What I've been up to.... the Halloween Parade!

Sorry I've been absolutely horrible about updating.
I know how interested I was in reading everyone elses blogs, and how there weren't more posts…. I can completely understand now, haha

I've been really busy lately. So far I'm on day 4 of 8 days working in a row, 2 of those are Halloween Parade shifts!

I was selected to work on the Mickey's Boo To You Halloween Parade which goes out during the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Parties. To work costuming for the parade i had to be chosen by my leaders, which means that they believe in me, which is definitely a good thing.

I also found out that I will be working on the atmosphere team for the Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Parties! That means that I will be working to make sure that every character that you can meet and greet with during the Christmas events is looking their best!

The Halloween parade shifts are 10 hours each, and I get off work at 2am, getting home around 3am… and 2 of my 8 days in a row are Halloween. I'm already exhausted, and I have 4 more shifts ahead of me until my boyfriend will be here to visit me!

We're going to the Halloween party on Friday, and I'm going to yell at all my friends in the parade. The Hyenas are pretty awesome, as well as a certain cowgirl and a gravedigger… along with Chip and Goofy! All the characters are very nice, especially Ed, haha ;) I'm sure they'll all do their best to come visit me while they are on parade route before they go rest for the night…

I've also decided that I want to extend my college program. I love costuming so much. I feel like I have the most interesting job out of everyone I've met. The dancer and characters don't even have this much fun I think. I've learned a lot about how things are made, just from observing, as well as how the costumes function. I'm really excited at the thought of staying here, and hopefully moving on up within the company. I'm going o try for a professional internship as a costuming workroom assistant. We'll see how that goes :)

Well, I'm going to got  bed now since it's 5am and I have to be up at 11 to get ready and catch the bus. Hopefully I won't have to work downstairs and I will be on ELP tonight :)

I'll post more in detail about Halloween later on, I promise ;)

Disney's Electrical Parade

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HTH8oDyNh4

Here's a video of the parade in case you don't know what the heck I am talking about. I sure didn't know what I'd be working on until I after I got my assignment.... don't forget that this was my first time to Disney! :) This was the most complete video I could find, meaning that all the performers were in it.
Sometimes if it's been raining, they will "down" performers that have the highest risk of injury from the wet ground, and they don't get to go out.
Maybe one day I'll try o make a video with my camera, but It won't be as good of quality as this...


Here's another
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HTH8oDyNh4

By the way, that music haunts my dreams, haha

Sorry for the break!

Hi again! Sorry it's been like a month since I posted.

So far I've only been working on the Disney Electrical Parade (ELP for short). The shifts are 10 and a half hours long, so on the days that I have ELP shifts basically I get up, take the bus to go to work, work, go home and sleep. Then I repeat as scheduled.
That kind of makes it sound bad, but I love it! The parade is a lot of fun, and I have learned a lot.

It still feels surreal working here. On the parade especially. As a guest I am not sure if anyone ever thinks about how many people go into putting on a single parade. I never thought about it until I was seeing the backstage craziness, either. Things like that are ways that Disney really does make magic. (I also learned that Disney puts up its Christmas decorations in TWO DAYS. For the ENTIRE park, all 22 resorts, even counting Downtown Disney. Now THAT is magical.)

Speaking of a crazy amount of crew, on just ELP there are:
9 costuming crew
82 performers
15 drivers
3 costume techs (for the lights)
spotters for the floats
techs for the floats
and mant more people that I see but don't know all that they do
which is a total of over 110 people! Crazy, I know.

The Halloween and Christmas Parades have EVEN more performers and costumers working at once, so I'm sure it's well over 200 people on a single night, easy.

I've gotten to know some people who have been there at the parade frequently, which is cool. But it sucks because the people that I have gotten to know on the parade are really the only people I have seen to hang out with....and we are all always working or ahve different shifts off from work.

Now for the negatives about my job:
I really love the shift, but since it is SO much longer than all of my roommates' shifts, I really don't get to see them much. I pretty much don't get to see ANYONE. I get home after most normal people are in bed, and I get up after most people have left for work.
It's a 10 hour shift, so I'm pretty pooped after 5 or 6 days straight. 50 hours in 5 days is a lot of work.
I can't do anything before or after my shift because of the hours, either. I'm gone from the apartment 12 or more hours in the day with taking the bus, and sometimes eating food that's terrible for me after work with friends, which has been really fun! (I really have grown to love Steak and Shake, lol)

Other than that, I'm beginning training in the character room today. The shifts for training are completely backward from the shifts for ELP. I usually don't go to bed until 4 am, but I had to get up at 4 am in order to get ready to catch the bus at 5am.  The training lasts a week or so, and after that I'll usually be on fly team. Character room is where all the performers can pick up whatever they need to perform their sets for the day. Fly team is where I'll be on call in case anyone calls in sick for ELP.

When I get around to it, I will finally post a picture of me in my costume, haha. I'm not sure that most people know what the Costuming costume looks like.

