9:35a-Left house
10:00a-Arrived
10:07a-Parked, realized i forgot my camera (UGH) and forgot the ticket in the car when i was halfway to the park, so had to go back to the car and walk all the way back (UGH) this morning wasn't going right, plus I started to realize how much work I have once I get back to school.
10:37a-In Islands of Adventure
10:47a-Dueling Dragons (10min estimated wait) Fire, 1st row. I didn't wait in the line for 1st row, i waited in the line for "all other rows", and then worked my way up to the 2nd row, the least busy line, where I waited for a group of three to get into the first row, then I threw myself through the gates and into the first row. I was proud of my technique, which worked the next time on Ice as well.
11:03a-OFF DD, back on for Ice. Had to wait for them to add another set of trains, and of course it wasn't until I was the next train to be boarded.
11:43a-OFF DD
11:54a-The Incredible Hulk (25min estimated wait)
12:19p-OFF, and met Spiderman!
12:34p-The Adventures of Spiderman ride (25min estimated wait) By far one of my favorite rides in Orlando. So cool.
12:56p-OFF Spiderman
1:00p-Sinbad Stunt show-Some cool effects
1:24p-OUT SSS
1:27p-Poseidon's Fury (20min estimated wait) LAME new show, I don't like the order of events...and I want the water vortex back.
1:56p-OFF PF
Ate lunch at Fire Eaters Grill...Stay tuned for the picture of the burger...wow...scarce toppings!
2:20p-Cat in the Hat (5min estimated wait) Still no good, but at least the fat ladies I was literally wedged into the "couch" with were entertaining enough
2:28p-OFF CITH
2:32p-Dr. Doom's Fearfall (15min estimated wait) Compared to Scream at SFNE, it's pathetic, really short towers, but the theming is cool. And the girls on my side of the car were hilarious.
3:00p-Saw Captain America, Wolverine, Storm, some other girl, and Spiderman arrive on their ATVs. THEY get ATVs...
3:02p-Adventures of Spiderman (10min estimated wait)
3:11p-OFF Spiderman
3:18p-Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls (40 min estimated wait), but I was hot! I waited in line with 4 Germans, 3 guys and 1 girl...I ended up getting in the boat with them. They took the back 4 seats, which put me right in the front. They all got pretty wet. But I got SOAKED. I did not dress accordingly.
3:57p-OFF Ripsaw Falls
4:05p-Dueling Dragons, Ice (10min estimated wait) Just my luck, they had technical difficulties and had to put back 2 of the trains again...
4:32p-OFF DD
5:06p-Seuss Trolley Train (10 min estimated wait) LAME LAME LAME...I was hoping to get on the train that went through Circus McGurkus, but only one train goes there (LAME) and it wasn't running (LAME).
5:27p-OFF
5:37p-OUT of park (they close at 6...LAME)
5:50p-In the car, on the way to Downtown Disney...I just can't stay away!!! Did some shopping and extreme hunting, but to my dismay didn't find what I was looking for. Still depressed about it :(
Back to the house, and got a good long swim and soak in the hot tub and pool. Then went downtown Orlando to go to a club, but Dan couldn't get in because he was wearing shorts. They wouldn't let him take them off, either...Sonic Trip #2, then bed.
Overall, Disney is so much better than Universal Studios. More on top of their game, better guest service (I tested that), the rides are laid out better, with more accurate wait times, etc. Note to self: Future Orlando vacations, do Universal first. Still good, but in comparison, they lack.
Ride/Show Count: 12
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Wednesday, March 11 in Disney
10:44a- In lot at Epcot
10:48a- In the park (I love Diamond parking)
10:55a- Got a fast pass for Soarin' (12:55-1:55) (30 min estimated wait)
11:04a- The Seas with Nemo and Friends (10 min estimated wait) Cute ride, pretty to look at, not very exciting though.
11:21a- Spaceship Earth (20min estimated wait) Cool new additions, the end of the ride after the planetarium section was cool with the LED grid. Never stopped either, which was pretty remarkable. I didn't stop on any of the continuous rides this trip actually (mansion, the seas, etc)
11:43a- OFF Spaceship Earth
11:47a- Test Track Single Rider Line (20min estimated wait) Walk on
11:57a- OFF TT, back in singles line
12:09p- OFF TT
12:19p- Journey into the Imagination with Figment (5 min estimated wait)
12:29p- OFF Figment, in line for Honey, I Shrunk the Audience 3D show walked right into preshow
12:58p-OFF HISTA
1:01p-Used Fastpass for Soarin' (65 min estimated wait) Really good ride, I sat next to a really annoying girl though who kind of ruined the experience. I think they could have gone further with the idea though, having more movement. Overall very cool though.
1:22p-OFF Soarin'
1:33p-Out of the park
1:39p- In the car, driving (I love Diamond parking)
1:46p-Parked at Magic Kingdom
1:56p- On monorail
2:05p- In park
Got a pic with Rafiki, since he had no line, stay tuned for that awesome pic.
2:13p- Pirates of the Caribbean (5min estimated wait) Row 6
2:26p- OFF pirates
2:30p- Got fastpass for Splash Mountain (40min estimated wait) 3:40-4:40
2:31p- Standby for Thunder Mountain Railroad (20min estimated wait) Car 3, Row 3
2:46p-OFF TMR
Watched the 3pm parade in Frontierland, and again in front of the castle. Very good parade, but not as good as Block Party Bash. Went to Casey's Corner which was empty and ate a very good hot dog and lemonade :-D
3:44p-Tomorrowland Transit Authority, Always a good relaxing ride. I believe it's going to be closed while Space Mountain refurbs though. :(
3:58p-OFF TTA
3:59p-Got fastpass for Space Mountain (20 min estimated wait) (4:40-5:40)
4:20p-Used fastpass for Splash Mountain (50min estimated wait)
4:46p-OFF Splash
4:50p-Standby line for Thunder Mountain Railroad (10min estimated wait) Walk on ride!!! (The next day, supposedly this ride never got below a 1 hour wait! Did I luck out or what?)
5:00p-OFF TMR, went to Main Street to meet up with the awesome short name crew: Meg, Pat, and Jess!!!
5:24p-Jungle Cruise (20min estimated wait) Really good, although very corny tour guide. It was an attack of the puns ;)
5:50p-OFF JC
5:55p-Got a Splash Fastpass (70 min estimated wait) (6:35-7:35)
5:56p-Standby for Thunder Mountain Railroad (10 min) walk on ride again! 2nd row to back
6:08p-OFF TMR
6:21p-Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor (10min) So funny and cool!!! And they used Pat's joke! And I love Roz!
6:49p-OUT of MILF (HA!)
Dinner at Cosmic Rays' Starlight Cafe, and yup! he's still singing!
7:23p-Used Fastpass for Space Mountain (30min estimated wait) R hand side, 3rd row
7:37p-OFF SM
7:41p-Buzz Lightyear's Ranger Spin (Omin estimated wait) Walk on! Pat cremated me! Not saying much though, but it was still fun (to laugh about!)
7:47p-OFF BLRS, we realized people were gathering near the castle, and we found out that Wishes was at 8, because the park closed at 8. LAME! We watched from the Tomorrowland bridge, and never got to do our Splash Mountain Fastpass. But here is where it gets really exciting:
8:20p-Wishes is over, we start leaving for the car.
8:41p-The short name club piles in the mini. And I drive.......
8:50p-We are parked at Hollywood studios.
8:54p-We are in Hollywood studios. (I love Diamond parking)
8:59p-Toy Story Mania (30min estimated wait) Once again, Pat cremated me, but I did better this time, it wasn't as bad of a cremation this time...
9:20p-OFF TSM
9:32p- In line for Fantasmic, got great seats dead center about half way up, the wind was blowing so it was a misty show.
