My Whirlwind Florida Adventure

Last weekend I made the trip back to Orlando. At first I didn’t think I was meant to go because my flight was delayed 3 hours due to the tornados and soon after I stepped off the plane I missed all my Disney friends who are no longer there. But I was wrong, it turned out to be a great weekend :) It was super busy and exhausting but definitely worth it.


Before I go into all the details of my weekend I’m going to tell you the first part of a few jokes I acquired over the weekend. You’ll have to read through this ridiculously long blog to get the punch lines. Its like a reward for making it to the end?? Haha

1. What did Snow White say while waiting to pick up her pictures?

2. Why did Goofy wear two pairs of pants to go golfing?

3. Why is Cinderella so horrible at playing Soccer?

Thursday night I didn’t do much because I didn’t make it into Orlando until close to 7pm. I had dinner with Alyssa at Sweet Tomatoes (I’ve missed that place. I wish we had one here in Chapel Hill). We then went back to her apartment and stayed up pretty late catching up and watching TV. I woke up early on Friday morning to drive to Gainesville so that I could see the campus and meet the professors of the Audiology program in person. I loved the campus! I liked walking through their quad looking at all of the palm trees! And everyone was so nice...those of you who know me well no that I am directionally challenged...even with a map I’m horrible. I once took a trip to NYC with my ex fiancé, best friend ad sister; I had us going in circles in the city because I couldn’t figure out how to find one corner that we were supposed to park on. It turned out I had the map upside down and was telling Matt all the wrong directions, talk about frustrating. Anyways, as soon as I parked I walked to the Welcome Center and got a map and then directly called my mother to tell her I was lost haha. I had to of stopped 4 or 5 times to ask if I was going the right way before I got to the correct building. Everyone was super helpful and one girl even walked with me for a short distance. In between meeting with the professors I had the opportunity to talk with some students and they all seemed to love the program. I’m 98% sure I will be attending the University of Florida in the Fall :) Go Gators!—I’ll always be a Carolina Girl and bleed Tar Heel blue, but I can show support for my Graduate school too.

Friday afternoon I drove back to Orlando and went straight to Access Control on Disney property to get my new ID. That was much less painful than I was anticipating. I’ve heard that it can be a pretty long wait, similar to the DMV to give you an idea. But I only ended up waiting about 20 minutes..not bad at all. I then went through the tunnels in the Magic Kingdom to find the new location that Mickey and Minnie were playing in. I didn’t get but maybe 20 feet into the tunnel before someone I recognized ran up to give me a hug. It was so nice to have such a warm welcome back. I missed my Disney friends and they missed me too. After that it didn’t even feel like I really left. That night I got to hang out with Minnie Mouse in the new Theatre. The Theatre’s grand opening was that day so everything was brand new and everyone was so excited. If you ever find yourself in the Magic Kingdom make sure you stop in to see Mickey and Minnie because their room is pretty amazing...especially to all of you Hidden Mickey hunters (their room is full of them!). Also, be sure to ask Mickey to show you his disappearing bird trick..he’s become quite the Magician since leaving Toon Town. During my breaks from work I enjoyed playing Princess Checkers (Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty serve as the checkers and they get crowned when they become Queen). I also played Disney Trivia with some fellow Cast members. That game is so much more fun when the people you are playing with actually know Disney facts like you do. Working for Disney is like not working at all...we have too much fun for it to be considered work :)

I spent the whole day Saturday in the parks with Alyssa. I made it a mission to make it through all 4 parks in one day! And guess what? We were successful! I of course didn’t see everything but I got to see everything I planned to. We visited Epcot first so that I could see all of the plants for the flower and garden festival. Those landscapers are very talented..I have no idea how they do it, all of the flowers and bushes were amazing! While we were there we stopped off at Pixie Hollow so I could see Tinkerbell and Terrence. However, we didn’t get to go up and meet them because the line was closing and I just realized I lost my camera case that had some cash and my credit card in it. We immediately went to Guest Services to report it lost...I didn’t expect for it to show up but just in case I thought I’d let someone know. I had my mom call and cancel the credit card and just cut my losses with the cash. I wasn’t going to let a lost camera case with a few dollars ruin my Disney day!

Alyssa and I then went to the Animal Kingdom. I wanted to ride Mount Everest since I never got a chance to ride it while I was living there in the fall. While we were in line waiting I received a call from Guest Services saying they found my camera case. It had only been 3 hours since I reported it missing and you know whats the best part? Everything was still in it...even the cash! Only in Disney are people so honest...haha no but it was pretty magical. God was looking out for me I’m sure. After playing in the Animal Kingdom we went to Hollywood Studios to watch the Beauty and the Beast show and ride the big kid rides. We ended up getting on the Tower of Terror twice, back to back! The lines were not bad at all for a Saturday.

Our 4 park whirlwind adventure ended at the Magic Kingdom where we met up with Amy my roomie from the college program. I wanted to go visit with Mickey and Minnie as a guest so we did that and then headed to the Castle to take pictures and wait for the Electrical parade and Wishes. Unfortunately we didn’t make it to those because I was super exhausted, starving and my feet hurt from the blisters my rainbows rubbed into my feet (note to self: do not wear new rainbows to an all day trip to Disney). Now this is where the cheesy Disney jokes come in...at Disney almost all Cast Members look like they love their jobs no matter how dull you think their job may be. For example, on our Tram ride back to the car the Cast member who stands at the back of the Tram telling people when to board, watch their heads, and when it’s safe to exit made the ride a little more interesting by telling these extremely corny jokes. She even admitted they were bad jokes but it made her job more enjoyable and guests smile after a tiring day in the park. So... What did Snow White say while waiting to pick up her pictures? “Someday my prints will come” (in her singsong voice). Why did Goofy wear two pairs of pants to go golfing? In case he got a hole-in-one. And, Why is Cinderella so horrible at playing Soccer? She loses her shoe, runs away from the Ball and has a pumpkin for a coach...haha I hope one of these made you smile.

I ended my weekend trip with a nice Dinner at Chevys with Amy and Alyssa. It was a great weekend and I can’t wait to go back in May or June for Graduate school Orientation and if that doesn’t work out, I’ll definitely be back in August for a reunion trip with some fellow College Program kids.



Thanks for reading!

ºoº .•:*¨¨*:•.Samantha.•:*¨¨*:•. ºoº

Minnie and Mickey in the Theatre