Wow, it's been how long...?

Well, that's just embarrassing. I didn't even come back on to do an end post! Truth be told, I was REAAAAALLLY depressed. I have made some of the best friends doing that program, and I couldn't believe that I was leaving them. I went back to California while my friends went back to Wisconsin, Texas, Chicago and New York. August 12th really was the saddest day of my life, and I cried a lot (and had very little sleep). I think that's something to be prepared for. No matter if you love your job, if you stick it out to the end, you leave with some of the closest friends. And I mean, I'm closer with these guys than I was with the friends I made in college.  Living and working and playing together for six months will do that.
Let's see, how did I end my program:
August 3rd: One of the BEST DAYS OF MY LIFE! I went to Universal: Islands of Adventure for the last time with my friend Danny and his friends (some of whom I knew, some I met for the first time). Being in Disney really gave me back the passion for photography, and I think you can see that in some of my photo's:

Personally, I claim Ravenclaw, but the boys all claim Slytherin.  It was an "interesting" day, lol :)

  Katelynn claims Hufflepuff, and was also picked for the wand show in Olivander's.

The Hog's Head pub serves several types of beer, as well one made specially for HP land.

Since we all went home August 12th, August 11th we were not scheduled to work as to get all our packing done. See, the trick is to get all your packing done early so you can spend that whooooole day in the park (much like I did with my friend Sahil when he went home). As such, I kidnapped Danny and we went to MK for a few hours before he headed back to pack.

 I made him ride Big Thunder while I took our pictures. They came out pretty good, imo :) (it was seriously 110 the last two months of the program. Prepare to sweat....)

One of my favoritest pictures EVER!!

I went off to EPCOT to say good bye to my friend Kelsey, whose extension was granted, and as such was working.

  I then headed back to MK to meet up with one of the Tracy roommates where I took this SICK photo!!! It was during The Magic, The Memories and You. The whole stupid park was shut down because of a lightening storm in the area, which meant that alllll the rides were closed. >.< HOWEVER! As I was taking a picture of the castle lit up, lightening struck!! I could not believe my luck!

 

Sorry guys, had to put my name over it, I'm so proud :) It's even better since the castle is lit up with cute fluffy clouds :)

More to come.... promise much sooner than four months... more like less than two days as I have some exciting news to get to! :)

Mind the gap....

Hi guys! I'm so sorry about disappearing for two months (ish) but I am still here, trooping along in photopass.  After my friend went home in June (after his Spring program ended), I got kind of depressed because it's scary to think that this is coming to an end.  I would find myself writing entries in my head, but just kind of avoided putting them down here.  It's like... as long as I don't think too hard, I don't have to be reminded that it's ending.  I realized when he left, that I think I hate the spring program, but only because you have to say good bye to everyone early.  When you're in the fall program, Advantage kids arrive early, and while you make friends with the left over SA kids who leave in a few months, you still have the majority of the fall kids coming in later, and you all leave together.  For Spring, everyone arrives at the same time, but it seems like you're saying goodbye to people every month, if not every other week.  It was really hard.  This has really been the best decision of my life, to come out here. I have made friends out here that I know I will always talk to and cherish.  I didn't save a dime, and even raided my savings (a lot) but I enjoyed every dime that I spent out here.  Sometimes I'm the only friend with money and treat people to places/things, but I have fun the entire time, and know if would have been different if so and so hadn't been there.  This program (and life) is short, so enjoy it to the max!!!

I did apply for the extension, but sadly did not get it.  Applications went up June 8th-17th, and we found out July...1st? I think.  Either the 1st or 3rd, which was funny since it said we would find out anytime between July 4th and 11th. Very few people got acceptances. And I mean, VERY FEW. The majority were denied, even if they had no points. This led many to believe that there was some mistake, and that people got denial letters who should have been accepted, and the real letters are coming out on monday... blah blah blah. It was all rumors.  All I can say, is please don't go with the mob mentality. It's so frustrating to read people spreading stuff when they weren't actually told themselves by a Disney employee.  I will say, keep your record card SPOTLESS.  Just because they say that you only need less than five points to qualify for extensions, the people who were accepted had 0 or 0.5 points.  I had 4.5. Which is another thing.  Photopass apparently has a completely different requirement to go seasonal or PT (transfer guidelines) So the whole time I thought I was okay with the 4.5, i was actually 0.5 over.  Photo is 4 or less which I didn't know and didn't find out until a few weeks ago, shortly after my extension denial.  (Like I said... a little depressing the last month or so...)  I'm working with a head manager to see if there is anything that can be done, otherwise I have to go home and wait til September 12th for my first point to fall off (six months after I got it) at which point, I can apply for seasonal or PT work.