10:28p-Leaving Fantasmic...Two night shows in one night? AMAZING! (and jess' first time seeing Fantasmic!)
10:44p-At the car.
Onto the Dunn/Lidwin house for the night. Sonic trip #1 and it was bedtime.
Ride/Show count: 22 (although the ride in the mini should count, don't you think, guys?)
10:48a- In the park (I love Diamond parking)
10:55a- Got a fast pass for Soarin' (12:55-1:55) (30 min estimated wait)
11:04a- The Seas with Nemo and Friends (10 min estimated wait) Cute ride, pretty to look at, not very exciting though.
11:21a- Spaceship Earth (20min estimated wait) Cool new additions, the end of the ride after the planetarium section was cool with the LED grid. Never stopped either, which was pretty remarkable. I didn't stop on any of the continuous rides this trip actually (mansion, the seas, etc)
11:43a- OFF Spaceship Earth
11:47a- Test Track Single Rider Line (20min estimated wait) Walk on
11:57a- OFF TT, back in singles line
12:09p- OFF TT
12:19p- Journey into the Imagination with Figment (5 min estimated wait)
12:29p- OFF Figment, in line for Honey, I Shrunk the Audience 3D show walked right into preshow
12:58p-OFF HISTA
1:01p-Used Fastpass for Soarin' (65 min estimated wait) Really good ride, I sat next to a really annoying girl though who kind of ruined the experience. I think they could have gone further with the idea though, having more movement. Overall very cool though.
1:22p-OFF Soarin'
1:33p-Out of the park
1:39p- In the car, driving (I love Diamond parking)
1:46p-Parked at Magic Kingdom
1:56p- On monorail
2:05p- In park
Got a pic with Rafiki, since he had no line, stay tuned for that awesome pic.
2:13p- Pirates of the Caribbean (5min estimated wait) Row 6
2:26p- OFF pirates
2:30p- Got fastpass for Splash Mountain (40min estimated wait) 3:40-4:40
2:31p- Standby for Thunder Mountain Railroad (20min estimated wait) Car 3, Row 3
2:46p-OFF TMR
Watched the 3pm parade in Frontierland, and again in front of the castle. Very good parade, but not as good as Block Party Bash. Went to Casey's Corner which was empty and ate a very good hot dog and lemonade :-D
3:44p-Tomorrowland Transit Authority, Always a good relaxing ride. I believe it's going to be closed while Space Mountain refurbs though. :(
3:58p-OFF TTA
3:59p-Got fastpass for Space Mountain (20 min estimated wait) (4:40-5:40)
4:20p-Used fastpass for Splash Mountain (50min estimated wait)
4:46p-OFF Splash
4:50p-Standby line for Thunder Mountain Railroad (10min estimated wait) Walk on ride!!! (The next day, supposedly this ride never got below a 1 hour wait! Did I luck out or what?)
5:00p-OFF TMR, went to Main Street to meet up with the awesome short name crew: Meg, Pat, and Jess!!!
5:24p-Jungle Cruise (20min estimated wait) Really good, although very corny tour guide. It was an attack of the puns ;)
5:50p-OFF JC
5:55p-Got a Splash Fastpass (70 min estimated wait) (6:35-7:35)
5:56p-Standby for Thunder Mountain Railroad (10 min) walk on ride again! 2nd row to back
6:08p-OFF TMR
6:21p-Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor (10min) So funny and cool!!! And they used Pat's joke! And I love Roz!
6:49p-OUT of MILF (HA!)
Dinner at Cosmic Rays' Starlight Cafe, and yup! he's still singing!
7:23p-Used Fastpass for Space Mountain (30min estimated wait) R hand side, 3rd row
7:37p-OFF SM
7:41p-Buzz Lightyear's Ranger Spin (Omin estimated wait) Walk on! Pat cremated me! Not saying much though, but it was still fun (to laugh about!)
7:47p-OFF BLRS, we realized people were gathering near the castle, and we found out that Wishes was at 8, because the park closed at 8. LAME! We watched from the Tomorrowland bridge, and never got to do our Splash Mountain Fastpass. But here is where it gets really exciting:
8:20p-Wishes is over, we start leaving for the car.
8:41p-The short name club piles in the mini. And I drive.......
8:50p-We are parked at Hollywood studios.
8:54p-We are in Hollywood studios. (I love Diamond parking)
8:59p-Toy Story Mania (30min estimated wait) Once again, Pat cremated me, but I did better this time, it wasn't as bad of a cremation this time...
9:20p-OFF TSM
9:32p- In line for Fantasmic, got great seats dead center about half way up, the wind was blowing so it was a misty show.
10:28p-Leaving Fantasmic...Two night shows in one night? AMAZING! (and jess' first time seeing Fantasmic!)
10:44p-At the car.
Onto the Dunn/Lidwin house for the night. Sonic trip #1 and it was bedtime.
Ride/Show count: 22 (although the ride in the mini should count, don't you think, guys?)
Tuesday, March 10 in Disney
9:20a In Animal Kingdom
9:28a Fastpass for Dinosaur (10:40-11:40) (10min estimated wait)
9:33a In line for Finding Nemo: The Musical, didn't have to get in line that early, but I got a really good seat because of it. The show was brilliant, the puppetry was great, it was just amazing. After the show, I met up with the Stage Manager, who I had met via a contact I had, and she took me backstage to see the set and the puppets and everything. I could write a book. So awesome.
11a Left the Nemo stage.
11:02a Fastpass for Expedition Everest (12:05-1:05) (35min estimated wait)
11:03a Singles line for Expedition Everest, Row 17, back row This is by far my favorite thrill ride at Disney World now. So awesome!
11:13a OFF EE
11:18a Used Fastpass for Dinosaur (10 min estimated wait)
11:30a OUT Dinosaur, Hopped in Standby line
11:45a OUT Dinosaur
11:55a In bleachers for the Festival of the Lion King show
12:31p OUT of Festival
12:40p Fastpass Safari (1:39-2:39) (40 min estimated wait)
12:47p Use the Fastpass for Expedition Everest (40 min estimated wa), back row again
12:57p OFF EE, back in singles line for Everest, front row, pics were taken!
1:15p OFF EE, headed to Finding Nemo for the 1:45 show with the Dunns and friends
2:25p OUT of Nemo
2:31p Singles line for Everest (35 min estimated wait), row 14
2:44p OFF EE
2:57p It's Tough To Be A Bug Standby with the Dunns (5 min estimated wait)
3:15p OUT of BUG
3:28p Disregarded Fastpass, and Standby Safari with the Dunns (10 min estimated wait) Walk on
3:50p OFF Safari, heading to the parking lot, with many shopping stops :-\
4:30p Leaving Animal Kingdom
4:44p In lot at Epcot
4:52p In Epcot (I love Diamond parking)
4:57p Standby Mission: Space (Orange: 5 min estimated wait Green: 15 min estimated wait) Orange Walk On
5:15p OFF M:S
5:17p Test Track Single Rider Line (20 min estimated wait for singles)
5:39p OFF TT, heading to World Showcase to meet Dunns and Lidwins
5:55p Got a Fastpass for Maelstrom in Norway (6:35-7:35) (30min estimated wait)
6:35p Fastpass Maelstrom with Dunns and Lidwins...Lame as always...the ride, that is.
6:43p OFF Maelstrom
6:55p Mexico ride Walk on...the new update was cool with Donald Duck... and the three caballeros
7:07p OFF Mexico
7:09p Took the World Showcase ferry to Morocco? The point? Headed back to the Land to meet up with Meg, Pat, Jess and Dan...So it was the short name crew for the rest of the night. haha. We walked around World Showcase again, getting crepes in France, until we got to Germany where I got another snack ;) and we watched Illuminations.
