Thunderbirds!!!

I'm in the news!



I'm the PAC member to the left working across the street from Amanda, PAC member to the right. Yeah, there in the background...

Okay, so you can't really see me very well, but it really is me! Amanda and I got the best positions ever on this day when the Thunderbirds flew right above the Magic Kingdom during our normal 3:00 Parade (also known as "Day Parade" and "Mickey's Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade").



You can see the rest of the article here. There's less about me... but more that you're probably interested in. :)

I had the left side of the street... Amanda had the right.

If you watch the video at about 2:23 some fireworks go off in the background. This makes me laugh. It's during the Dream Along with Mickey castle stage show. It's so funny because sometimes guests see the fireworks and freak out that they're missing the fireworks show. But really there's not that many during the show.

Also, if you watch the video, around 5:00 it shows them doing the flag retreat. The people in the PAC costumes at the bottom of the screen... yeah, those are my friends. And would be me except I didn't work retreat that day. But I do on other days!

Just thought I'd give you a little taste of what I do! I love my job!

I Love Kids...

I'm a professional hopscotch maker, ring tosser, juggler, hula hoop hander, bean bag thrower, and Duck Duck Donalder! I love my job!

Tonight was another Halloween party night and was really fun. We had one serious problem, but everything worked out, as usual, in the end, thank goodness. I won't talk about the serious problem, but here's a different story.

During the first parade tonight, I got a crier. I don't think I've ever had a kid who was actually scared of any part of the parade, but as the villains came closer, a little girl near me in a stroller burst into tears, scared out of her mind. I heard her mom trying to console her and finally decided maybe I could help.

So I turned to her and began talking to her so her mom could enjoy the parade with the other kids. I explained that I was friends with the villains and they were actually really nice. They just pretended to be mean in parades, but I assured her Mickey Mouse would never hire anyone who was actually mean. Then I talked to her about how I like to go backstage and dance with them and laughed at them, telling her they were just being silly. Because really, watching Frollo and Cruella dance their weird rendition of the Boo To You song is really silly. And the guys dressed in black and orange playing the guitars? How is that supposed to be scary!? Geez, they're not very good at being bad guys...

I got the girl to stop crying nearly immediately, but she still wasn't taking her eyes off of the hyenas, still pretty scared. So then I started to talk to her about candy. I told her to look for Pluto because Pluto meant the beginning of the candy! Yes, during the Mickey's Halloween parade they hand out candy at the end! So I told her to get her bag ready and she grinned when she finally saw Pluto. It was the cutest thing ever and the mom thanked me at the end. I even got her to laugh with me at how silly the villains looked when they were pretending to be mean.

It's funny because the part of the parade that still freaks me out to this day is the gravediggers. They scare the living snot out of me with their shovels. One came really close to my head during a previous parade as I was watching a guest... they just were literally right there by my face and I still haven't gotten over it. I also am a little freaked by the hyenas because, again, I was distracted by a guest and I turned to go back to my position and the hyena's head was literally right there. I wonder how poor Simba felt!

Anyway, I love my job! I love that every day gets to begin and end with characters, shows, fireworks, parades, or all of the above! I complain sometimes and get pretty bummed but the fact is, over all, I love it!

Face Paint

Today was such a good day! I didn't have a single angry guest. All. Day. Long. And I worked three parades! Two of which were for the Halloween party. It went well. In fact, I had a bunch of particularly pleasant guests! So wonderful!

Maybe it's because I got my face painted! I must have been too cute to yell at tonight.

They come and do face painting for my area every other Halloween party, and since I've worked all but two of them, it's a wonder I haven't gotten my face painted yet. But I did tonight. I told them to do whatever, just not too extravagant. I think she actually did a pretty good job!



Minus my terrible hair, but keep in mind this picture was taken after the very long night.

My nametag also came in, finally today. I got to be Dianna again! And then everyone at work kept calling me Chris as a joke and asking if I was sure Dianna was my real name. My old nametag I left pinned to my vest when I turned it back in.

I feel like I've been running a hundred miles an hour for the past week nonstop. I've been averaging about 5 or 6 hours of sleep every night. Which is why I really should be in bed right now. But I'm not.

I have tons to do tomorrow... like a never ending to do list. Which is weird because I was hoping that when I'm not in school I wouldn't have any worries or stresses outside of work. Unfortunately, I have managers to deal with, a car that needs work, friends to plan things for, departure dates to figure out, and a whole religion to deal with.

But it's okay because I love my life! Maybe I'll get back to telling cool stories later.