Despite all this, work has still been amazing!!!  It's hot as heck out here, and the humidity makes it hard to go to work sometimes, but I think i'm getting a little used to it!  I'm really glad I came for Spring (despite what I wrote earlier...) because it was a gradual change to this humidity.  If I had come straight out here from California, in the middle of summer, for the fall program, I don't know if I would have made it.

That's me in the back! Second from last.

Take advantage of every opportunity that comes up!!!! I did the scavenger hunt back in May, and this past couple weeks I participated in C.R.O.W. which stands for Canoe Races Of the World.  This was a contest between 75 teams around Tom Sawyer island in Magic Kingdom.  EPCOT DPI put together a team, and it was hysterical.  We raced one at a time and had two practices, on a Monday and a Wednesday, at 6:30 am and 7:30 am. I had to be at MK by 5:30, so I was up at 5am. and it was haaaaaaard getting up that early. Another friend said that Soarin thought of putting together a team, but then realized that they wouldn't wake up for it, lol. Our race was the following Monday at 6:30am, and we didn't come anywhere near the top, but I had so much fun nonetheless.

I have more as I want to write down everything before the end. August 12th is quickly approaching. :(

The EPCOT Photopass CROW team!

a quickie

Going back through my old posts, I would like to reference my post from March 4th, where I mentioned the Toy Story soundtrack? Yeah, by the end I was sick of it, but only because there were only FIVE SONGS THEY PLAYED!!! If it had been, oh, an ACTUAL soundtrack, i'm sure it would have been great. But it was only a select few, lol. It's scary to go back and read posts from two months ago, and remember writing them like they were just yesterday. :/
People have indeed been having surprise inspections here lately (we really were thinking they were just myths...) so we had a bout of spring cleaning and the apartment looks really nice.
My friends Jasmine, Tracy and I rode Star Tours three times today at Hollywood Studios, and it was amazing!!!!! The graphics blew me away. And that's all I'll say since the ride isn't technically up until this weekend, so more later. :)
The Fall Advantage kids arrive tomorrow (today) and it's weird.  Fresh faces coming in, so I guess that means I won't be getting any sleep in the beginning from all the parties, lol.  We'll see what happens. I tried to convince my friends that we should get up at 7:15am to serenade them with the Be Prepared Song from the Lion King, but they all looked at me like I was crazy..... :D I remember my night before check in, hanging out with everyone in the Sunspree (Now Holiday Inn Buena Vista. But it'll always be the Sunspree to me). and then waking up suuuper early to get in line at Vista Way.  That was 99 days ago.  My program is halfway done. Sad face.
Did ppl actually like it when I posted my schedule? I'm scheduled for 35 hours this week (oooo!) and picked up two shifts at Hollywood Studios, bringing my total to 42.  This Saturday is one of the opening days for Star Tours and also a day I picked up an opening shift. I can't wait to see how many people show up for it!! It should be awesome. :) Sunday I worked 12 hours total, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. On the other hand, sometimes I can barely make it through an 8 hour shift, so I don't know why I lucked out Sunday. :) Saturday I have a morning shift, and then i just put in for another one next saturday.  It's not so bad, a quick 4 hour shift before my normal shift at EPCOT, and its' overtime. :) On the other hand, this cold is trying to kill me.... time for sleep!

