Grilled Cheese and Lots of Family

I started my week off by going to Animal Kingdom with my friend Will. I'm embarrassed to say that it was my first time there. I have been here in Florida for so long, but just never made it over to Animal Kingdom. Whenever I have time for a park day, I just love going to Hollywood Studios or Magic Kingdom so much to try something else. But we had fun at AK! The park was practically empty so we got to do almost everything. We walked on a nature path and saw animals like zebras and gorillas. Then we went on the Kilimanjaro safari ride and saw even more wild animals. Hippos, giraffes, warthogs, and elephants. I didn't take many pictures because I want to enjoy the ride like a regular human. The animals were out in a "natural environment" and the safari car drove right next to them! It was surreal. We then saw the It's Tough To Be a Bug show that is inside the big Tree of Life, which is AK's icon. We ate lunch at an African market and had Dole Whip with coconut rum and it was soo good. The park is huge and it was so hot that day, but I still had a lot of fun! We saw the Nemo show, which was amazing, and the Lion King show. We rode Expedition Everest, a roller coaster that has a great view of Orlando and goes backwards for most of the ride. We sat in front row and then rode again and sat in the very back row before the park closed. I could see Spaceship Earth when we sat in the front!  I felt like a child experiencing parts of Disney for the first time again, and I loved it.

Gorilla butt

I opened Spaceship Earth on Thursday at 6:30 am and when I got off, my Grandpa Vicchy and Grandma Sandy came to my apartment and took me to see my Aunt Debi for lunch. A lot of my mom's side of the family has moved to Florida, so it's nice when I am able to see them, especially since I am so far from home. We ordered Mexican food and we updated each other on our lives.

Chelsi, Mary Holland, and me

On Saturday, there was a half marathon (that got shortened because of the bad weather) and I had to work from 10pm- 4 am. Yes, 4am. Most of the college programers worked that shift too, so we made it fun. But we were all shocked when we saw that on our schedule. Mary Holland is a genius organized a panini party so we all brought ingredients for grilled cheese. A few people called in "sick" so there were barely enough people there to fill every position. It was tough getting our breaks or having someone free to run errands if we needed something. We had to entertain ourselves so sometimes we would do accents and pretend like we were British or robots from the future. Guests loved it and it helped the time go by. Some of the guests were dressed up in Disney gear and the best costume I saw was of Zenon, a girl from an old Disney Channel movie. A lot of them thanked me for being up so late so they were able to enjoy the park. My co workers and I would congratulate most of the people who participated in the race and some people really appreciated it, but some were bitter that the race was cut in half. But I told them that I couldn't have done it and it was still a huge accomplishment! At the end of the night, I was going delusional even though I had had lots of caffeine and two delicious grilled cheese sandwiches. When I got home at 5 am, I realized that I had left my key in my apartment, so I had to go to security so they could let me in. I have never done that before and it was such a great day to lock myself out! I got to bed around 5:30 am, but that night was definitely an adventure.

We were soooo tired

My Aunt Lyndy and Uncle Bill, from my dad's side, came to Florida to stay at the beach and spent a day in Orlando to visit me! It just so happened that they were here on the same day as the marathon, so after I got to bed at 5:30, I woke up at 10 so we could spend the day at Epcot as guests. We rode Spaceship Earth and then Soarin' and they loved both rides! We walked around the World Showcase and ate lunch at Germany. We split some brats and potato salad, and I told them that the first time I came to Epcot was when I was 11, and my dad made an executive decision that we were going to eat at the dinner buffet in Germany and that is one of my few memories of my first visit to Epcot. At that time I was not happy about it, but at 23, it was delicious! And this time, I also got a grapefruit beer that tasted like soda. We then went to the huge merchandise store and they bought some souvenirs for their grandkids and I got to use my cast member discount. It was so fun showing them around my park and getting to catch up after not seeing each other in over 4 years. I started a shift at 3pm that afternoon and I almost fell asleep standing up before my shift was over! I was exhausted, but I got to sleep later. I had a great week and it was definitely worth it. With the holidays coming up soon, I will take any chance I can get to see some of my family, no matter how little sleep I'll get.

xx