Time in: 7:45 a.m.
Time out: 8:45 p.m.

Today I trained with Ginnie on track 5. It's another track that's pretty different from the others but exactly the same at the same time. I guess the thing is that they all have the same major parts but a bunch of the details are different. For this track you start the day at shade control checking heads and shoes for damages that you'll need to replace before the first parade. By the time Ginnie and I finished with all our morning stuff and made it to the PC it was a mad house! Our coordinator, Kansas, was nowhere to be found. All the stiltwalkers positions had changed all over the place. The track 1 person had called out so the truck wasn't moved. Enda was going on and on about something I have no idea what she was talking about. It was like Ginnie and I walked into crazy and it was up to us to fix it. Well, Ginnie, really. She's really fantastic.

We went about getting everything pulled together and managed to make it to the PC all in one piece. It's this track's job to help Lumiere get dressed which I've never actually done before. So the boy that was playing Lumiere today, Jared, was so understanding and sweet about the whole thing. He can actually get himself dressed all by himself and doesn't need my help, but before each parade he showed me step by step how to get dressed in case I ever have to help a performer that can't do it by himself. It's common knowledge that Jared doesn't need help getting dressed but I was really impressed with how patient and understanding he was about explaining everything to me. It was so nice. I'm starting to really be friends with certain performers and have jokes with them. Today marks the very first day that certain performers were specifically looking at me and joking with me on their way out to parade. It's a big deal to me because I've been watching them be friends with other costumers all this time and I finally feel accepted now. I'm so glad and the performers are really funny friends to have! It makes for good days.

After lunch and everything we did our presets which were easy. I'd helped with Splash breakdown so many times when I worked in the Character Room that I knew EXACTLY how to put Woody and Jessie together. It was actually kind of eerie. Ginnie and I volunteered to make a run for the DP people to pick up a Smee head from Shade Control since we were done so early. It killed some time and made us look good which was doubly good. We added a stilt for the last two parades so we had to grab the clothes and take them with us up to Shade Control. We built it up real easy and had it ready to go for Jarrod. Then we had a whole bunch of time to waste so all the other CPs and I sat around and tried to learn Spanish from each other. It was absolutely hysterical the things we learned. But it was pretty awesome too. One of the girls is from Mexico, one boy is from Puerto Rico and the other girl is from Alabama. So me and Amanda (from Alabama) are teaching Ana Maria and Christian english and them vice versa. It was really awesome that in the middle of a day at work we could sit down and have this multi-cultural experience. I mean, where else can I work daily with people my age from different countries all over the world? It's really an aspect I'm loving from this experience.

After the last parade we broke down and loaded the truck and went back to the PC. It was kind of crazy unloading because Ginnie was trying to train me while also helping Ana Maria do track 3 stuff because you never technically get trained on track 3 you just have to wing it. But we got everything done and were perfectly on time.

This was the very first holiday I've had to work on, much less the only holiday I've been away from home for. I was kind of glad I had a 13 hour work day instead of having to sit in my apartment all day and wish that I was home. I was glad for the distraction and it ended up being a really cute day at Disney! A lot of people brought in goodies to share and they had a little Easter egg hunt on the dance floor after the parades. It was so adorable. I'm glad I got to experience a holiday away from my family and in a new environment, however I'll be really glad to be back to my mom's holiday cooking when the time comes!

That's all the magic for today!

Time in: 7:45 a.m.
Time out: 8:45 p.m.