From there, Meg and Jess went with me to get the car and Pat and Dan left through the France entrance. We met up for ice cream and then I went back to the hotel. The man with the ground beef was there, in the same area, still holding the bag of ground beef. Weird. When I got to the hotel, I went to brush my teeth, turned on the bathroom light, and saw a roach scamper across the bathroom counter. I threw one of the cups over him, where he happily stayed while I showered. After my shower, I sent him to the ocean via the toilet. Creeped out a lot more about this place, I went to bed, and found that the housekeeping people hadn't made the bed, just readjusted the comforter. The flat sheet that was pretending to be a fitted sheet was still untucked towards the bottom of the bed. So I used the other bed for the night. I was too tired to fuss with it :-D. Anyways, I went to bed, the next morning to be woken up by housekeeping trying to break into my room and couldn't understand why the double bar and pin lock was done. Hmm, that must mean the room is occupied. I dragged myself to the door, peered through the crack, and he realized he must have been on the wrong row of rooms. Check out was at 11a, you would think he would wait until after then. Oh well. I was up and going then. At check out, I mentioned the roach, the guy said "really? i'll have to make a note so we can find it." Anyways, at least the hotel was very conveniently located.
Ride/Show count for the day: 17...going backstage at Nemo? priceless!
9:28a Fastpass for Dinosaur (10:40-11:40) (10min estimated wait)
9:33a In line for Finding Nemo: The Musical, didn't have to get in line that early, but I got a really good seat because of it. The show was brilliant, the puppetry was great, it was just amazing. After the show, I met up with the Stage Manager, who I had met via a contact I had, and she took me backstage to see the set and the puppets and everything. I could write a book. So awesome.
11a Left the Nemo stage.
11:02a Fastpass for Expedition Everest (12:05-1:05) (35min estimated wait)
11:03a Singles line for Expedition Everest, Row 17, back row This is by far my favorite thrill ride at Disney World now. So awesome!
11:13a OFF EE
11:18a Used Fastpass for Dinosaur (10 min estimated wait)
11:30a OUT Dinosaur, Hopped in Standby line
11:45a OUT Dinosaur
11:55a In bleachers for the Festival of the Lion King show
12:31p OUT of Festival
12:40p Fastpass Safari (1:39-2:39) (40 min estimated wait)
12:47p Use the Fastpass for Expedition Everest (40 min estimated wa), back row again
12:57p OFF EE, back in singles line for Everest, front row, pics were taken!
1:15p OFF EE, headed to Finding Nemo for the 1:45 show with the Dunns and friends
2:25p OUT of Nemo
2:31p Singles line for Everest (35 min estimated wait), row 14
2:44p OFF EE
2:57p It's Tough To Be A Bug Standby with the Dunns (5 min estimated wait)
3:15p OUT of BUG
3:28p Disregarded Fastpass, and Standby Safari with the Dunns (10 min estimated wait) Walk on
3:50p OFF Safari, heading to the parking lot, with many shopping stops :-\
4:30p Leaving Animal Kingdom
4:44p In lot at Epcot
4:52p In Epcot (I love Diamond parking)
4:57p Standby Mission: Space (Orange: 5 min estimated wait Green: 15 min estimated wait) Orange Walk On
5:15p OFF M:S
5:17p Test Track Single Rider Line (20 min estimated wait for singles)
5:39p OFF TT, heading to World Showcase to meet Dunns and Lidwins
5:55p Got a Fastpass for Maelstrom in Norway (6:35-7:35) (30min estimated wait)
6:35p Fastpass Maelstrom with Dunns and Lidwins...Lame as always...the ride, that is.
6:43p OFF Maelstrom
6:55p Mexico ride Walk on...the new update was cool with Donald Duck... and the three caballeros
7:07p OFF Mexico
7:09p Took the World Showcase ferry to Morocco? The point? Headed back to the Land to meet up with Meg, Pat, Jess and Dan...So it was the short name crew for the rest of the night. haha. We walked around World Showcase again, getting crepes in France, until we got to Germany where I got another snack ;) and we watched Illuminations.
From there, Meg and Jess went with me to get the car and Pat and Dan left through the France entrance. We met up for ice cream and then I went back to the hotel. The man with the ground beef was there, in the same area, still holding the bag of ground beef. Weird. When I got to the hotel, I went to brush my teeth, turned on the bathroom light, and saw a roach scamper across the bathroom counter. I threw one of the cups over him, where he happily stayed while I showered. After my shower, I sent him to the ocean via the toilet. Creeped out a lot more about this place, I went to bed, and found that the housekeeping people hadn't made the bed, just readjusted the comforter. The flat sheet that was pretending to be a fitted sheet was still untucked towards the bottom of the bed. So I used the other bed for the night. I was too tired to fuss with it :-D. Anyways, I went to bed, the next morning to be woken up by housekeeping trying to break into my room and couldn't understand why the double bar and pin lock was done. Hmm, that must mean the room is occupied. I dragged myself to the door, peered through the crack, and he realized he must have been on the wrong row of rooms. Check out was at 11a, you would think he would wait until after then. Oh well. I was up and going then. At check out, I mentioned the roach, the guy said "really? i'll have to make a note so we can find it." Anyways, at least the hotel was very conveniently located.
Ride/Show count for the day: 17...going backstage at Nemo? priceless!
Monday, March 9 at Disney
6:30 am-Leave Georgia for Orlando
10:00am-In the gates at Magic Kingdom
10:10am-Stitch's Great Escape (5min estimated wait) Could have passed, was better when it was Alien Encounter. Although it was worth it to see the little kid's reaction next to me...His mom and I were trying to talk him through it so he didn't have a breakdown
10:25am-Got a Fastpass for Space Mountain (11:10-12:10)
10:25am-Standby Space Mountain (10min estimated wait), Seat 5 on the L hand side, Ride even better than I had remembered...should be interesting to see what the major overhaul refurb does to the ride.
10:44am-OFF Space Mountain
10:55am- Standby Mickey's Philharmagic (5min estimated wait) a 3D movie, As recommended by Kate and Meg, it was Awesome!
11:20am-OFF Mickey's Philharmagic
11:25am-Used the Space Mountain Fastpass, seat 3 on the R hand side. By this time I have a technique that's working well, I paid attention once I got within earshot and eyeshot of the ride ops, so when they had a group of 5 entering a train, I'd tell them I was a 'party of one' and get to cut the rest of the line :-D
11:36am-OFF Space Mountain.
11:47am-Pirates of the Carribean (5min estimated wait), the new Davy Jones effect is awesome, the drop seems less intense than it was before, but that might have just been my memory slipping.
12:00pm-OFF Pirates
12:05pm-Got a Fastpass for Splash Mountain (12:45p-1:45p) (3omin estimated wait at the time)
12:06pm-Standby Thunder Mountain Railroad (20min estimated wait)
12:27pm-OFF TMR
12:32pm-Standby Haunted Mansion (20min estimated wait) The new effects were really cool, especially the stairway room and the projected ghosts
12:54pm-OFF HM
12:59pm- Used the Splash Mountain Fastpass (50min estimated wait by now) I got stuck on a log full o' Asians who insisted on taking pictures through the whole thing but would put away their cameras each time a lift hill came up, so i played along with the game and pretended that we were getting ready for the big plunge every time we went up a hill :-) fun times.
1:18pm- OFF SM, and heading to the car
1:36pm- at the Monorail
1:52pm- in the car and driving
2:03pm-Parked in Hollywood Studios lot
2:10pm- In the park at Hollywood Studios
2:23pm- Voyage of the Little Mermaid-Some cool effects, but the puppetry technique was bad overall, and the Ursula Puppet/Costume was really sub par...Ariel had bad support and became very thin and flat on the top notes...I was glad to see the show though, just think they need some direction and updates...