Photopass Pet Peeves

Okay, making up for lost time here.  So as I've been taking photo's these past three months, I've noticed a few things, and I'm sure this list will grow as I remember ones I haven't written down here.  But here are a couple things worth noting:

• When you come in to greet a character, be excited!! We (the photographers) are expecting to take like 7 pictures of you!  We have the initial reaction (if we can get it), the hug, the interaction between u and the character, the posed shot, and then saying good bye.  Don't just walk in and stand there.
• It's actually kind of hard, but when you get up there, try to hug the character with your face to the camera.  This is harder than it sounds if you're used to hugging on one side of a person, lol.  But you may actually like the picture of you hugging Minnie if you can actually see your face, and not your back.
• If you're with a group, try not to walk in front of us if your friend is hugging Donald.  Man, I have had so many shots not come out because someone walked through to the other side (not your fault, really. You're just trying to get to the other side of Donald). OR WORSE!! If you have a child in your arms, don't stop right in front of them with your back to us. We can't see anything that's going on and may miss that kiss they give them on the nose. :( 
• I don't mind taking a picture with your own camera.  I don't mind taking it with two personal cameras.  Three is pushing it, and really anything over that, you guys can just email the pictures to each other. (this is a personal opinion)
• We're trained to let you take your photo's first with your own camera.  If you have kids, they are automatically going to look at you because you're their parents.  So until you put your camera down, they aren't going to look at me, which means if I take them while you're taking them, they aren't looking at my camera.

picture updates

So I know it's been a while since I updated, but it's been a whirlwind two weeks of activity (and i'm paying for it now, being sick) but it was amazing!!!  First the family came out for their first trip ever to WDW and they stayed at the Boardwalk. I was able to get them a 40% discount and they loved every minute of it out here. The weather cooperated the whole time and only rained the last day. I could have gotten a 50% discount if i had said that I was staying with them, but I came home every night and would have felt bad lying to the company.  Oh well!
The last couple days have been crazy and amazing!! On Wednesday I got to work with Belle and Beast in France alllll day!! They have a weird location, in a small walkway by the lagoon, and are surrounded by wrought iron fences, so it's not exactly easy to move around the back to take pictures of a kid who just wants to stare at Belle, so I don't think my pictures were great but I know i got some good ones. :) Beast is kind of hard because he's so big, he frightens a lot of kids.  Belle however was brilliant!! She was so much fun and totally into her character. I picked up that shift from a co-worker who wanted to get rid of it, but this week I"m assigned two character shifts, Friday with Donald in Mexico!!! This is a shift EVERYONE always wants to work, I think just because it's Donald in a poncho, but it's in the sun all day. Saturday I'm with Winnie-the-Pooh and Tigger in the UK and that's indoors!! Woo-hoo! Cause let me tell you, it's freaking hot!!
Umm... Friday and Saturday (the 12th and 13th) were AMAZING because I participated in the D23 Great Disney Scavenger Hunt, which took place in all four parks. We did two parks a day, with MK and EPCOT on day 1, and DAK and DHS on day two. We had 3 hours each for MK, DHS and DAK, while EPCOT had 4 hours because it's so big.  MK was a little hard because since it was our first park, we had no idea what to expect and didn't have a game plan.  There was much running back and forth and not much progress. EPCOT I finally got a system down and we did really good there. It helped that the country's were in a line and so were able to knock them out.  DAK was HORRIBLE tho, lol. Definitely our least favorite park! There were a lot of people, it was hard to get from one area to another, and the clues seemed hard. However, we made up for it at DHS by just kicking butt!! We figured out almost all of the clues there, and ended on a high note.

Here I am having just received my team lanyard and commemorative patch! 9:30am and it was already 85+ outside, ugh!! We were team Sharkbait :)

Hillary took this of the three of us in MK on Day 1 :) Josh was Peach, Isaiah was Bloat, Hillary was Dori and i was the fish who was obsessed with bubbles :)

Team in action!! This was taken by a D23 photographer in DAK as we were running around (before the frustration, lol). This pic is featured on their web page with several others.

A picture of our book halfway through our run through HS.  I was the book keeper and told everyone what we were looking for, and they decided what area we would head to next. I wrote notes in the books for where each clue was located (i.e. GMR = Great Movie Ride, M = Muppets, S = Sunset, St = Streets of America) I then purchased a note book and each area had it's own page, so I would write Muppets! at the top, then underneath list the question numbers. This way I could easily find them in the clue book.  Questions were worth 1, 5 and 10 points.  The page above is 1 pointers, here's a page showing 5 point questions on the left, and 10 point questions on the right....