Today was crazy yet calm at the same time. I'm finding that most of my days at MiSiCi are like that. It'll be really busy and hectic one second, and the next second you're sitting doing absolutely nothing. It's the exact atmosphere I thrive in though so I'm starting to feel right at home. The day started out with no extra large stilt liner again just like yesterday. The coordinator today was Julie so she called down to Alt's and had them drop one off at Shade Control so I didn't have to go all the way and get it again which was nice. I had to make a whole new King Louie since we used my preset last night. I've discovered the easiest way to get the rings inside Louie and Baloo is to literally crawl myself into the pad and then snap the rings in. I don't know exactly what I look like to the people walking by but I'm sure it's something special. No one has said anything about it though so I think they all know exactly why I need to do it. They're both just so big and annoying to deal with! Anyways I built Louie in no time and then we were loading the truck and off to shade control. Right when I got there I got to work on building my stiltwalker. The zipper on his pants was really tight so I had to try and loosen it using pliers. They were too big to work though so the seamstress used a smaller pair she had. I really wish Disney would let CP have Gerbers on them at work because I would get one in a heartbeat. They're so handy! It's first thing on my list of necessities for next semester. So the seamstress got it all fixed and I finished the stilt and went on to build Louie's headpiece. I realized I forgot to grab the arm covers that poof up his arms so I had to take the Pargo and run back to the PC for them. I was annoyed I had forgotten them but Julie wasn't upset at all so it was okay.

When I got back it was time to help the stilts get ready. I don't know if it was just the group I had today or if it's just getting easier but today was much less awkward. It was a little bit right at the beginning of the morning but all through the day it got easier. I just joked with them and had little sarcastic snippits and we all got along fine. I like track 2 better now that I feel comfortable with what I'm doing. The first show went fine and we headed to the Character Room to put away NSA. Nothing really that exciting there.

My good friend from home was in town at the parks for her spring break so I went out on my lunch break to hang with her and her family. It was really nice to see a familiar face here! We rode the Pirates ride and watched Day Parade together. It was the first time I've seen Day Parade since I started working parades and it was really weird! I found myself looking at the costumes for anything messed up or really bad sweat stains. I also recognized a whole lot of the performers which was weird too. I really liked it, however, because I feel pretty at home with parades now. I realized just how special my job is and I think I'll be more appreciative of it. I don't have too much longer here and I don't want to let myself stop realizing how special this adventure is.

After lunch I built my presets pretty quickly and then helped do a few odds and ends. Day Parade did a reverse step off for the second parade, meaning they stepped off from Splash Mountain and stepped down at Shade Control. Julie had us go up to Shade Control earlier than we were supposed to so that we didn't get caught in traffic with the floats. We got to see the DP people break down the pre-parade which was really cute bunny stuff for Easter. Then we helped break down DP as usual and then headed back to the PC. Julie had us help DP unload the truck of their stuff and immediately load up our stuff and head back up to Shade Control. We took our 30 minute break there just to make the day flow easier and it really worked. We set up and everything went smoothly for the 5:15 parade except I had forgotten to set up the stilt bins with the mesh bags. I felt really bad for forgetting, but it wasn't really a big deal. I guess I can't win 'em all.

When they were out, one of the stiltwalkers got pooped on by a bird. It's kinda funny now, but she was not very happy about it at the time, even though Julie said that was good luck. Julie had me make a run back to the PC for another vest for the girl. I remembered to put shoulder pads in it which was a win for me because that's what I forget the most with my stilt presets. When we got ready for the last parade of the day it was pretty eerie because I knew exactly when the stilts were going to need help. Especially Robert, this extravagant and needy performer that everybody knows. He'd been yelling at me every time he was ready so far that day and the last time I knew just exactly when he'd need help. It was kind of impressive but kind of sad at the same time.

The rest of the day went right on cue. We set up for step down, broke down all the costumes, and were sent off to the Character Room. It always feels really weird to be in the Character Room now on my MiSiCi days. They feel like two different worlds in my mind but they're not really. I like the tracks that go downstairs fine but the worst part is the 15-20 minute wait for the washing machine to get done. That's when we just help out the Character Room people and I have CR shift flashbacks. They're not pleasant. I can't even explain how happy I am to be on MiSiCi. I'm really loving it.

That's all the magic for today!

Time in: 7:45 a.m.
Time out: 8:45 p.m.

