"If I were a fatalist, or a mystic, which I decidedly am not, it might be appropriate to sat I believe in my lucky star. But I reject 'luck' - I feel every person creates his own 'determinism' by discovering his best aptitudes and following them undeviatingly," Walt Disney

Hello Friends,

I do apologize for the delay in posting but when I you read this post below you may understand why.  It will probably be a great deal shorter than previous posts and I will not be as descriptive and here's why:

Thursday 11/14-Monday 11/18 - Work. Sleep. Socialize. Sleep. Try and be productive. Work. Sleep.  It seems my early morning shifts at the Emporium have finally rested easily with me - or precisely have not! See, my internal sleep clock now is set from 6 am to 1 pm.  It is now so easy for my to be awake between 2 pm to 5 am with hours of peek alertness being roughly 10 pm- 4 am.  For those of you that know me will know this new "normal" sleep schedule has proven to be the most irritating thing for me. My whole life I have had this un-written rule for myself that I wouldn't let myself sleep past 11 am as it meant my day was, basically, over.  Now of course this isn't true but I just like the idea of waking up in the morning, having a good, solid, day and going to bed at night time.  Thanks to Disney my older ideas and beliefs have been (literally) turned on their heads and I am now nocturnal.

I am trying to take it all with stride though and remind myself I do enjoy my job and the people I work with so it makes it worth it.  There have been many magical moments and great experiences.  My daily productivity is now just measured by how much laundry, grocery shopping, and catching up with family and friends, and job searching/applying I can get done before work. As of late this activity has been low and I know I need to change it.

On the plus side: Monday, 11/18 was my Dad's birthday as well as Mickey and Minnie's 85th Birthday!  My Dad enjoys sharing his birthday with those two (I think part of thinks "of course I do, there's no one else better" wink!)

Tuesday, 11/19 - Mary Kate picked me up around 2pm (yes only two hours after waking up) to head to Hollywood Studios for our Disney Heritage Class.  It was a scavenger hunt across Hollywood Studios and was a lot of fun.
After class MK and I enjoyed some dinner at pizza planet and talking about the Emporium life.  We also walked around and saw the Osbourne Family Lights Show - so cool!
Later on that night I stopped by Kenzie's to be joined by a bunch of fellow co-Cast Members for a fun evening of not entirely watching Love Actually and enjoying each other's company.

Wednesday: Wednesday also marked a fun little Emporium gathering at Friendsgiving.  Friendsgiving is the Thanksgiving Feast hosted by College Program housing for all of us CPs.  A real thanksgiving meal - my first real meal in too too long - it was awesome! Also met Pocahontas and John Smith. After dinner MK, Thea, Melissa, and I went back to Kate's apartment and watched Book of Mormon: The Musical, a very interesting and funny musical to say the least.  Very fun night indeed.

Photo Credit: Shannon

Tuesday and Wednesday night Emporium Family! Photo Credit: Thea

Thursday to Today:  Much of the same. Work, sleep, eat, work, sleep.  This week is Thanksgiving week which means I'll be working til 4 am every night but thanks to Emporium insomnia this will be no problem!  Got a couple of great things planned for this week including feasts, movie viewings, and teas - should be great.

In regards to my blog post title: I agree with Uncle Walt to a point.  I do believe in a little bit of luck, whatever you happen to call that luck - dumb luck, divine intervention, fate.....

I have tried to take this time in Disney to enjoy the experience and continue to push myself forward. I have learned many great lessons, one of them being what Walt said (which I agree with): "I feel every person creates his own 'determinism' by discovering his best aptitudes and following them undeviatingly...."  I have worked to try and determine what my future could be and work towards those endless possibilities, towards something I actually believe in and know I will enjoy.  Yes there will be heartbreak and set back but as long as I don't let such things keep me down for too long, I can do anything I want. I believe that everything happens for a reason, that everything will work out, and, yes, sometimes there is a little luck in all of it.  

So here I go: onto a new week ---- keep moving forward ---- 

Until then - great times with friends.

My family is coming in just over a week and I couldn't be more excited :)  

Until next time friends....