2:52pm-OUT of Voyage
3pm-Watched Block Party Bash at Crossroads. Best Disney parade in my opinion...Very fun, high energy and interactive, with lots of surprises, even to me, who normally figures these things out before they happen. Haha. Mrs. Incredible was a HUGE surprise, and she was awesome! Just wait for the pics. Great parade, wish I could have seen it more than once in different places, to see all the surprises and effects.
3:23pm-Fastpass Tower of Terror (4:05-5:05pm) (30 minute wait at time)
3:24pm-Rock N' Roller Coaster (50 min estimated wait) Single rider line FIRST ROW! Ride is just as awesome as ever. Although I wish they didn't have the "corkscrew ahead" sign, I would rather the corkscrew be surprise.
3:37pm-OFF RRC, back in the Single Rider line. Row 9 this time.
3:51pm-OFF RRC
3:52pm-Tower of Terror Standby line (30 min estimated wait) The ride was better than I remembered, had a very good "random" combination of drops.
4:24pm-OFF ToT, and back in line to use the Fastpass.
4:45pm-OFF ToT
4:52pm- Star Tours Standby line (10 min estimated wait) This ride really needs the refurb it's getting soon.
5:12pm-Off ST
5:18pm- Show requested Meg on The Great Movie Ride. She was AWESOME! and hilarious!
5:47pm- OFF GMR
5:50pm-Playhouse Disney show-Cute! the kids that were dancing along were adorable...puppetry was good! I'd love to get a closer look at the puppets and the stage configuration.
6:15pm-OUT of PD show
6:23pm- Muppet 3D show, great as always! walked right in to catch the end of the pre show
6:50pm- Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular-Fun yet cheesy as always. There was a squirrel running around on set, seemed to be very friendly and into the action. He was right where the jeep drives around and flips and explodes...seconds before it happened. it was fun to see all of the people in the tech booth pointing and panicking. fortunately, he escaped in the nick of time. and then when the jeep exploded a few feet away from him, he boooooked it across stage. HILARIOUS! wish I had it on tape!
7:17pm- OUT of IJSS, ate at Backlot Express, it was ok. Quick and decent.
7:56pm- Sucked it up and entered the Toy Story Mania Standby line (70min estimated wait)- This ride was sooo much fun, even though i really stink at it, but oh well! It's still fun!
8:43pm- OFF TSM, headed back to the Great Movie Ride to show request Meg again
9:26pm- OFF GMR
9:35pm- In line for Fantasmic!, the line was backed up to the Planet Hollywood store. This is by far my favorite nighttime spectacular at Disney. So many awesome effects, great characters and such.
10:25- OUT of Fantasmic!
10:41- At the car, and on the way to the hotel
The hotel seemed decent, kinda sketchy, there was a guy standing on the opposite end of the hotel with a black eye, dark complexion, plainly dressed, and a bag of what appeared to be a couple packages of ground beef. Besides the nappy blanket, the sheets you could see through, and the towels with holes in them, I got a good night's sleep...
Ride/Show Count for the day: 22...Very Successful if you ask me!
10:00am-In the gates at Magic Kingdom
10:10am-Stitch's Great Escape (5min estimated wait) Could have passed, was better when it was Alien Encounter. Although it was worth it to see the little kid's reaction next to me...His mom and I were trying to talk him through it so he didn't have a breakdown
10:25am-Got a Fastpass for Space Mountain (11:10-12:10)
10:25am-Standby Space Mountain (10min estimated wait), Seat 5 on the L hand side, Ride even better than I had remembered...should be interesting to see what the major overhaul refurb does to the ride.
10:44am-OFF Space Mountain
10:55am- Standby Mickey's Philharmagic (5min estimated wait) a 3D movie, As recommended by Kate and Meg, it was Awesome!
11:20am-OFF Mickey's Philharmagic
11:25am-Used the Space Mountain Fastpass, seat 3 on the R hand side. By this time I have a technique that's working well, I paid attention once I got within earshot and eyeshot of the ride ops, so when they had a group of 5 entering a train, I'd tell them I was a 'party of one' and get to cut the rest of the line :-D
11:36am-OFF Space Mountain.
11:47am-Pirates of the Carribean (5min estimated wait), the new Davy Jones effect is awesome, the drop seems less intense than it was before, but that might have just been my memory slipping.
12:00pm-OFF Pirates
12:05pm-Got a Fastpass for Splash Mountain (12:45p-1:45p) (3omin estimated wait at the time)
12:06pm-Standby Thunder Mountain Railroad (20min estimated wait)
12:27pm-OFF TMR
12:32pm-Standby Haunted Mansion (20min estimated wait) The new effects were really cool, especially the stairway room and the projected ghosts
12:54pm-OFF HM
12:59pm- Used the Splash Mountain Fastpass (50min estimated wait by now) I got stuck on a log full o' Asians who insisted on taking pictures through the whole thing but would put away their cameras each time a lift hill came up, so i played along with the game and pretended that we were getting ready for the big plunge every time we went up a hill :-) fun times.
1:18pm- OFF SM, and heading to the car
1:36pm- at the Monorail
1:52pm- in the car and driving
2:03pm-Parked in Hollywood Studios lot
2:10pm- In the park at Hollywood Studios
2:23pm- Voyage of the Little Mermaid-Some cool effects, but the puppetry technique was bad overall, and the Ursula Puppet/Costume was really sub par...Ariel had bad support and became very thin and flat on the top notes...I was glad to see the show though, just think they need some direction and updates...
2:52pm-OUT of Voyage
3pm-Watched Block Party Bash at Crossroads. Best Disney parade in my opinion...Very fun, high energy and interactive, with lots of surprises, even to me, who normally figures these things out before they happen. Haha. Mrs. Incredible was a HUGE surprise, and she was awesome! Just wait for the pics. Great parade, wish I could have seen it more than once in different places, to see all the surprises and effects.
3:23pm-Fastpass Tower of Terror (4:05-5:05pm) (30 minute wait at time)
3:24pm-Rock N' Roller Coaster (50 min estimated wait) Single rider line FIRST ROW! Ride is just as awesome as ever. Although I wish they didn't have the "corkscrew ahead" sign, I would rather the corkscrew be surprise.
3:37pm-OFF RRC, back in the Single Rider line. Row 9 this time.
3:51pm-OFF RRC
3:52pm-Tower of Terror Standby line (30 min estimated wait) The ride was better than I remembered, had a very good "random" combination of drops.
4:24pm-OFF ToT, and back in line to use the Fastpass.
4:45pm-OFF ToT
4:52pm- Star Tours Standby line (10 min estimated wait) This ride really needs the refurb it's getting soon.
5:12pm-Off ST
5:18pm- Show requested Meg on The Great Movie Ride. She was AWESOME! and hilarious!
5:47pm- OFF GMR
5:50pm-Playhouse Disney show-Cute! the kids that were dancing along were adorable...puppetry was good! I'd love to get a closer look at the puppets and the stage configuration.
6:15pm-OUT of PD show
6:23pm- Muppet 3D show, great as always! walked right in to catch the end of the pre show
6:50pm- Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular-Fun yet cheesy as always. There was a squirrel running around on set, seemed to be very friendly and into the action. He was right where the jeep drives around and flips and explodes...seconds before it happened. it was fun to see all of the people in the tech booth pointing and panicking. fortunately, he escaped in the nick of time. and then when the jeep exploded a few feet away from him, he boooooked it across stage. HILARIOUS! wish I had it on tape!
7:17pm- OUT of IJSS, ate at Backlot Express, it was ok. Quick and decent.
