randinicole
just another girl working for a mouse.
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2015
Wednesday, June 24th
Wednesday was another day of ‘On the Job’ training (putting us at day four of eight training days). I worked another 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. shift, which means that you all get to learn about another one of residents at The Seas with Nemo and Friends!
...just kidding!
I know, I know. You’re all so sad that you won’t get to read your third straight post about marine animals.
So, rather than talk about turtles and stingrays and sharks (oh my!), why don’t we talk about my evening at...
drum roll please...
Disney’s Hollywood Studios!
Disney’s Hollywood Studios!
Yes, it is true – this is the day I finally completed the trifecta (...quadfecta, perhaps?...). Anywho, this is the day I can finally say I made it to all four parks!
Jess (my roommate) was off from work and I finished right around 5:00, which meant that we had five prime hours of park time! In order to make the most of our evening, Jess had arranged Fastpasses for For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, and Tower of Terror. However, before we could, I needed to fight the impending doom that was hovering over my car:
OKAY, so that’s clearly not Hollywood Studios...or even central Florida. But I promise that exact scene was happening above my car.
...I even put it on Instagram.
Because Jess and I were meeting at the park, we came in separate cars so we spent the next half an hour texting each other about whether or not we should brave the monsoon occurring outside of our windows.
Luckily, during that half an hour, the storm actually passed so we didn’t really need to worry about it anymore.
Although the gray sky didn’t make for the prettiest of pictures, its ominous presence did help to clear the park tremendously!
After walking down Hollywood Boulevard, Jess and I hung a quick left (and then a right and then another left...) and, somehow, we ended up in Arendelle.
Okay, okay. So we didn’t end up in Arendelle per se, but we did end up in the FastPass+ line for ‘For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration’ and that’s pretty much the same thing.
I like Frozen as a movie a lot, really I do. Granted there are movies that I like better but as a film and story line, I am a fan of Frozen. What I am not a fan of, however, is how Frozen has taken over every single corner of Walt Disney World Resort property. Celebrate the Magic? Frozen Summer Fun? Norway? It’s become too much.
At the conclusion of the Frozen festivities, Jess made a really interesting comment about the sing-along that I really agreed with. She explained that, in her opinion, ‘For the First Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration’ is a really easy and efficient way to appease the Frozen obsession of hundreds of fans each hour in an attraction that well done and satisfying.
I really liked it! It was the first time (in forever...) that I’ve seen the show and even though I probably won’t be rushing back anytime soon, I completely agree with Jess – it’s a great way to give so many guests access to Anna and Esla (and Kristoff
) in a very real and enjoyable way. After Elsa unleashed an unexpected snowstorm on the Hyperion Theater, Jess and I returned to the Kingdom of Hollywoodland. We must not have wanted to stick around for very long however because before I knew it, it was lightspeed to Endor!
So, real talk here folks: I have never ever seen a single Star Wars movie, ever. I couldn’t tell you what a Death Star is, Chewbacca just seems like a large, trunk-less cousin of Snuffleupagus to me, and all I know about Luke Skywalker is that Darth Vader is apparently his estranged father.
ANYWHO, I might not be Star Wars fan of the year (or lifetime, whatever) but my goodness, do I love this ride; it’s thrilling, it’s exciting, and it literally throws me out of my seat from time to time. Fun stuff, people.
Once C-3PO (I seriously just Googled ‘gold star wars robot’ to figure that out, by the way...
) successfully delivered our ship’s rebel stowaway to the Rebel Alliance leaders, Jess and I zipped through Tatooine Traders and headed over to Sunset Boulevard for some dinner before our next Fastpasses were valid. Jess grabbed a Macaroni & Cheese and Truffle Oil Hot Dog from Fairfax Fare while I snacked on some standard-yet-delicious chicken tenders from Rosie’s All-American Café. 
Yum! I’m definitely going to have to try one of these someday.
Yum! I’m definitely going to have to stop ordering these someday.
We finished up our meal just in time to cash in our next FastPass at one of my most favorite rides, aesthetically speaking, Tower of Terror (shocker, Randi likes a ride more for its appearance rather than the actual ride itself).
But seriously, this queue is too much for words.