Keep Dreaming, 

Mary-Kate 

"You be will be a poorer person all your life if you don't know some of the great stories and the great poems," Walt Disney

Hello Friends,

Yes a little bit of time has passed since I last posted...by work schedule took a few early morning turns, a few mornings in a row, and seems my mornings/days off have been all about getting back on to a normal sleeping schedule and getting things done.  I hate the idea of waking up after 11 AM but it's been happening.  I also hate the feeling of not getting (what I would consider) productive things done in the day and to some extent I feel like I've just been a zombie going from day to day. Sleep work sleep.
But today I put my food down because a change was in order.

Now to recap the past week and a half or so....

Tuesday (11/5): This day had some adventure for sure.
I spent the morning at the gym, getting Starbucks, all the little things here and there.
I headed to Magic Kingdom round 2 pm as my Disney Heritage class was to be a walking tour of the park.  I arrived in Magic Kingdom (after having left it only some 12 hours before) to find it totally transformed for Christmas.  Now while I was working there until 2 am Tuesday morning I did hear the performers practicing for the parade and white stuff outside the windows but I wasn't quite prepared when I saw all of this.....

When I updated these pictures to facebook I simply wrote "Et tu, Magic Kingdom?"  As many of you know Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and while I understand the need, in Disney's case, to skip right over it, it still upsets me.  Of course it make sense for Disney to target  the mindset of our guests who visit this time of year but to see the nation driven in such a consumer, commercialized way is rather irritating.  

But since it's Walt Disney World, I'll let it go, but I'm so quick to let any of my fellow Cast Members forget Thanksgiving. I'm told there is Thanksgiving-esq meals around dinning areas around property on Thanksgiving day; I'll be sure to go to one of those.

The class itself was interesting with some material I had heard before and some material I had not.  It was nice to see things in person as we were talking about them.  It was also nice to go and watch Mickey's Philarmagic with real guests (especially the young children) around us. 

After class I boarded the monorail set for Epcot and the next adventure of the night: HANSON.

I met Kenzie and Kaitie outside the ticket gates and we walked around the lands before stopping at American Adventure (and having no luck finding Thea or Mallorie) but we stayed and jammed out none the less.  Hanson played three shows that night and we got there for the 6:45 show and to our out right dismay they did not play Mmmbop at the 6:45 show leaving us no choice but to stay for the 8 pm showing (the last one) because we knew they'd play Mmmbop then. 

We caught Thea and Mallorie after the 6:45 show let out and Mallorie headed to Magic Kingdom to catch the Castle lighting up while Thea and Kenzie went to eat at the Italy stand and Kaitie and I stayed to eat in America.  It was nice talking to Kaitie about the Jonas brothers and our favorites, One Direction.

Soon enough it was 8 pm and we got to hear Mmmbop. I must say the Hanson brothers aged nicely and I'm happy I got to see them even if it was a 90s-self-indulgent-moment.  I reminded myself I'll have to try their Whiskey soon :)

Hanson on stage :)

After the show I went back to Kaitie and Kenzie's and we all watched Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince before I went home and slept.

Wednesday (11/6): On my second day off I pretty much relaxed and did nothing until the evening time when I watched the CMAs with Katie and Britt. 

Thursday (11/7): My Monday started out rather nicely as I went to Panera for lunch with Gina before heading to work.  Work was alright and I knew it was the calm before the storm. 

Friday (11/8):  Friday marked the first Christmas Party and was, hands down, the most insane day at work I've had at the Emporium thus far (as Cast Members we're still talking about it).  I was in the room that particularly busy as it held all the Christmas Party Merchandise.  The only way I can describe it is that it reminded me of Black Friday (or what I suspect Black Friday to be like if I shopped that day).  Localized and organized (fighting for control): chaos. 

 I was/am proud I can say I am a part of such an amazing group of Cast Members because I think we all did amazingly if I do say so myself.  Our guests....were clearly in a hurry and a bit meaner they I was prepared to handle this time of year.  I figured this kind of holiday shopper didn't make an appearance until end of November time -- I was wrong. 

Never the less, we made it through, but we were left at the end of the night looking at each other going, "What just happened?"  But it's the Big E - we gotta under control!!!