I had to burn in on track 2 today since I trained on it yesterday. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Track 2 is the most different track I've learned so far so I thought I was going to forget everything. When I started building my stilts this morning I needed an XL liner for one of my performers but we were out. I told my coordinator about it and she called to Alterations to see if they had any that they could push to the front and fix so we could use them for the day. I was nervous for what would happen if they couldn't fix it. Would that stilt just be down (meaning not in the parade)? I would feel so bad since that was my stilt preset. Fortunately, Alt's had one ready and so once we loaded up the truck and got to Step Off I went downstairs to Alt's and picked it up. I had to kind of run to be sure I made it back with enough time to finish all my other things as well. I got back with time to spare and made the preset for Robert then ran to go set up King Louie's head piece but my coordinator Ana was already working on it. I was relieved because I didn't really want to do it. Ginny taught me well yesterday and I CAN do it, it's just a pain and I don't WANT to do it. Then I helped the stiltwalkers get ready for the first show since that's my track. It's kind of awkward to just stand there by myself watching them get ready until they need help with something but somebody's got to do it, I guess. Luckily they just kind of ignored me staring at them until they dropped something or needed scissors. I also asked them if they wanted water or anything to be nice and hospitable and stuff. It's hard for them to get water once they get suited up in the stilts.

After the first parade I went downstairs to the Character Room to put away the stuff from last night in the dry room and help with what got dropped off from NSA. We had to check it all for damages and send some stuff to Alt's. Then to waste time I went through the line of MiSiCi clothes and checked that things were sorted correctly. After that was lunch break.

I build my Louie, Baloo and Lumiere pretty quickly so I helped Luz sort helmet pads for a while. She is one of my absolute favorite people to work with. She's hysterical and we have a great time. Today Day Parade did a reverse step off so we had to drive the van up to Shade Control to help break down. I always get the Day Parade music stuck in my head, it's so catchy. We had a break after that and then we headed back up to Shade Control for the last two shows. It got less awkward with the stiltwalkers and most of them learned my name and we were kind of joking which was really nice. It's hard to get really comfortable with them because they change daily but I've been trying.

We had a different King Louie for the last two shows so we had to use the preset I had made. That means I'll have to make another one when I get there tomorrow which is annoying. But that also meant that I had to set up Louie's head again and this time Ana didn't do it for me. I did it right, thankfully and it only took a second. After the last parade we broke down and I did the NSA laundry downstairs in the Character Room. The day flowed pretty nicely.

That's all the magic for today!

Time in: 7:45 a.m.
Time out: 8:45 p.m.

Today I was training on Track 2 with Ginny and it was a relatively easy day. There were a few hiccups but nothing major. For starters, the Track 1 lady today (Edna) was late so the rest of  us had to build her stilts and load up the truck. She didn't show up until it was time to leave for Shade Control. Once we got there, Ginny taught me how to put together King Louie's head and arm pieces which look much scarier than they are. She showed me how to put together the mesh bags in the stilt bin and things like that. The stilts are Track 2's responsibility so that's much different than any other track. I like it and I don't like it at the same time. I like the people who are the stilt performers for the most part but it puts more pressure on me to have to interact with them and make conversation which usually takes me more time to get up the courage to do. So I'm working on that. We did a check with all the stilts about whether or not they wanted red shirts preset since a lot of the cards are mislabeled. The rest of the morning was easy and uneventful. After lunch we had a huge chunk of time where we had to pretend to be busy so I sorted and organized head pads for Lumiere.

The last two shows were relatively uneventful as well. We did have to build another Baloo costume because the performer wouldn't stay for the last show because he "had plans" and wasn't scheduled to be there that late so they had to pull in another performer last minute. So it was Ginny and my responsibility to build the extra costume. He's easier to build than he looks too. I'm noticing that pattern with pretty much every costume I learn to build. At the end of the night track 2 sends out the NSA laundry from the character room and Ginny and I sat down to review the day. It was a pretty solid day.

That's all the magic for today!

Time in: 7:45 a.m.
Time out: 8:45 p.m.