While we were waiting for our ride to the thirteenth floor, Jess mentioned that occasionally riders can see a reflection of the little girl hidden in the elevator shaft during the drop sequence. I had never noticed it before so I made sure to keep an eye out for her ghostly appearance. I’m almost positive I didn’t see anything this time around but Jess was sure she saw her to the far left-hand side during our drop. I could make out the faint outline of what I guess could be a person’s silhouette but I don’t know, I’m still not convinced. I’m curious if any of you have ever spotted this unusual detail before? I would love to know more about her!
Apparently our side of the elevator didn’t get the ‘hands up’ memo.
Despite the falling rates at The Hollywood Tower Hotel, Jess and I decided to checkout and instead hit an Aerosmith show that night. Luckily, our friend Steven Tyler was able to hook us up with some backstage passes at the last minute and his manager even snagged us a stretch, in fact, it was a super stretch.
Back in March when my family was visiting me on my College Program, we rode Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and, for the first time in my life, our limo played ‘Dude Looks Like a Lady’ which is, without a doubt, my most favorite Aerosmith song.
I haven’t gotten lucky enough to ride the same limo since but mark my words – I will relieve that glorious experience once more before the end of my Professional Internship! When we got out of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster it was already close to the start time of the evening’s Frozen Fireworks Spectacular which meant that I needed to find a quiet shelter. As we began walking toward the center of the park – and, consequently, closer to the fireworks – Jess and I decided to try our luck and see if we could get onto Toy Story Midway Mania before the attraction closed due to the nearby festivities. Well, apparently we timed it oh so well because we not only made it into the queue with mere minutes to spare but we legitimately walked onto the ride. Being the tiny child that I am, I forced Jess to play a quick game of Candy Land with me because a) no one else was in line to get mad at our antics and b) when else can you say you played Candy Land on a larger than life game board using your own body as the pawns? That’s what I thought.
So after reliving our childhoods for approximately five minutes, we finally found ourselves on one of the technologically best rides at Walt Disney World Resort. I know it’s not as new as it once was and more advanced rides have been developed but Toy Story Midway Mania is just so spot-on and fun in my mind.
It must have been a good day for me (or a not so good day for everyone else) because I ranked #1 for highest score of the day in my ride vehicle. Woot woot!
Since our jaunt around the midway didn’t last nearly as long as I was anticipating (I for sure thought we’d still be in the building while the fireworks were going off even though I knew it closed for safety reasons during the show...oh well, it made sense in my mind at the time), Jess and I had to find something else to do (read: had to find somewhere else to hide) for the duration of the Frozen Fireworks Spectacular. Well, considering our location in the park, our options were literally few and far between. Luckily for us though, The Magic of Disney Animation was still open so we ducked inside and decided to sketch a bit while we waited out the nearby explosions.
I am so happy that we hid out where we did because it had been far too long since the last time I participated in an Animation Academy class. The last Disney vacation I went on before my College Program was back in October of 2009 and even then I cannot remember if I did the drawing class or not. I tried so many times over the course of my CP but the wait time for the Animation Academy was unfortunately always much longer than my friends deemed acceptable. Well – tonight was my lucky night because the final class of the evening was starting in just a few minutes and Jess and I were able to sneak in just as the line was about to close.
Our Disney-trained artist decided that for the last character of the evening, she wanted to draw her personal favorite since he hadn’t been requested yet that day. Her choice was someone short, fat, and proud of that. Oh yes, we were going to draw Winnie the Pooh!
Now, we have a special relationship with Pooh Bear and all of his Hundred Acre Wood friends at my childhood home. My older brother is special needs and, when he was younger, the two of us always watched Winnie the Pooh on VHS. When he came to visit in March with my mother and aunt, I realized that my brother Danny still loves Pooh and the gang today just as much as he did fifteen years ago.
I must have hundreds of photos from when Danny got to meet his friends at our Crystal Palace dinner but these two are certainly my favorites. The excitement that he was feeling that night was contagious, it still makes me smile.
So, needless to say, I was very happy to be drawing Winnie the Pooh.
He’s not the most beautiful little guy ever drawn but I love him all the same.
We concluded our drawing class just as the fireworks were wrapping up which was just fine by me. It was at that point that we decided to call it a night – albeit a very successful night – and Jess and I headed out to our cars. We said our fondest farewells to Hollywood (even though Jess would be back the very next day for work as Guest Relations Professional Intern) and before we knew it, we were both asleep in our beds.
I was off the next day and had some very exciting plans that I needed my beauty rest for!
[continued in next post]
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I can never score well on TSM but can max out sometimes on Buzz, its crazy how different they are!!
Needless to say, this was a very awkward hour in my life. 