7:56pm- Sucked it up and entered the Toy Story Mania Standby line (70min estimated wait)- This ride was sooo much fun, even though i really stink at it, but oh well! It's still fun!
8:43pm- OFF TSM, headed back to the Great Movie Ride to show request Meg again
9:26pm- OFF GMR
9:35pm- In line for Fantasmic!, the line was backed up to the Planet Hollywood store. This is by far my favorite nighttime spectacular at Disney. So many awesome effects, great characters and such.
10:25- OUT of Fantasmic!
10:41- At the car, and on the way to the hotel
The hotel seemed decent, kinda sketchy, there was a guy standing on the opposite end of the hotel with a black eye, dark complexion, plainly dressed, and a bag of what appeared to be a couple packages of ground beef. Besides the nappy blanket, the sheets you could see through, and the towels with holes in them, I got a good night's sleep...
Ride/Show Count for the day: 22...Very Successful if you ask me!
Friday, March 6, 2009
The BIG audition day...
Woke up at 6.
Left Georgia at 7.
Arrived at Disney at about 10.
Realized I forgot your "special" audition shirt.
Quick drive to Target to buy another shirt, not quite the same but good enough.
Back to the Casting center, and in the lobby by 11:40 for my 12pm interview. The doorknobs were awesome, I'll include a picture at a later date.
The place was amazingly decorated from fun looking chairs to a miniature Cinderella castle in the middle of the lobby, it was awesome.
After watching a short video about the Disney Difference, I met Sandie, the recruiter I would have my interview with.
Sandie was extremely positive and was shocked by the size of my resume, and since I had worked at Six Flags, and knew what went into the character work, there was a lot less explaining for her to do. Within minutes of talking to her, she said I already was hired by the company, and now just had to pass entertainment auditions. She asked about some of my favorite experiences at Six Flags to where I talked about the autistic boy at the Wiggles show, and the deaf boy when he met Scooby Doo. She went on to talk about all the special opportunities Disney has such as Make A Wish and other alike programs. She said as a matter of fact, one of her coworkers was escorting Donald Duck this weekend to Boston to meet a little boy. Wow. She gave me some tips for the audition that evening and sent me on my way after we joked and exchanged information. She noted that if entertainment didn't have a place for me for some strange reason, she would receive my information back and would give me a call about other opportunities, and that she would definitely find a place for me. Her confidence in me was shocking.
As I left the building at about 12:40, I noticed the impeccable decoration of the descending ramp to the main foyer. Beautifully painted disney characters floated among the painted European-looking architecture. I noticed several places where the plaster had fell away from the brick, leaving cracks, and some exposed brick, however. I was shocked to see that Disney would let that kind of thing slide without getting it fixed and patched. As I got closer to the cracks, to my astonishment, the cracks were only painted on, with beautiful detail and perfect shading, again reminding me about the level of quality with Disney detail. The people at the desk at the top of this ramp probably were looking at me strange as it took me a good 5 minutes to walk down the 50 or so foot ramp. Above this ramp was a balcony which overlooked the ramp, with skylights, and surrounding the balcony were all of the recruiters' offices.
Onto the Animal Kingdom Rehearsal Facility for the Character/Puppeteer audition. A maze-like building led me to a big waiting room with about 80 or 90 people in it. I sat myself next to this lady who reminded me of my grandmother, stark white hair, and extremely trendy. We talked, exchanged backgrounds, and she said she was extremely nervous because everyone was so much younger than her. I reassured her that this meant that she was one of the few in her "type" range, so she should feel lucky. Registration began, and I was surprised to see how many people didn't have headshots or resumes, as the audition notice stated, let alone cover letters. Oh well. I was number 16.
A half hour later or so, numbers 1-60 got called into another room for the dance call, if i can even call it that. Gina, a lady of 5 feet if that taught us the dance combination. She was amazing, funny, and broke the tension very easily. Demonstrating what not to do was perhaps my favorite thing about her. We learned the short 2 counts of eight in under 10 minutes, did it a few times, and then she said we would do the 2 counts of 8 three times, traveling the length of the room in groups of 4, in numerical order. She lined us up, and to my surprise, after 15 minutes of being in this room, the casting directors (CDs) were already at the end of the room behind the disneyauditions.com royal blue table. This was it. We were being judged this time. After Six Flags' dance call, I was feeling extremely comfortable with this routine. And as cheesy as it sounds, i can just picture characters dancing down mainstreet doing this dance. I was in the 4th group, due to my number, and we were off dancing down the room. The music was a "It's a Small World" remix which has now been DELIGHTFULLY stuck in my head since then. My group did a great job, and as we were on the side, Gina encouraged us to clap along with exaggerated clapping way over her head. It was great. Her counting 5-6-7-8 to start us off was great too. There was a point in the dance when she made all of us on the side "raise the roof" for a few counts. HAHA. "Where a tortoise can carry the day...". The CDs had great smiles on their faces, and I was surprised to see people fumble and completely lose the dance all together, one girl was half-heartedly doing it from the beginning, lost it at the first box step/jazz square and from then on just walked dejected with a frown on her face the whole way down to the end of the room only catching on to the "windshield wiper hands", and then she decided to just walk ahead of her group and join the line of finished people. The older woman aforementioned did an amazing job, and rocked it out. I was proud of her. We cheered each other on, it was great. After we had all danced, we were taken back to the main waiting room.
The next group of people went to do the dance. After they left, groups of people were called up and let go. Some because the College Program didn't want to extend their stay, others because they were not fit for the department, and were referred to the Casting Center to find another department for them. They were all let go. It was funny to see the different people at the casting call. This one girl made everything a production number and was done up ala Barbie. During registration, she did a ballet twirl to get herself under the measuring device. She then made a grand re-entrance to the room after using the restroom, and i think she must have "bend and snap"ed at least 23842348 times throughout the day. Help me.
After the next group rejoined us, it was time for some more cuts, and then they called us into different places. Some, with more dance training, as showed on their sheet we filled out, went on to a more complex dance call. Some more of us went on to an "animation" workshop. I'd estimate there were about 40 of us. We went back into the other rehearsal hall, and watched a short video showing different character animations, from Charlie Chaplin and the Three Stooges to characters in the park, as shown in an old Disneyland video, which I had as a kid, boy did that bring me back ("Whistle While You Work" where Minnie sets up the display full of Minnie dolls, and later on Donald Duck replaces the display with Donald dolls, Chip and Dale make a mess with the popcorn, goofy is sweeping the streets? YEAH, anyway) They demonstrated some animation, mime and clowning techniques, and then we were set to the challenge of animating the scenario of waking up and realize you're 4 hours behind schedule, so you're racing to get everything done. This was done in groups of 5. I used my typical clowning type movements, and other techniques i learned in mask class at UConn. The CDs caught my eye on some of my really good parts and gave a smile, one of them named Saronya. I made things as big as I could, and they seemed to like that. After this, we were all dismissed back to the waiting rooms. Some people were led on to look-a-like auditions for the princesses. I, fortunately, did not fit any of the requirements to audition for a Disney princess.