Yesterday was crazy. It was the first day of the two Double Day Parade weeks, meaning the parade schedules are all kinds of whacked. MiSiCi only has one morning parade, then an early day parade, then normal 3:00 day parade, then two more MiSiCi parades. It's crazy. The poor performers are dead by the end of it. But yesterday we also had a mini-monsoon complete with tornado warnings, so the second day parade got cancelled. It was all kinds of confusion. Let's start from the top: (my track sheet can be found in the pages to the left)

When we first clocked in, it was only three of us there, including my coordinator Amanda. The other girl was track 5 and went straight to Shade Control so the day started with me and Amanda having to start building 8 stilt outfits all by ourselves. Then everyone else showed up and we were back on track. I had to make a run for Lumiere before the first show. He wanted this special extra puffy pad for his helmet so I had to go all the way to the PC for it. While down there Amanda radioed me that she needed character gloves as well. It felt pretty legit to be using the radio for the first time. I felt important. When I got back and the parade was getting to places, I had to walk Lumiere's candlesticks to his float for him because the girl whose track it was was nowhere to be found. Then we went back to the PC for a while and that's when the monsoon happened. The second Day Parade was cancelled so we had to break down Day Parade's costumes right there in the middle of the PC. It was absolute pandemonium because stuff was getting thrown everywhere by performers and costumers alike. I've never seen the PC such a mad house. When we got back to Shade Control to start up the two MiSiCi's we found out that the stilts were down, meaning the stilt performers would go out in the parade on foot. It rained so hard during the monsoon that the driving route that we normally take was flooded and we had to go over the train tracks instead which they never ever let us do. The whole day was just thrown for a loop by that monsoon, it affected everything. Then right before the last MiSiCi of the day I had to make another run to the PC to get a new Goofy head. And then they ended up not using it. By the end of the day I was exhausted and confused. I really hope the rest of double day parade weeks are not this hectic.

That's all the magic for today!

Time in: 8:45 a.m.
Time out: 7:45 p.m.

Today I was on Track 1 again. It felt weird since I've been doing track 4 the last three days. I almost forgot a couple of things I had to do, but thankfully my coworkers watched my back. I really do love the people I work with on MiSiCi (for the most part). Three minutes to places for the first parade Lumiere turned to our group of costuming people and goes "Oh, hey, I just noticed. My costume doesn't have a hard collar." Bad, bad, bad! That's really important for him. Thankfully, I had been checking the inside emergency bin for the last three days and knew exactly where a backup one was kept! So I ran and got it, problem solved. I felt really great for knowing where it was and what to do! It's the first time I haven't hesitated when someone's asked me to help. It felt good. 

It was pretty overcast today again and we thought we were gonna get rain so before lunch we had to move the stilt bins inside the car garage. It never did rain though, so it was kind of pointless. Better safe than sorry I suppose. During the time when we help Day Parade, I was at the top of the hill helping unzip performers from their costumes. I'd never actually done this part of the track before so I was kind of nervous but it was really easy. I just asked them if they were okay and if they needed my help I unzipped them. Most of them were fine, except Stitch was really overheated and I thought the performer was going to toss her cookies. She looked really bad. I'm afraid this won't be the last heat-related illness I encounter. It was pretty nerve-racking since I didn't know how to help her. Poor Genie, too, when he came off the parade he was being escorted by Jafar. Jafar motioned costuming over to help the Genie because apparently his sweatband and skull cap had moved down over his eyes during the parade and he couldn't see a thing! Thank goodness he never stepped on a little kid or anything. I don't know how he handled the situation so well, I would have been freaking out. 

