New Friends and the Magic Kingdom

Today was my first day off since being on the program, so I slept in, went to mass and then decided to get ready and hop on whatever bus was the first to come by the stop because I didn't have any friends who had off today.

Well, that bus happened to be the Magic Kingdom bus, so off I went! As usual, the commute was extremely long, but I managed to befriend a few people while sitting on the bus and ended up joining two roommates, my new friends Erica (not my roommate) and Aubrey, as they went to Cast Connection (a discount, cast member only merchandise store by the Magic Kingdom) and then off to the Magic Kingdom to see the castle show and fireworks. Erica and Aubrey are so nice and sweet, and I had a blast hanging out with them!

After Cast Connection, we had an adventure trying to figure out how to get to the Magic Kingdom as guests, but soon we made it and as we went through the gates, we noticed that Mickey was doing a meet and greet at the Town Square Theater! We bought autograph books with our cast member discounts and went to see our favorite friends - Mickey and (surprise!) Minnie! Afterwards, we even met Cinderella, Belle and (my favorite) Aurora. It was so much fun to be a little kid again and meet the characters, and to watch other guests' faces as they met them.

Fantasyland Expansion!

After meeting the characters, we wandered through the lands and decided to ride Pirates (again!) and the Enchanted Tiki Room (which is no longer Under New Management, which was surprising). We had dinner at Peco's Bills - surprisingly good, and our discounts came in handy and then went over to stake out a spot at the castle for Dream Along with Mickey, The Magic the Memories and You, and Wishes -- all of which were AMAZING.

Dream Along with Mickey is my favorite show at Walt Disney World, and it is even more amazing at night. It will never get old! The Magic, the Memories and You is a special projection show we have for this years theme, and it is fantastic. It features projections on the castle and shows over five hundred photos taken in the park that day -- it is astounding. Then, we watched Wishes, which is as amazing as ever. Tinkerbell flew from the castle through Main Street to start the show and the fireworks and music combined into quite the spectacle. I can't believe that, as a Photopass Photographer in the Magic Kingdom, I will be paid to watch them every night while taking photos of families' enjoying them. It's going to be quite the adventure!

After Wishes, we decided to head over to Fantasyland to ride Snow White's Scary Adventure, since it will be retired soon, and then over to Tomorrowland to ride Stitch's Great Escape and then Monster's Inc Laugh Floor. Monster's Inc Laugh Floor is one of those shows that will never get old, because it changes every time! It was hilarious. We stopped by the Confectionary on the way out of the park and then it was over to the bus stop to catch a bus back to Chatham Square. The bus ride was a spectacle since both me and Aubrey were exhausted, and therefore, everything was hilarious.

In the end, today was a great day! I am so happy that I met Erica and Aubrey... I hope we have another day off together soon so we can meet some more characters. (: