came onboard.

Our first night we got onboard at around 1pm and had a buffet lunch at Beach Blanket Buffet (Deck 9, aft). Then we had a quick look round the ship and I said hello to the people who remembered me. We played shuffleboard out on deck 4 and then played the gameshow Mickey Mania. That was followed by the very impressive show, The Golden Mickeys and then dinner in Animators Palate. That is a great restaurant. It starts off in black and white and changes to colour throughout your meal. Even the server uniforms change! I ditched the boys for an hour while they went up to the hot tubs on deck 9 so I could go and say hi to a few friends. I spent an hour in Flounder's Reef Nursery (Deck 5) reminiscing with Neil and Yuri. Neil still tells a certain story about me to the new hires and it's my claim to fame on the Wonder (and the Magic as Neil told them too!) I can't repeat it here but I know for a fact, anyone on that ship knows what I'm talking about. Oh yeah, and Stephen? Say anything and I'll give your class full permission to attack you with Hannah Monatana CD's!

The second day was Kevin's 24th birthday. We docked in Nassau and Captain Henry gave the same lame "we've found Nassau" joke that I've heard a million times. I'd arranged for the cabin to be decorated for Kevin's birthday so we had to get Kevin out of the cabin as fast as we could. The poor guy must have wondered what the rush was!

AJ, Kevin and I had booked a shore excursion out to Blue Lagoon Island where we did the sealion interaction. It was great! We got to stroke, touch, kiss, hug and play with our sealion, Maggie. We even touched her tongue and teeth! I was a bit disappointed that you couldn't swim with them though.

Once we got back to the ship, we'd missed lunch so we ordered room service which is free on the ship!!!! We ordered so much food and relaxed for a while. Then Kevin went off to play Bingo and AJ went upstairs to sun himself on deck. I had a slight headache so I took some Resolve and slept for a while. When we all got together again, we went to see Toy Story The Musical - a new show for me too as it was Hercules when I was onboard. It was a decent enough show but not as impressive as the Golden Mickeys and not as Magical as Disney Dreams (my favourite). After the show, we had dinner at Parrot Cay (Deck 3). Our server brought over a cake for Kevin which was really cool. We finished the day by watching "Up" in 3D which is a really good movie but the beginning was so sad I was in tears!

Our final day we docked at Castaway Cay, Disney's private island. We had another very busy day! We hired bikes in the morning and cycled out to the observation tower on the island (I think that must be new, I don't remember seeing that before!) Then we hired floats and sat back on huge rubber rings in the ocean. The water was so warm it was like bath water. Salty bath water, anyway. Next we did snorkel lagoon which I wasn't too keen on. I love to snorkel but there needs to be something interesting to look at. All they had was sand. I ended up going right to the back to find something to see and then had to kill myself swimming back. Finally, we did the stingray encounter where we snorkelled with huge stingrays. It was okay but nothing spectacular. Still, we managed to get some relax time on the beach too so it was a nice relaxing day.

We missed lunch again so we ordered more roomservice (free?!?! I may have mentionned that before!) Then we went down to see my absolute favourite show, Disney Dreams. It's had a little bit of a makeover since I last saw it which was nice as it wasn't all exactly the same. Still, Peter Pan was still the main lead and the songs were all the same and I sat there watching it with a huge smile on my face.

After the show it was dinner at Tritons followed by a few meet and greets with the characters. Then we watched "Til We Meet Again" which is a short goodbye and then headed for bed.

The day we disembarked the ship, Captain Henry was at the gangplank. He not only remembered me but he knew my name! Even after all this time! I felt quite special!

We got a taxi back to The Commons where I slept for a few hours and went to work. Work was pretty good. I had one five top that were especially lovely. Their meal came to $95 and the tipped me $65 on top! That's the best tip I've ever had and I was really grateful for it.

The last three days I've been in pain. I won't say why as it's not very nice but it's been a nasty three days. I've had to call in sick at work, pretty much one of the first times I've done that! Still, I'm feeling alot better now. So glad it's sorted.

So, once again, you're up to date. I've got a few days of work (and I'm hoping to pick up some mids) and then it's graduation! Guess that will be my next report!

Pixie dust...