The only other mis-hap we had was with Baloo on the final parade. The performer got switched out because the first one had gotten sick so we had to bring an entirely new costume for the last show. And first, the gloves were the same hand, so we had to get new gloves. Then his costume didn't fit right on his head and he couldn't see out of it. So Ana, the coordinator, tried to put extra pads on it but we didn't have enough at Shade Control so Luz had to make a run to the PC very last minute. Thankfully she got back in time and that got fixed. Then right as Baloo's walking to his float he's trying to put on one of his gloves and it's getting stuck on his sleeve the whole time. I went over to try and help but he ended up getting a Captain to help him instead. It was a hot mess. But, everything worked out and the parade went out perfectly. Laundry afterwards was a cinch and then I went home! 

That's all the magic for today!

Time in: 8:45 a.m.
Time out: 7:45 p.m.

Today was pretty standard up until the last show. It started raining about 30 minutes before the show started and for a while we didn't know if they were going to go out. The stiltwalkers got cancelled first and so they broke down all their stuff before the show. They ended up letting the show go on because the rain let up so we still had the last show. The stiltwalkers went out on foot in different outfits. It was pretty cool to see the precautions that are put in place for things like rain. Every single person knew exactly what they needed to do due to the rain and there were almost zero hiccups. It's a pretty organized ship here.

That's all the magic for today!

Time in: 8:45 a.m.
Time out: 7:45 p.m.

Yesterday was pretty easy. I've gotten pretty used to the daily flow of MiSiCi and I like it a lot. All the tracks are different in the details but the big picture is the same so I know where I'm supposed to be and when generally. Nothing really special happened yesterday, I got all my stuff done pretty easily. I'm loving this parade!

That's all the magic for today!

Time in: 8:45 a.m.
Time out: 7:45 p.m.

Monday I trained on track 4 with Amanda. It was pretty simple, really. I've gotten the hang of this parade really quickly and so I basically know what I'm doing just from looking at the track sheet. None of it is too terribly difficult to figure out. But it was nice to have Amanda there teaching me certain things like how to put Sebastian together. I would never figure that out on my own, he's really complicated. One thing I learned too is that after the parade when I help Sebastian out of his box I have to be sure to wait until the platform lands on the ground of the float. If I open the door too soon, they'll have to reset the entire float before Sebastian could get out. I would absolutely hate to be the person that trapped a performer inside their float.

Track 4 does the laundry in the character room at the end of the day. It was so weird to be in there on my parade shift because I've completely separated the two places in my mind. But I knew what I was doing down there since I've been in the CR for so long already. It was simple to figure out where to put things and how to do the laundry and such. All in all, pretty simple track to figure out!

That's all the magic for today!

Time in: 8:45 a.m.
Time out: 7:45 p.m.

So I've learned that parades follow their tracks very very closely. In the character room, the tracks aren't really binding, most of the time I just went up to a coordinator and asked them what to do next to be helpful. On parades, it's the end of the world if you're 5 minutes off. So to save myself from having to write the gigantic tracks down every day, I just made a page with the track detailed on it. It can be found to the right of this blog.

Today was so much fun! I absolutely love this parade and all the people who work on it. I'm so glad that they understand my humor and mesh with my personality. I worked with Luz, Marisela, Shang, Edna, and the coordinator was Anna. It's very structured but there's also room for craziness. For example, this morning we had to make a run to the PC as soon as we got to shade control because Edna thought she needed a new Bob body pad. So Anna and Luz went, but by the time they got back we had realized we actually needed a Jessie body pad, not a Bob one. Nobody knew what Enda was talking about with the Bob one, not even Edna knew. I also had to run and get another pair of shoes for one of the stilt walkers. I thought my coordinator said 10.5, but as soon as I was back with the 10.5's she said that she actually needed a 9.5. So I had to go back. Luckily I actually found the boy's real pair of shoes that had his name on them and everything which is always great. If they can use their own same shoe over and over again, they like to.