Back to the waiting room, where the dance call folks joined us. Some more rounds of cuts were made, some people were told that they had passed, although nothing was available for them right now, but they would be given a call within the next 6 months if something did open up. The last audition to be held was the puppeteer audition. To my utter shock and amazement, ok maybe not, I was called for this audition. Tracie was the instructor for this portion of the audition. She talked with us about puppetry, and how there's nowhere you can be taught puppetry or stilt walking, but how this is something that Disney offers you, for free. I bit my tongue. She was hilarious though, so i let it slide for now :-D. We were each given a pair of "Muppet Eyes" to put on our hands. Shockingly, Barbie had made it to this round, and not shockingly started by putting the ping pong balls inside her "mouth". Tracie, jokingly suggested she take the balls out of her mouth and put them on top of her hand. She talked us through the basics of puppetry lip sync, and had us put our hands up and lip sync the word "Hi." then "Hello." Then she had us lip sync numbers 1-10, being careful for that tricky double syllable "seven". Next, 11-20, watching out for "eleven" and "seventeen", the tricky triple syllables. Oh boy! Next, she covered the concept of syllable dropping, since trying to hit every syllable while speaking fast was hard, and messy. So we tried that a few times and then she put on a song I had never heard before, although some people seemed to be familiar with it. I was hoping for something Disney. Oh well. I worked my way through it, making it up as I went along, afterall, Ojo's a pro at that. He rarely knows much of the songs he's singing. So Tracie walked around during this first sing-through of the song, dancing with us, and trying to interact with the different characters. I really bought into this when she was near me, as opposed to some of the others, she got near me right before the dance break section halfway through the song, and we had a fun little dance. The rest of the song went on, and ended. Saronya entered again, and now it was judging time. We were split off into two groups of 9, and were asked to show the song to them, now both seated at the royal blue Disney table. I was in the second group, so I got to sit back and watch the first group's beginning puppetry techniques, which always amuse me. The incredible sinking puppet, the backwards lip sync, closing the mouth on every syllable rather than opening, the stiff puppet that barely moves. My group's turn came up, and for the first part of the song, Tracie and Saronya scanned the crowd. During the dance break, I showed off some of my skills, from running the puppet in a circle around itself, to running in a larger circle, and some of my trademark dance moves HA. After this, we began singing again, and although I was mostly looking at the mirror, but I glanced at the CDs a few times, and noticed that they were fixated on my puppet and were talking while referencing me. AH! So after we returned the eyes into Tracie's insulated lunch bag, I talked to her about how I was referred to the audition, and mentioned that I had two friends with me, Ojo and Edward Wonderful. She said she didn't know if they could see them, but Saronya overheard and said that they did indeed have the time. I went to take out Edward, but much to my dismay and anger, Edward decided to be stage fright and tangled himself so he couldn't audition. I did however show him to them, and described briefly his construction and performance. I brought out Ojo, unfortunately similar to the style we had done before, but they were excited to see him. Tracie asked if I wanted music to "sing" to. I agreed, and she started going through her CD portfolio. Ironically the first CD portfolio was Wiggles. I described the irony, and Tracie said that was the one then. She played the first song, and it was Wags The Dog. "Oh me oh my....he barks all day and night!" I rocked it out, they were charmed by him. It was at that point that I realized how repetitive the Wiggles actually are, "Oh me oh my he barks all day and night" x 234823487 at the end of the song, at various pitches and speeds. After the song ended, I thanked them, they thanked me, and talked quietly while i put Ojo and the misbehaving Edward back in the bag. After complete, they described how rare it was to have someone with my expertise and training audition for them, and that they hope that they'll be able to put my talents to use. I business carded them, said another thanks, and headed back to the waiting room.
I found that the last group was leaving, and it was me and one other girl left. She angrily approached the table with some CDs sitting at it, and asked them why she was still there, with the incredibly WRONG tone in her voice. They asked her to take a seat while they looked for her file. They found it and talked, and it looked like they changed her status and the flyer she was going to get from a potential hire, to a rejection. Woof. She just screwed herself over there. So they called her up and gave her the flyer, to which she marched out of the room rolling her eyes at me. I smiled and waved goodbye. Now it was just me and them for a few minutes while they received my file.
A friend I had made over the evening, Ayla, came back from wherever she had been taking pictures for princesses, and she said how much fun it was. I talked with her about where she lived down there, and she gave me some tips and places to look at. She says every night she can see the fireworks from the Wishes nighttime spectacular at magic kingdom. How awesome is that? Anyway, I got called up to chat. The CD explained that since it is a while until I will be in the area, that they can't say for sure what will be available at that time, so I am playing the waiting game to hear. He said that it looks like my audition went really well, it's just that they don't have a spot for me later this year that they know of yet. I'm glad he didn't say they had something for me right away, I'm sure not too many people would have been thrilled if I stayed down here instead of returning to the cold slushy CT. :-D
I also found out that "Finding Nemo: The Musical" requires the Singer/Actor audition as well, which I will have to complete at a later date, although who knows, they may have an audition in New York before I plan on moving down to Orlando. So we'll see what happens, over all the audition was remarkably successful and fun, athough very stressful and tense, but I tried to not let that show.
It was just after 7pm when I exited the building. Grammy and I drove back to Georgia, stopping along the way for dinner at Smokey Bones. Midway through dinner, an older man at a dinner party of maybe 15 guests or so stood up to sing a song with a thick Irish brogue. If the song had one more verse to it, I think the whole restaurant would have gotten up and left. The wine was clearly flowing heavily at that table.
Anyway, we got back to Georgia at around midnight, at which time I promptly passed out for a good long night's sleep. What an exhausting, athough extremely rewarding and amazing day! It was such a tease to be in Orlando and see some major theme park landmarks (Epcot Globe, some World Showcase sites from the rear, Hollywood Studios' Tower of Terror, The top of the AK Tree of Life and Expedition Everest) without actually going into the parks. The only park I didn't see any of was the Magic Kingdom. Oh I can't wait for Monday!!! So exciting!
Today is a day for relaxing, catching up on e-mails, and finally getting organized here. Talk to you all soon! Thanks for checking up on the blog, sorry for the extreme length of the blog, i know you wanted details, so there ya go! X
Ty
Left Georgia at 7.
Arrived at Disney at about 10.
Realized I forgot your "special" audition shirt.
Quick drive to Target to buy another shirt, not quite the same but good enough.
Back to the Casting center, and in the lobby by 11:40 for my 12pm interview. The doorknobs were awesome, I'll include a picture at a later date.
The place was amazingly decorated from fun looking chairs to a miniature Cinderella castle in the middle of the lobby, it was awesome.
After watching a short video about the Disney Difference, I met Sandie, the recruiter I would have my interview with.
Sandie was extremely positive and was shocked by the size of my resume, and since I had worked at Six Flags, and knew what went into the character work, there was a lot less explaining for her to do. Within minutes of talking to her, she said I already was hired by the company, and now just had to pass entertainment auditions. She asked about some of my favorite experiences at Six Flags to where I talked about the autistic boy at the Wiggles show, and the deaf boy when he met Scooby Doo. She went on to talk about all the special opportunities Disney has such as Make A Wish and other alike programs. She said as a matter of fact, one of her coworkers was escorting Donald Duck this weekend to Boston to meet a little boy. Wow. She gave me some tips for the audition that evening and sent me on my way after we joked and exchanged information. She noted that if entertainment didn't have a place for me for some strange reason, she would receive my information back and would give me a call about other opportunities, and that she would definitely find a place for me. Her confidence in me was shocking.
As I left the building at about 12:40, I noticed the impeccable decoration of the descending ramp to the main foyer. Beautifully painted disney characters floated among the painted European-looking architecture. I noticed several places where the plaster had fell away from the brick, leaving cracks, and some exposed brick, however. I was shocked to see that Disney would let that kind of thing slide without getting it fixed and patched. As I got closer to the cracks, to my astonishment, the cracks were only painted on, with beautiful detail and perfect shading, again reminding me about the level of quality with Disney detail. The people at the desk at the top of this ramp probably were looking at me strange as it took me a good 5 minutes to walk down the 50 or so foot ramp. Above this ramp was a balcony which overlooked the ramp, with skylights, and surrounding the balcony were all of the recruiters' offices.