Saturday (11/9) and Sunday (11/10):  Basically I worked until 4 am for both of these shifts and slept for the better part of these days (when I wasn't working).  I was left feeling very very tired and worn out and after Friday -- oh lordy. Sunday was another Christmas party and although it wasn't insane like Friday it was still busy but I got to talk to a lot of guests who ran in the Wine and Dine runs in Epcot the night before and I decided it is a new goal of mine to run a 5K next year :)

Monday (11/11):  Monday was a welcomed day off as I traded shifts with Gina.  I spelt it and felt recovered before going to enjoy the last day of Food and Wine with Thea and Mallorie.  I arrived at Epcot to find them in the UK (of course) watching a comedy show.  I sat and watched the end.  It was SO funny! 

After the show I went to grab a beer as I had felt entitled to it after the few days of work we had all had (for their sake, in knowing they deserved one too, I was so wishing Thea and Mal were 21 but alas we must wait a few more months).  

Cheering to a day off and end to Food and Wine! :)

We walked around a little bit and got lunch and headed to France where I got some yummy macaroons and a chocolate croissant. Next it was onward to America to see Big Bad Vooodoo Daddy, a cool slick jazz band that ROCKED it! I was reminded how much I love jazz so that was nice! They were awesome.  

Happy Veteran's Day from American Adventure!

We ended our time at Food and Wine at Australia (I told Thea and Mallorie I wasn't going to their with out them)!

Me and my Aussie chicks :)

After a lovely time at Food and Wine we decided to end to Downtown for dinner and dessert.

Dinner: Raglan Road, of course.  The band was about an hour late so we staked out for almost two hours to see them.  They were good and we were able to enjoy food and coffee.

Dessert: Ghirardelli's Chocolate Ice Cream :)

Downtown looked like a little Christmas Village. It was a really nice night.

Went home and went right to bed.

Thea and Mal at Raglan :)

Tuesday (11/12/13):  Yesterday was 11/12/13 so that was cool. Also I heard it was snowing at home...it was 73 degrees here.  I spent yesterday reading and writing before heading to class at 4.  Class was nice.  We had a guest speaker who talked all about Epcot from Walt Disney's original idea to the present day we know today.  Walt's original idea was complex and interesting for sure but I think he'd still be happy with the park today.  It's one of my favorites! 

When I got home from class I ordered Benihana's  with Katie and Brit and we watched Love Actually.  Successful night indeed.

Wednesday: Today I woke up and went to the gym before doing some laundry and reading.  I came here to Starbucks to blog before I head off the work.  It's been a cool 65 and windy.  If I think 65 is cold - I'm in trouble.  

My blog title reflects the fact that I've been able to read and write a lot lately which I'm grateful for, it's a gift Disney has shown me I truly love and I am happy and proud I am incorporating them into my daily life again.  Along with eating better and being healthy: 2014 looks to be a great year.  Although there have been upsets I can't wait to see what January has in store.  

In the mean time my family comes in 3 shorts weeks and I CAN NOT BELIEVE IT! I'm so excited to see them.  

Hope you all enjoy this post.

Until next time friends...

Keep Dreaming,

Mary-Kate 

"It's Kind of Fun to do the Impossible," Walt Disney

Hello Friends,
Today mark's exactly one month until Mom, Dad, Eddie, and Grandmom arrive in Orlando and 2 months until I'm back home in PA....impossible.
My previous statement makes it a fact that is it November...impossible.
And yesterday my best friend from SJU spent four with me in the Magic Kingdom (when I had only found out about she would coming to Orlando about 16 hours earlier)....impossible.

As you may have sensed from the title and my first three statements the events and realities of the past few days have not felt realistic - but they are.  Knowing that these "impossible" things are in fact real and therefore, possible, is an amazing feeling.

To make it all possible....that is something Walt Disney truly believed.

Now to recap these past five days.....