The rest of the day was pretty seamless. I got to help Baloo a lot today which I liked. I really like that character and how his costume is set up. I feel so important helping him simply because he's so huge. I don't really know why. So all was going well until right after lunch. It was about 2:45 and I was presetting my chipmunks when all of a sudden Ryan, the Day Parade coordinator, comes running up to me with keys in one hand and what looks like a plastic stick in the other. He's freaking out and tells me I have to drive the van to the character room to drop off the stick (turns out it was the Fairy Godmother's wand!). He's telling me it's so important and they needed it 5 minutes ago and I've got to leave now. So we're running to this van (that I've never driven before, mind you) and I'm double checking what I've got to do, I'm starting to get a little panicked because he was freaking out so bad. So he directs me backing up the van, and then I'm off. As soon as I pulled up at the character room my manager Jerry comes sprinting out to the van to get the wand. And I mean, he was sprinting! I still don't know what exactly happened and why it was needed there so incredibly soon, but it was a crazy 10 minutes. When I drove back I got stopped in traffic because the floats were moving. No cars are allowed to travel around the PC while the floats are moving, so I sat and waited. When I finally parked the van and went inside, all the Day Parade people were walking in. Ryan saw me and yelled my name, trying to talk to me but I kept on walking. I was trying to de-stress. He ran up and asked me if everything was okay and I explained that it was fine, nothing had gone wrong but he had stressed me out doing that and it wouldn't have been okay if it was anybody else. Ryan and I get along very well, I love working with him, so he understood. After that I continued with my presets until break at 4:30.

We were waiting to get back in the truck to leave at 5 for Shade Control when Ryan comes walking up to me and hands me something. It was a 4 Keys Fanatic card he filled out for me for Show and Courtesy because I "went above and beyond helping with the Fairy Godmother's wand". I could've cried! It was the most special way to receive my first Fanatic card and it was all worth it after that. Ryan's the best. It was the cherry on top of a fabulous and eventful day.

That's all the magic for today!

Time in: 8:45 a.m.
Time out: 7:45 p.m.

Today was my first day legitimately training on MiSiCi. I learned track 1 with this really awesome lady named Ginnie. She's the bomb. She was really fantastic at explaining things but also giving me room to breathe and do things myself. Track 1 is responsible for loading up and driving the truck which I feel so cool knowing how to do now. The first thing we did was build 2 stilt walker costumes and load them in the stilt metros. We then loaded up the truck with 2 empty metros, the 2 stilt racks, a whole bunch of stilt J pads, the laundry sorting basket including 8 empty mesh bags, an empty red bin and an empty metro. It sounds like a lot, but this truck is huge. It wasn't full at all.
We had to leave promptly by 10 so as to not get stuck behind the moving floats. No one is allowed to travel on the road while the floats are moving because it's too easy for the float drivers to hit you. We took the truck to Step Off (where the parade begins) which just happens to be Step Down (where the parade ends) for MiSiCi as well which is very convenient. We then unloaded the truck and got everything set up where it's supposed to be and then checked our presets from the day before. Track 1's presets are Mickey, Minnie, Chip and Dale. By now it's getting close to when the parade begins so we helped all the characters get dressed and then saw them off for the parade. During the parade, we helped the girl that was on track 2 organize the stilt safety bin. Ten minutes before the parade finishes, we set up water cups and towels for the performers. Track 1 is responsible for bringing towels and water cups to the first float for the performers and helping them cool down. Then we had to make a run back to the PC for something because Track 1 is also the runner. I got to drive the pargo which was really fun. I felt like I was going to fight crime. I was singing the Batman song the whole ride. It was awesome. Then we helped the characters get dressed again and sent them off. Same rules for every parade when it comes to water cups and towels.  Right after the second parade steps down we're off to lunch.
After lunch is when we built the presets for the next day. I already knew how to build Chip, Dale, Minnie, and Mickey so it was really easy. I did learn how to build a Mr. Incredible torso which isn't as hard as I thought it would be but was really scary at first. Then we went and helped Day Parade at their step down and sorted all the costumes. They have tons of costumes so even with all of MiSiCi's crew and Day Parade's crew there was something for everyone to be doing the whole time. Then we went back and loaded up the truck with tomorrow's presets and were off to shade control. We immediately set up for the last parade's step down because it is when all the costumes get broken down and ready for laundry. There's tons of bins and stuff that have to be set out. We helped the characters get ready and during the last parade we unloaded the next day's presets. At the end of the parade, the characters get undressed on this big tarp and we sort all the costumes for laundry. This is when everybody gets really busy because there's tons of laundry to do and we only have a short period of time to do it and be at the clock out place on time to clock out. You can't clock out late, Disney gets really mad. We loaded up the truck with all the racks and metros, unloaded just the in-house laundry when we got there then since I was track 1 we headed straight inside to do in house laundry. We set the washers up first thing and got them going then sprayed out costume shells and hand washed some gloves. We put away the bin full of accessories, then unloaded the washers and hung everything up and put it in the dry room. Then we high tailed it to clock out on time.
MiSiCi is really busy most of the day and I absolutely love that. I love the people I work with, the costuming cast members and also the performers. They mesh so perfectly with my own personality that the day just flies right on by. I am so happy this is my second skill to learn.