Onto the Animal Kingdom Rehearsal Facility for the Character/Puppeteer audition. A maze-like building led me to a big waiting room with about 80 or 90 people in it. I sat myself next to this lady who reminded me of my grandmother, stark white hair, and extremely trendy. We talked, exchanged backgrounds, and she said she was extremely nervous because everyone was so much younger than her. I reassured her that this meant that she was one of the few in her "type" range, so she should feel lucky. Registration began, and I was surprised to see how many people didn't have headshots or resumes, as the audition notice stated, let alone cover letters. Oh well. I was number 16.
A half hour later or so, numbers 1-60 got called into another room for the dance call, if i can even call it that. Gina, a lady of 5 feet if that taught us the dance combination. She was amazing, funny, and broke the tension very easily. Demonstrating what not to do was perhaps my favorite thing about her. We learned the short 2 counts of eight in under 10 minutes, did it a few times, and then she said we would do the 2 counts of 8 three times, traveling the length of the room in groups of 4, in numerical order. She lined us up, and to my surprise, after 15 minutes of being in this room, the casting directors (CDs) were already at the end of the room behind the disneyauditions.com royal blue table. This was it. We were being judged this time. After Six Flags' dance call, I was feeling extremely comfortable with this routine. And as cheesy as it sounds, i can just picture characters dancing down mainstreet doing this dance. I was in the 4th group, due to my number, and we were off dancing down the room. The music was a "It's a Small World" remix which has now been DELIGHTFULLY stuck in my head since then. My group did a great job, and as we were on the side, Gina encouraged us to clap along with exaggerated clapping way over her head. It was great. Her counting 5-6-7-8 to start us off was great too. There was a point in the dance when she made all of us on the side "raise the roof" for a few counts. HAHA. "Where a tortoise can carry the day...". The CDs had great smiles on their faces, and I was surprised to see people fumble and completely lose the dance all together, one girl was half-heartedly doing it from the beginning, lost it at the first box step/jazz square and from then on just walked dejected with a frown on her face the whole way down to the end of the room only catching on to the "windshield wiper hands", and then she decided to just walk ahead of her group and join the line of finished people. The older woman aforementioned did an amazing job, and rocked it out. I was proud of her. We cheered each other on, it was great. After we had all danced, we were taken back to the main waiting room.
The next group of people went to do the dance. After they left, groups of people were called up and let go. Some because the College Program didn't want to extend their stay, others because they were not fit for the department, and were referred to the Casting Center to find another department for them. They were all let go. It was funny to see the different people at the casting call. This one girl made everything a production number and was done up ala Barbie. During registration, she did a ballet twirl to get herself under the measuring device. She then made a grand re-entrance to the room after using the restroom, and i think she must have "bend and snap"ed at least 23842348 times throughout the day. Help me.
After the next group rejoined us, it was time for some more cuts, and then they called us into different places. Some, with more dance training, as showed on their sheet we filled out, went on to a more complex dance call. Some more of us went on to an "animation" workshop. I'd estimate there were about 40 of us. We went back into the other rehearsal hall, and watched a short video showing different character animations, from Charlie Chaplin and the Three Stooges to characters in the park, as shown in an old Disneyland video, which I had as a kid, boy did that bring me back ("Whistle While You Work" where Minnie sets up the display full of Minnie dolls, and later on Donald Duck replaces the display with Donald dolls, Chip and Dale make a mess with the popcorn, goofy is sweeping the streets? YEAH, anyway) They demonstrated some animation, mime and clowning techniques, and then we were set to the challenge of animating the scenario of waking up and realize you're 4 hours behind schedule, so you're racing to get everything done. This was done in groups of 5. I used my typical clowning type movements, and other techniques i learned in mask class at UConn. The CDs caught my eye on some of my really good parts and gave a smile, one of them named Saronya. I made things as big as I could, and they seemed to like that. After this, we were all dismissed back to the waiting rooms. Some people were led on to look-a-like auditions for the princesses. I, fortunately, did not fit any of the requirements to audition for a Disney princess.
Back to the waiting room, where the dance call folks joined us. Some more rounds of cuts were made, some people were told that they had passed, although nothing was available for them right now, but they would be given a call within the next 6 months if something did open up. The last audition to be held was the puppeteer audition. To my utter shock and amazement, ok maybe not, I was called for this audition. Tracie was the instructor for this portion of the audition. She talked with us about puppetry, and how there's nowhere you can be taught puppetry or stilt walking, but how this is something that Disney offers you, for free. I bit my tongue. She was hilarious though, so i let it slide for now :-D. We were each given a pair of "Muppet Eyes" to put on our hands. Shockingly, Barbie had made it to this round, and not shockingly started by putting the ping pong balls inside her "mouth". Tracie, jokingly suggested she take the balls out of her mouth and put them on top of her hand. She talked us through the basics of puppetry lip sync, and had us put our hands up and lip sync the word "Hi." then "Hello." Then she had us lip sync numbers 1-10, being careful for that tricky double syllable "seven". Next, 11-20, watching out for "eleven" and "seventeen", the tricky triple syllables. Oh boy! Next, she covered the concept of syllable dropping, since trying to hit every syllable while speaking fast was hard, and messy. So we tried that a few times and then she put on a song I had never heard before, although some people seemed to be familiar with it. I was hoping for something Disney. Oh well. I worked my way through it, making it up as I went along, afterall, Ojo's a pro at that. He rarely knows much of the songs he's singing. So Tracie walked around during this first sing-through of the song, dancing with us, and trying to interact with the different characters. I really bought into this when she was near me, as opposed to some of the others, she got near me right before the dance break section halfway through the song, and we had a fun little dance. The rest of the song went on, and ended. Saronya entered again, and now it was judging time. We were split off into two groups of 9, and were asked to show the song to them, now both seated at the royal blue Disney table. I was in the second group, so I got to sit back and watch the first group's beginning puppetry techniques, which always amuse me. The incredible sinking puppet, the backwards lip sync, closing the mouth on every syllable rather than opening, the stiff puppet that barely moves. My group's turn came up, and for the first part of the song, Tracie and Saronya scanned the crowd. During the dance break, I showed off some of my skills, from running the puppet in a circle around itself, to running in a larger circle, and some of my trademark dance moves HA. After this, we began singing again, and although I was mostly looking at the mirror, but I glanced at the CDs a few times, and noticed that they were fixated on my puppet and were talking while referencing me. AH! So after we returned the eyes into Tracie's insulated lunch bag, I talked to her about how I was referred to the audition, and mentioned that I had two friends with me, Ojo and Edward Wonderful. She said she didn't know if they could see them, but Saronya overheard and said that they did indeed have the time. I went to take out Edward, but much to my dismay and anger, Edward decided to be stage fright and tangled himself so he couldn't audition. I did however show him to them, and described briefly his construction and performance. I brought out Ojo, unfortunately similar to the style we had done before, but they were excited to see him. Tracie asked if I wanted music to "sing" to. I agreed, and she started going through her CD portfolio. Ironically the first CD portfolio was Wiggles. I described the irony, and Tracie said that was the one then. She played the first song, and it was Wags The Dog. "Oh me oh my....he barks all day and night!" I rocked it out, they were charmed by him. It was at that point that I realized how repetitive the Wiggles actually are, "Oh me oh my he barks all day and night" x 234823487 at the end of the song, at various pitches and speeds. After the song ended, I thanked them, they thanked me, and talked quietly while i put Ojo and the misbehaving Edward back in the bag. After complete, they described how rare it was to have someone with my expertise and training audition for them, and that they hope that they'll be able to put my talents to use. I business carded them, said another thanks, and headed back to the waiting room.
