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!