That's all the magic for today!!

Time in: 8:30 a.m.
Time out: 5:00 p.m.

Today I was in the character room again. When I first arrived I helped put away the clothes that had arrived from NSA. There was the same amount as usual, about 3 Z-racks full and it took about an hour. Then I built Cinderella petticoats for another hour. Then I went to Soil for about ten minutes before my coordinator had me come back and build some Belle petticoats. Then I put away some stuff from Hang Dry and the second wave of clothes from NSA. After my lunch break I organized the accessory wall for a while and then built two Eeyore outfits and a Piglet outfit. I finished the day off in Soil and laundry, just passing the time.

Welcome to Parades

Time in: 8:45 a.m.
Time out: 7:45 p.m.

Today was absolutely the most amazing day I've ever had at work!!! It was my first day on a parade and it was so incredibly fantastic! I'm in love. There was such energy and fun happening that it's like night and day difference from my usual Character Room job. 

I'm on the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! (henceforth referred to as MiSiCi) parade that performs 3 times a day on Main Street of Magic Kingdom. It's full of energy and it's pretty much a street party, not a parade. The guests are all invited to dance and party along in the middle of Main Street and everybody has a blast. The performers get exhausted, but it's so fun. With my trainer I got to go out there and see that parade as well as Celebrate A Dream Come True parade (henceforth referred to as Day Parade). It was very cool because most of the performers in MiSiCi also perform in Day Parade so we saw the same faces over and over and the trainer I was with is beloved by everybody so the performers kept coming over and giving us hugs and special attention. I loved it. We walked through the whole day on MiSiCi and I basically just tried to absorb everything I could. I have to go through a day of training on every single track individually so today was just an overview but I still tried to learn a lot. I had a blast with all the costuming employees on MiSiCi they're tons of fun. So was being around  the same performers all day. MiSiCi helps Day Parade a little bit in the middle of the day so it's all very teamwork oriented. And there's a very set schedule for everything that happens. I loved it. We did too much to remember it was all very crazy, but it was a lot of overview things mainly. It was a huge whirlwind day but I'm absolutely in love with it and can't wait for this to be my new assignment!

That's all the magic for today!!!

Time in: 5:00 p.m.
Time out: 1:30 a.m.

My first assignment yesterday was to help in laundry. Laundry is a whole bunch of sorting, pairing, and hanging stuff up. I've been doing that my whole life, so it's pretty easy. I like being back there enough. It kills time, at least. then I went on a run to Ops with another lady named Nancy. Pretty easy, all we had to do was open the door for a guy. When I got back, I started my line assignment. I had to make a Stitch, a Space Pluto, 3 Tiggers, and 2 Circus Donald's. I went on two runs during this time, both were to Shade Control (where the parades start) to give ELP some supplies. Then I went on part of my lunch and when I came back they were  having a track talk. We did this interesting thing though where we all went around looking for good and bad examples of the four keys. Then we shared them all out loud with each other and the manager. I guess management is going to actually listen to our opinions about what should be fixed and that's pretty nice. When we dispersed, everybody went back to Soil. The place had exploded. Our manager had called the track talk right in the middle of the busiest time for performers to drop off their costumes. Great planning on her part. So after we all tackled the craziness, I went and finished my lunch break. When I came back I was in soil the rest of the night.