I found that the last group was leaving, and it was me and one other girl left. She angrily approached the table with some CDs sitting at it, and asked them why she was still there, with the incredibly WRONG tone in her voice. They asked her to take a seat while they looked for her file. They found it and talked, and it looked like they changed her status and the flyer she was going to get from a potential hire, to a rejection. Woof. She just screwed herself over there. So they called her up and gave her the flyer, to which she marched out of the room rolling her eyes at me. I smiled and waved goodbye. Now it was just me and them for a few minutes while they received my file.
A friend I had made over the evening, Ayla, came back from wherever she had been taking pictures for princesses, and she said how much fun it was. I talked with her about where she lived down there, and she gave me some tips and places to look at. She says every night she can see the fireworks from the Wishes nighttime spectacular at magic kingdom. How awesome is that? Anyway, I got called up to chat. The CD explained that since it is a while until I will be in the area, that they can't say for sure what will be available at that time, so I am playing the waiting game to hear. He said that it looks like my audition went really well, it's just that they don't have a spot for me later this year that they know of yet. I'm glad he didn't say they had something for me right away, I'm sure not too many people would have been thrilled if I stayed down here instead of returning to the cold slushy CT. :-D
I also found out that "Finding Nemo: The Musical" requires the Singer/Actor audition as well, which I will have to complete at a later date, although who knows, they may have an audition in New York before I plan on moving down to Orlando. So we'll see what happens, over all the audition was remarkably successful and fun, athough very stressful and tense, but I tried to not let that show.
It was just after 7pm when I exited the building. Grammy and I drove back to Georgia, stopping along the way for dinner at Smokey Bones. Midway through dinner, an older man at a dinner party of maybe 15 guests or so stood up to sing a song with a thick Irish brogue. If the song had one more verse to it, I think the whole restaurant would have gotten up and left. The wine was clearly flowing heavily at that table.
Anyway, we got back to Georgia at around midnight, at which time I promptly passed out for a good long night's sleep. What an exhausting, athough extremely rewarding and amazing day! It was such a tease to be in Orlando and see some major theme park landmarks (Epcot Globe, some World Showcase sites from the rear, Hollywood Studios' Tower of Terror, The top of the AK Tree of Life and Expedition Everest) without actually going into the parks. The only park I didn't see any of was the Magic Kingdom. Oh I can't wait for Monday!!! So exciting!
Today is a day for relaxing, catching up on e-mails, and finally getting organized here. Talk to you all soon! Thanks for checking up on the blog, sorry for the extreme length of the blog, i know you wanted details, so there ya go! X
Ty
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Arrival...Check.
So an evening of plane flights later and I am here, in Georgia.
Oh the encounters with the airways:
-One flight next to a high school student reading "The Little Prince" in French
-The same flight being aisle buddies with a lady whom I struck a conversation up with over the books we were reading. She suggested that I should read the "Twilight" series...Hmmm...credible source?
-I was lucky enough to have both flights and the layover spent with a young woman who got extremely excited every time the plane was about to take off, to the point of taking pictures when it was taking off, to which the flight attendants told her to sit down and put away the camera repeatedly. I don't think she had a perfect tooth left in her mouth, Becky, i found your perfect candidate for Boards...She then made several babies cry by making faces at them. I was frightened, and that is saying something.
-A lady who wore a dentist's mask for the entire flight with the one exception to pop an airborne when the flight attendant did the beverage rounds.
-The second flight i sat wedged between to obese sleeping men. I had to nudge one to let him know I had to use the bathroom, at which end he insisted he wasn't sleeping. He was. I will re-enact per your requests. :-D
-Two girls that I couldn't tell how old they were. Dressed like 13 year olds, with tattoos and piercings and ordered wine on the flight...but acted like 8 year olds. I just don't know. I feel bad for the guy who had to sit in their row...i jokingly asked when they arrived, "and HOW long is this flight?". So glad it wasn't transatlantic.
Successful day of people watching: CHECK
Off to bed, up at 6 for the INTERVIEW at 12 and AUDITION at 3...my phone will be off for most of that time as to be able to focus. Talk to you tomorrow evening! SO excited!!! Grammy's coming with me! Yay company! Goodnight! X
Oh the encounters with the airways:
-One flight next to a high school student reading "The Little Prince" in French
-The same flight being aisle buddies with a lady whom I struck a conversation up with over the books we were reading. She suggested that I should read the "Twilight" series...Hmmm...credible source?
-I was lucky enough to have both flights and the layover spent with a young woman who got extremely excited every time the plane was about to take off, to the point of taking pictures when it was taking off, to which the flight attendants told her to sit down and put away the camera repeatedly. I don't think she had a perfect tooth left in her mouth, Becky, i found your perfect candidate for Boards...She then made several babies cry by making faces at them. I was frightened, and that is saying something.
-A lady who wore a dentist's mask for the entire flight with the one exception to pop an airborne when the flight attendant did the beverage rounds.
-The second flight i sat wedged between to obese sleeping men. I had to nudge one to let him know I had to use the bathroom, at which end he insisted he wasn't sleeping. He was. I will re-enact per your requests. :-D
-Two girls that I couldn't tell how old they were. Dressed like 13 year olds, with tattoos and piercings and ordered wine on the flight...but acted like 8 year olds. I just don't know. I feel bad for the guy who had to sit in their row...i jokingly asked when they arrived, "and HOW long is this flight?". So glad it wasn't transatlantic.
Successful day of people watching: CHECK
Off to bed, up at 6 for the INTERVIEW at 12 and AUDITION at 3...my phone will be off for most of that time as to be able to focus. Talk to you tomorrow evening! SO excited!!! Grammy's coming with me! Yay company! Goodnight! X
The Day has arrived
Today is the day I fly to Florida! A month ago when I booked the flight, it seemed like it would be the longest month ever. Much to my surprise, Florida has lifted off the map and smacked me in the face. Much deliberation back and forth about the audition date, and rearranging my trip so I could be at an audition has finally presented itself. This is it. Tomorrow is my audition at Walt Disney World. I somehow expect to walk into the room and see Mickey, Minnie, and Simon from American Idol behind the table. I know that's not the case, but this audition feels monumental to me. The anticipation is almost over. Besides that which comes after the audition, but that's another blog. :-D. Everyone that's had to put up with me talking 24/7 nonstop about my audition can finally be put to ease. After tomorrow, it will become history, and fun stories.
So I'm flying out tonight around 4, arriving in Jacksonville, FL at 10, and going to my grandparents' house a short distance away in Georgia for the night. Tomorrow morning, leaving Georgia around 8:30 to make it to WDW by 12 for my recruiting interview, and then my audition at 3. What happens after that tomorrow? Haven't really thought that far yet. At some point tomorrow evening, dinner will occur either before or after heading back to the grandparents' house, when I will undoubtedly update the blog to talk about the audition and then it's either going to be a really good nights' sleep, or a night of no sleep because of all the Mickeycitement. That fact remains to be seen.
The next time we talk, I'll be in GA/FL! Talk to you soon! I'll miss you all!
Sunday, March 1, 2009
It's the week of the Trip!
It's now officially the week that I leave to Disney and Georgia on vacation. Here's my rough itinerary:
Wednesday, March 4: Flying from Providence to Jacksonville approx 4pm-10pm
Thursday, March 5: Day Trip to Disney for Audition Day. Interview at 12. Registration at 3. Auditions begin at 4.
Friday, March 6-March 8: In Georgia with the grandparents!
March 9-12: In Orlando for the parks! (meeting up with friends here and there)
March 13-15: Back in Georgia with the grandparents! (Shanon and Tom come down on the 14th!)
March 16: Leaving EARLY from Jacksonville for Providence approx 6:00am-2pm
Stay tuned for daily updates once I get down there! I couldn't be more excited! (That is, unless i could fill up a plane with friends and family for a trip to Disney)
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