Wednesday: After returning home from Starbucks and seeing Katie on her actual birthday I went out to go get a quick dinner at Chic-fli-a.  On my way to get dinner a black cat walked in front of me, stopped, stared at me, and kept walking.  Truly eery and creepy.  After dinner I returned home to get ready to go out for Katie's birthday.  Katie, Britt, Lauren, Hallie (Katie's friend from work) and I headed out to Disney's boardwalk for a good time.  We went to the dance hall (where Britt had wanted to go for her birthday but it had been rented out for the evening) thinking we dance it up all night long.  We got there to and less than hoppin' crowd (including us there was seven people on the dance floor at one point).  We still had fun dancing and singing along to music videos that were playing on the projection.  The Electric Slide part #2 Part brought a bit more people to the dance floor so that was fun, but after a few more songs we (well it was Katie call ultimately as it was her birthday) decided to go to Jellyrolls across the way.  Jellyrolls is a dueling piano bar that has no cover for Disney Cast Members (over 21 of course) - :).  I had never been to a proper piano bar before and Jellyrolls did not disappoint. Let's put it this way - we walked into a congo line traveling around the bar and jumped right on in.  After getting seats and drinks we saw how the process worked of requesting and paying for songs to be played as four guys swapped back and forth with two of them playing and singing at a time.  The dueling piano bit is that the pianos face each other (for those who have never been to a piano bar).
We got to ring in Halloween at Jellyrolls with a group song and dance to time wrap.  The guys played everything from the Beatles to Nsync.  It was a lot of fun and the guys were super talented.
Around 1 am we headed home and went to bed.  I know we all had fun and I was happy Katie got to have a fun birthday.   PS - Jellyrolls is my new favorite place in Disney.

Thursday:  Thursday was Monday for me which means....time to go back to work.  I woke up not feeling well (I actually had started feeling a little ill the night before at Jellyrolls but I thought it would pass).  I had an awful cough that I'm still trying to combat now.  I went to work knowing it'd be fun because we were having a Halloween party and (for one Halloween party a year) it was actually Halloween.  It was great seeing everyone in all the costumes.  There were a great deal more --- let's just say --- witches and wizards than I have ever dealt with in the crowd but the support of management and fellow Cast Members from across the park is really helpful.  A man named Kyle who used to work at the Emporium dropped on a HUGE box of candy for Emporium Cast Members. It was so nice to be able to still get a Halloween experience at 22 in Walt Disney World while working.  Side note: the cast was on a bit of a sugar high by the end of the night.

Friday:  November 1st.  It was crazy to think it was already November.  I did a little shopping before work and saw a magical moment on the monorail that involved a two year old boy waving at the castle as we drove from MK to the Contemporary..."bye Cinderella's Castle" he said and waved....*sigh Disney*   I decided to treat myself to lunch in the Contemporary and enjoy the beauty of the hotel infrastructure.  One of my first memories of being in Disney World in 1997 was being on the monorail as it went through the Contemporary.  I remember my Dad saying, "watch Mary-Kate we're going to go through a building." I was both terrified and fascinated at the same time.  I still catch myself being terrified and fascinated every time I go through the Contemporary on the monorail.
After lunch I headed into work knowing it'd be the last Halloween Party.  Once again there were a lot of wicked witches and wizards but it was still a lot of fun.   Side note: I went it Cast Connection to purchase something and heard there was Christmas music being played in the store --- and I walked right out.

Saturday:  I spent the morning at Starbucks applying for a job.  Starbucks is now serving their drinks in their seasonal red cups.  To me they are red solo cups until the day after Thanksgiving.  While I was at Starbucks Melanie contacted me saying she would be in Disney (at the Polynesian) for a few hours the next day and would love to see me.  I became so excited because I knew we could make it so that we could spend some times in the Magic Kingdom.  After come coordination I headed to work almost jumping out my skin with excitement.  At work I started to really not feel well and my cough was getting worse so I put for an ER and got it which I was very thankful for.  I headed for Walgreens for cough medicine and then home to bed.

Sunday:  AKA Mary-Kate, Melanie, and Thea's four hour experience in Magic Kingdom. I woke up early and did some work on my computer before meeting up with Thea so we could meet up with Melanie and go to the Magic Kingdom.  We got the Polynesian and waited maybe 10 minutes before Melanie arrived.  I was SO excited to see her.  We hugged and I introduced Thea and Melanie before we ran to the monorail as time was of the essence.