Well, here we are well into June. I can now say I go home next month and a huge part of me is so glad. I've missed my family and friends so much. I didn't expect it to be this hard. I've been travelling since I was nineteen so I thought it wouldn't affect me. However, a year is a very long time and little Isobel is a big reason to want to hurry back. I've been gone for a third of her life. She will have grown so much in the time I've been away and I missed it. I have actual nightmares where I wake up in a cold sweat because I've been dreaming that I saw her in the airport and I didn't know her. Or worse, she didn't know me.

Things have been up and down here. I'm in my final two months so things will move quickly from here on out but I've got alot to look forward to. Firstly, I'm going on a cruise! No, not to work, like I'm going to take THAT bullet again? Please! No, I'm going as a guest. It's Kevin's birthday in a few days and we've had the time booked off for a while so we decided, "why not take a cruise?" I've never done it as a guest before. Part of me is excited but another part of me thinks that I'll step back on that ship and think "yikes, I've got to go to work!" I wonder if they'll be anyone on there that remembers me? I've been in touch with a few people but most of them have finished and the one guy I could rely on to still be there is on vacay! Annoying!

Once I get back from the cruise, I only have about a week before graduation. Vikki and I got our invites this morning. I've never graduated anything before. Being British, we don't really go in for graduations except at University. Even at college I ended up crash finishing so I could go travelling. I'm looking forward to everyone getting together to say, "we did it!"

Once graduation's done, it'll be Independance Day, then my last couple of weeks. I plan to work quite a few shifts so I can make a bit of cash for home. Then it'll be all the nitty gritty bits, like returning my costume, giving in my ID, packing, our throwout....Once I leave the Commons, I've got a few days staying on International Drive. I plan to chill out and get my head together. Really enjoy my last few days here in Florida. Then I go home and I get to see my mum and my sister and my little niece and my brother. Beyond that, I haven't really thought about things.

When I said things are up and down here, the down side is David went home yesterday. He wasn't due to leave until two weeks after me but he'd had enough so he self termed. I really miss him. I saw him off yesterday; helped take his cases to the taxi and watched it take him away and I felt really bummed out. It made me question why I'm here. What am I staying for?

I was not my normal self at work. Everyone knew it and I got alot of hugs. During the preshift meeting, I tried to stay invisable. To my horror, our manager Alicia decided to do a morale boosting exercise. She made everyone say why they applied for Disney and why they stay working here. I was mortified because not two hours before I'd been sobbingly asking myself those questions! I tried to hide but she saw me and asked. I told her I wasn't feeling very "Disney" right then and could she maybe ask someone else? She said everyone had to do it and again I asked if she could just make something up and take that because she would not like the answer. Nope, she pushed so I came out with "I came here because I wanted to and I stay because I only have 45 days left to suffer through before you let me go home!" To anyone who knows me, that is a very unusual attitude for me to have but I was NOT in the mood. I felt like Disney was making me jump through hoops and it was the only answer I was capable of giving right then. Alicia told me she was disappointed in my answer but at the time I didn't care. I'd warned her not to push.

Later that day, Alicia came down and asked me to come to her office. I had to do the "walk of shame" through the kitchen and all the way upstairs to her office. To be fair, Alicia was really nice and asked me what was wrong. I explained it was just a bad day and I was sorry if I ruined her little morale booster but I had warned her not to ask me. Everyone has off days, even me. It surprises alot of people because I'm normally relentlessly cheerful but I am human as well. No one can be happy all of the time. It was just a very poorly timed question. Besides, you can't ask a question and then complain if you don't like the answer. If you don't want to know, don't ask!

Today was alot better. I felt better in myself and the black cloud that hovered over my head yesterday seemed to have dispersed. I did magic for my tables and chatted and enjoyed my work. Alicia told me I'd "found my pixie dust again".

So, that's where I am now. I've rediscovered my pixie dust and I can fly again, albeit a little wobbly on the take off. I feel alot more positive and Cynical Tori has taken a vacation for a bit and hopefully won't come back for a while. It's not that this job is any worse than others I've done. In fact, most of the time I enjoy it but occasionally I get down about things. Being so far away from home doesn't help either. Still, I intend to enjoy my last couple of months because I'll be home soon and I bet I'll be wishing I was back here! Human nature, huh?

So, until next time....I'm off. You'll find me flying past the second star to the right and straight on 'til morning!