Like my chicken scratch writing? It's really hard to walk fast and write at the same time. Several times I put the answer on the line above the question, meaning I wrote the answer in the wrong question line. There was lots of scribbling.

SO that's been my life!! It was so much fun!! Of the 520 teams registered, 517 showed up, 1 team earned only 5 points (i think they gave up really quickly because it was so hot...) and we placed..... 62nd!!! I'm so proud of us! yeah, it would have been nice to win a prize, but really! 62nd out of 517 teams that started. Yay us!!!

Oh dear...

My Friend Sahil and Me at the Formal

Eep! I dont even know where to start, i'm so behind!!! I owe posts on Photo Pet Peeves, visiting CentraCare when sick, and tonigh we just had our CP formal! ..... Let's go with the formal!!!

First off, this is sadly a "dry" even. There is no alcohol served or sold at all at this event. I had several friends go off in search of the Hotel Bar to buy alcohol so there is that option. Our event was held at Disney's Coronada Springs Resort and was a formal event (although formal wear was not required).  Most girls wore dresses though, in the color of our theme which was black and white. There were some bright color dresses, so you won't look weird if you wear a hot pink dress to a black and white ball.  The other theme was Disney Villains and that part was soooo cool because almost all the disney villains were out! There was the Evil Queen from Snow White, Maleficent, Hades, Lady Tremaine and the step sisters, Cruella, and Jafar. We also had Sorcerer Mickey, who I wish I had gotten a photo with, but Im not too broken up about.  I waited in line for Maleficent but she left before I got up front and was replaced by the Queen from SW. So my friend Marissa and I stood off to the side to wait for her to come back. After a while we realized that people weren't really paying attention so one of us stayed in the secondary line while the other jumped in and had our photo taken with the Queen, lol. I'm actually bummed because while there was a CM there to take pictures, Photopass he was not!!! My pictures aren't even in focus, I don't know what he did! :( I'll put them up here, but at least I have something, eh? Anyways, we just had to wait 20 extra minutes for Maleficent to come back, and it was totally worth it! These were the only two I was interested in (besides Sorcerer Mickey, of course).

This was the first pic and I didn't pose.

               

This time I planned ahead!

You can tell my face is all out of whack on the Maleficent one, but oh well!! There were easily over 2000 people at this, and for the most part I've seen only positive reviews for it!! One guy apparently felt it sucked, but I had fun.  It wasn't as much fun as House of Blues, but it was made fun by my friends.  :) It's free to go, there's food provided and a ton of ppl go. So at least go check it out when you're here!

Umm.. I've been going to HoB a lot lately, which is to make up for not going in the beginning. Something that seperates the SPring program from the Fall is, well a) that they accept more ppl for Fall and b) for Spring, everyone starts within a month of each other, but the Spring ppl leave in May and June while the Advantage ppl leave in August.  (For Fall, the Advantage ppl start really early, like in May, while Fall ppl start around August). But a lot of my friends are leaving in the next couple weeks!! :(  So I'm spending as much time as possible with friends. It's really easy to say, "Oh, I'm here for 6 months, I have time." I've been here for three months on May 7th!! OMG!!! So I'm cutting back on sleep and going out more!

HoB with friends that are leaving :(

The family is visiting this week and are staying in a concierge level room at Disney's Boardwalk Resort and it's amazing!! I'll have pics of that to come soon :)  Night!

Everything's good, please send Vinyl's....

Ugh! So I picked up a bunch of hours on the hub this week, hence no updates (boooo!!) but there should be one coming. Including WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU GET SICK!! One person in the hospital with pneumonia and another out with strep.  Oh man... time for the vitamins. :)  Worked with Goofy and Minnie yesterday and it was great, as usual. :) 600 + with Goofy and 630 with Minnie, both two hour sets, plus a great Magical Moment closing with this Japanese couple who came through FIVE TIMES the last hour and a half just for pictures. And they kept giving the characters presents every time they came through, lol, from Disneyland TokyoSea (i think that's what it's called...) Man, it was so cool when they realized that they were going to get tons of pics with alllll five characters at once. :) It was great.

Ciao!