The first week and a half of being in Orlando

So I've been really busy in my first week and a half here. I'll break it down day by day :)

Monday 6/6: Check - in
Tuesday: free day to get settled
Wednesday: Traditions and Magic Kingdom
Thursday: free day ( I went to Typhoon Lagoon and Hollywood Studios)
Friday: training
Saturday: Training and Hollywood Studios
Sunday:  Training and Hollywood Studios
Monday: free day and Epcot
Tuesday: park orientation and Magic Kingdom

I've had several different classes on many different things about Disney and costuming. I've learned a lot, and I start training on my assignment tonight, which is the Main Street Electrical Parade at Magic Kingdom! I'm really excited, but the shifts are 10.5 hours long each night. The good thing is that I get 3 days off each week as long as my shifts are that long :)

Let me explain some of the tinges I mentioned:
Traditions is a class about Disney, and traditions we are expected to uphold as new cast members. We learned the basic values and ideas of the park.

I had training on what we will do as costumers, and how to work the computer system that will check out costumes to cast members. I also had basic character training.

The park orientation was a more in depth day dedicated to Magic Kingdom alone, and we learned a bit about the history and ideas behind several parts of the park. We all went on rides together as well. It was a pretty fun day, actually :)

I spent so much time in Hollywood Studios because it was the last weekend of Star Wars Weekends, and I'm a huge geek, haha. It was awesome!

So that was my week. I'm starting on training tonight for the Electric Light Parade. My shifts are basically second shift, and I'll be getting home around 3 or so every night.

Last day before leaving!

Here I am, the night before leaving. I don't know when I'll update this again, but hopefully it won't be too long!

I spent today being mostly lazy, then one of my best friends came over. We've been good friends since elementary school. We haven't had a lot of time to hang out in our last few years in college. We went to different universities, and she spent a year in Japan…now we're all back, and she's about to head out to Kansas for grad school, and I'm avoiding real life at Disney for half a year. So really, it was the last time we'll be able to spend time together.

She "helped" me pack, which led to a lot of not-packing, and a good time was had by all, haha Another good friend stopped by not too long after my first buddy showed up, and we really got to not-packing, haha

This post isn't much, just to let everyone know that I got all my junk pared down to 1) things I'm taking down and weights under 50 pounds (it was at 70…which is way overweight), 2) things I need mailed to me ASAP that I can't fit in my suitcase, and 3) things I need later in the fall like long-sleeved shirts, pants, and jackets. Everything else will stay here for the 7 months I'll be away.

Well… I'm not 100% done packing. I need to wash a  load of clothes and pack that up, but I'm done, pretty much, Which is a big accomplishment for me. I won't be running around trying to pack Sunday morning (which really wouldn't have been a surprise, knowing me, haha)

I guess I'll see everyone in the CP soon, and I'll see all my old buddies soon enough! Ill miss you all, and hope everyone who is planning on coming to visit can come soon! :) 

Love and Kisses,
Katie

(….Sabi you should get that reference, lol <3 you!)

Random: Packing, Bags, and Movies

So, it's 2 days until I'm on a plane on my way to Orlando.

I've just been stressing about packing and trying to get everything together that I need to take with me or have shipped to me. I've also been trying my best to cram in visits with everyone that I know is in town before I leave for 7 months. I know a few people are planning on coming down to see me already, and are already asking for what days I have off…. (Sarah! lol)

It's been a stressful few days trying to figure out what bags i'm taking and what I'm packing to be sent to me later next week, and what I need immediately.

Bag wise, I'm not sure if I want to go the route of taking my huge checked-bag-limi sized bag, as well as my carryon-limit-sized bag. Both are rolling bags. Instead of the carryon-limit-sized-rolling bag, I got this cheap duffel bag that ends up being a biiiit too small, but I can under pack it and cram it into the overhead bin…. I think. I'm not even sure. The only two times I flew were 1) on a tiny plane where there were NO carryon bins, and 2) on my way to India where all we did was check a huge backpack, and carry a tiny backpack that fit under the seat in front of me…. we didn't even deal with the overhead bins.  I do plan on having that tiny backpack as my "personal item" for the flight so there's that.
I can't find any cheap non-rolling carry on bags, it seems. The smallest one I saw under $40 was  the duffel bag I ended up getting.I mean, If I want to spend $40 instead of $15, I guess I can go back and get that nice sturdy carry on thing (shaped like a hard case messenger bag, sort of)

I just felt like making a post, and here it is, about bags and random packing, haha

I'm taking a few random things, such as my Brobee pillow that my boyfriend gave me recently, as well as the vinyl Brobee he gave me several years ago as a Christmas gift…. (I love that character's design, and it's easy to get me gifts, I guess, lol) I'm also taking a Pokemon plush (Minncinno) that my sister got me on her trip to disney. :)
A friend actually gave me my first Vinylmation this past weekend (which I'm also taking ), and it was one I have been eyeballing online! It is the Jellyfish from the underwater series…. the first in a long line of figures I'll be collecting, I predict! lol! I'm basically visiting Disney for the first time, you know!