That's all the magic for today!

Time in: 4:30 p.m.
Time out: 12:30 a.m.


First thing I did on Sunday was my line assignment. I had to build a few Mickeys and a few Minnies each of a few outfits. Then I straightened all the shoe shells in the room. After that I helped back in Soil for a while. I did the band's laundry (picked it up, sorted it, put it in a bag, and sent the rest to in-house laundry) then went to lunch. After lunch, straight back to laundry. Same old same old.

That's all the magic.

Time in: 5:00 p.m.
Time out: 1:30 a.m.

Yesterday was tons of fun in the Character Room!! I had the best people there with me, it was great. We secretively tried my friend Caitlin into a Minnie Magnifique dress which is way against the rules, pretty much. She fit though! It was hilarious. And then way later in the night when Sleeping Beauty was dropping off her costume she offered me a cupcake made from bananas and applesauce instead of eggs and oil. It was legitimately the best cupcake I've ever eaten in my whole life. We chased her down for the recipe, but she had already left. It was so sad. Then at the very end of the night we had a super spontaneous yet epic game of hide and go seek. We were simultaneously hiding from each other and from our coordinator. It was so funny. 

Anyways, as for the work I did yesterday. When I got there I went straight to soil for a while. Then I was back in laundry for a long time which I don't mind anymore, time passes quickly there. Then I went to lunch really late, which I also like, and came back and helped in Soil. It's all pretty easy there now because I know what I'm doing in all the sections and I know how to help people that don't know. I love the feeling of knowing what I'm doing at work. 

That's all the magic for today!

Time in: 4:30
Time out: 12:30

Yesterday was kind of weird. I was on fly team. It means that I was really only scheduled in case someone called out and they needed help, so I wasn't assigned an actual track. I just had to keep asking my coordinator what she needed me to do next and she'd send me on one job after another. I built a couple Tigger and Piglet outfits first. Then Captain Hook asked me a bunch of questions about his  costume, so I stopped and helped him out for a while. I ended up being sent to the PC to pick up a new headpiece for him. When I came back I finished with Tigger and Piglet then was sent to Soil. I asked my manager if I could help the girl who was doing Buzz Lightyear when she left, and she said it was okay so I got to do that for the first time. It was cool. He has lots of parts you have to clean so it's tedious but he's one of my favorite characters so I was okay with it. When I came back from that I went to lunch and then got sent to Soil for a bit. By then I only had about an hour left so I just killed time helping in Soil and Laundry. My coordinator had me do a few Goofy outfits as well, but that only took about fifteen minutes. He's got one of the easiest outfits.

That's all the magic for today!

Time in: 4:30
Time out: 12:30

When I went in to work on Thursday I was completely expecting it to drag slowly by. It was my first day of five days in a row and these are my last five days in the Character Room for now until I switch to the MiSiCi Parade. I was fully expecting it to be torture. I walked in and my coordinator said to just ignore what my track sheet said because she was missing 3 people and she really just needed me to stay in laundry all day. I've never actually had to be in laundry before. I'm in Soil all the time, where I sort out the costumes and then send them to laundry, but my tracks have never been just laundry. The most amazing thing happened: time FLEW by!! I don't know if it was because being in laundry is so tedious and I always had something to do or if it was because I'd never done that specific job before and it was new. Whatever the reason, it was lovely. Every time I looked at the clock it was at least 20 minutes later, which never happens. I tend to look at the clock every five minutes normally. But, by the end of the night I was so surprised that the shift was over and I just skipped merrily along to clock out. It was lovely.

That's all the magic for today!