Melanie and I on the monorail :)

Once we all got into the park we headed right for Main Street and the Emporium. I showed Melanie my favorite rooms to work in and we saw a little of the Mayor's Parade on Main Street before heading to the Castle. It was an absolutely BEAUTIFUL day in the Magic Kingdom.  

Melanie and I spent some time taking pictures of the castle and in front of the castle.  At one point Melanie said, "I hope she's there."  I turned aroud to see a "Will You Marry Me, Rachel?" sign in the air.  I thought "aww that's cute"  and I replied to Melanie's initial statement with, "yeah and I hope she says yes."  Not more than one minute later Thea is running up to us waving and yelling like a lunatic ;) Turns out it was one of our fellow Cast members at the Emporium, Andrew, who had just proposed to his girlfriend Rachel.  Melanie and I ran over to see many people I work crowded around the happy, newly engaged couple (turned out two girls I worked with were holding the sign).  I gave Andrew a hug and we congratulated them before heading to tomorrowland.  Not a dull moment in the Magic Kingdom - just magical ones.  

Well, we thought we thought we were heading to tomorrowland but it true Disney style we got caught in the middle of the "Move It, Shake it" Parade.  It was still nice though because Melanie got to experience a Disney Parade. :)  After we managed to dance our way across the street we headed for Space Mountain to fast pass it (it is both Melanie and I's favorite ride).  

Knowing had time we all got lunch at Cosmic Ray's before heading to ride Small World...classic Disney move.  After the riding the happiest cruise that ever sailed we walked around Fantasyland and I showed Melanie all the knew buildings and the new roller coaster that's under construction.  Thea suggested we go get pixie dusted as Mallorie was working in one of the Fantasyland shops.  So Melanie, Thea, and I were pixie dusted by our "Fairy Godmother" Mallorie and now all our dreams will come true ;)

We decided to jump on the railroad from Fantasyland and ride around the Magic Kingdom.  It was very enjoyable. We got off at Fantasyland (yes we rode it all the way around) before heading to Space Mountain as our fast pass time was approaching.  Fast pass is the best thing ever.  We walked by people who were set to be in a 90 min. wait right in the queque and onto the ride.  It was sooo much fun!

Great picture too, but we didn't buy it haha.

Sadly it was time for Melanie to head back to the Polynesian.  Thea had to go to work so I went with Melanie to the Polynesian and made sure we got dole whip for dessert - delicious.  And we got out in front of the hotel at the exact perfect moment for someone to take one last picture of us before Melanie's ride arrived.

It was so incredible to have someone from home with me in the Magic Kingdom and made me realize how excited I am for my family to visit.

I am so happy Melanie and Thea got to meet and we could all spend time together.

I had work last night before it was an early end time which was nice.  Thea and I got food before I headed and watched a movie because I was having a hard time falling alseep.

Monday: This morning I was still not feeling great and wanted to go to a presentation but felt it was best to get some needed rest. 

Here I am at Starbucks now blogging before going to work.  It's my Friday :)  I know I will go into work today to see Christmas every where.  It is nice but also sad/frustrating for me at the same time.  It is not so much as missing my family during the holidays (though certainly I am/will) it is more that Thanksgiving has completely been forgotten about - or so it feels like it. And it's not just Disney - it's America in general. And though Disney is an entertainment company which makes the Halloween to Christmas jump more understandable; I still which Thanksgiving was given it's due respect. Anyone that knows me knows Thanksgiving is not only my favorite holiday but my favorite day of the year for what it has meant in terms of tradition, friendship, and family - for my family.  I will defend Thanksgiving forever!  And all my international friends know they will be celebrating Thanksgiving with me and we'll have a feast and everything.  And only THEN will the Christmas music and holiday cups at Starbucks start for me.  

In other news, class tomorrow is in the Magic Kingdom so that should be fun. haha.

I hope everyone is enjoying fall.  Miss you all. 

Finally,  HAPPY 22nd BIRTHDAY TO MY LITTLE, SAM!!!!! 

Melanie and Mary-Kate take on Magic Kingdom in four hours.

:)))))

Enjoying Dole Whip after a great day :)

Keep Dreaming,

Mary-Kate