I'm also taking my French card game, Mille Bornes If anyone wants to try to learn  to play with me, let me know :) It's played as if you are in a car and you're racing the other players, giving each other obstacles such as flat tires or speed limits, and you have to reach 1000 miles (the name os the game ) before everyone else in order to win!

I'm taking only a few books, and 24 DVDs (the size of the case I bought, haha). I tried to pick out my favorites, but also movies people most likely haven't seen, so I can expand some movies horizons while I'm in Florida… I LOVE movies, in case you didn't know! Also a select few books that I never got to finished reading, or are new: Naked Lunch (someone lost my place, and it's a really confusing book, so I thought I'd just start over…), Slumdog Millionaire (new), The Internet is a Playground (new, and HILARIOUS. I've seen the website, and now I can read this anywhere, Thanks Sarah! ), and Fear Nothing (never finished, lost time due to senior year…. twice, haha)

Go after the cut to see the movies I'm bringing, in case you wanted to know, haha:

My last few days on campus

I've worked in my university's library since I was a freshman, and today is the last day I'll ever be able to work there. It's been a good, and long, five years.

Graduation didn't really sink in the fact that I would be leaving this place like it seems to have done for most people. I still had 3 weeks of working left to do, to try to earn as much money as possible before going down to florida. I still had to clean out my studio space in the art building, and turn in my keys. I wasn't finished yet.

Now, I've cleaned out my studio, turned in the the keys to my studio, and today is the last day of working at the job I've had for the pst 5 years. I love my job. Its mainly scanning and archiving the special collections held by the University. I get to see things from the collections that many people will never get to see, that is, until we scan them for the Digital Archives. It's amazing to me. Last year there was a special project in which our department scanned negatives of the local newspaper from the 1940s until the 1960s or so. I believe there were something like 15,000 of them, or some other ridiculously high number of negatives. I learned so much about local history in going through the process of scanning the items, putting them online, and checking the information and descriptions with the items.

I'm really going to miss this job. My boss has been a good friend to me, even he helped me decide where to take my stint in art school. I couldn't decide what major I wanted to be, but he helped me see that I should be in textiles, as I've loved textiles since high school… I'm not sure why I couldn't see that you could make a career out of something that you loved like that. Now I see it, and my ultimate goal is working in costuming for films or other entertainment.

 I guess you could say it's the only University related thing that I will miss. I definitely won't miss the system here, or even necessarily the campus. But I will miss my job.

I went into the art building for the last time yesterday. I have no other reason to go now. I've turned in everything that I need to turn in.
Today will be the last day i ride my beautiful bike around these neighborhoods and on campus. It will actually be the last time I ride my bike for a long time. That is very sad. I love my bike more than people generally love bikes.

On a Disney related-note: I saw Pirates of the Carribean with my boyfriend, and nearly cried when I saw the castle. It's not because I absolutely love Disney THAT MUCH, it's because I am pretty sad to be leaving my boyfriend. I was never a huge Disney-phile, as a lot of people on the CP seem to be... I rather think it would be amazing to do costuming for a huge entertainment company.

Did I make the right decision on the CP? Should I have accepted it, even thought I'm leaving him behind? I feel pretty bad/sad about it actually. :(

Packing and moving

So, I'm moving out of my apartment a whole month before my lease is up. My boyfriend will still be there, but that means that I have to pack and move nearly everything that is mine before I move down for the CP.

It's really overwhelming, actually ):

I've been making lists and lists, trying to psych myself into getting down to business, and also to try to keep my sanity.

I basically have to pack into 3 groups:
-things I am taking on my flight to Orlando
-things I am packing to be mailed to me
and - things that I am packing to be put away into storage until I return

To make things harder, I have no car. If I had a car, I could take a couple of trips home in a week and move a lot of my things that way..... but nooooo, I have no car, so I have to rely on other people helping me, which I do have people helping me, but it sucks for everyone involved. I can't do it myself, so I feel bad that I can't self sustain at this part of my life, and I live 3 hours away, so my family driving back and forth really sucks for them

But it's coming along.

I've moved everything out of my studio space on my campus, and I have sent most of it home (and I'm actually taking the rest of it home tomorrow :) ) You wouldn't believe how much STUFF I've accumulated that I can't seem to let go of for art purposes. I did get rid of a good bit, but man, 2 trips just for the studio stuff?!?! I don't even want to THINK of all the costuming stuff I have at my apartment.... (by the way, I have another blog about my personal costuming :) Kat's Cosplay )

I'm starting to get stressed about moving and I still have 3 weekends to go!, Go figure : /

I'm DONE with undergrad!

So, it's been a while since I posted, and several things have happened.

I had my fashion show, and that went well. No mishaps. :)
I had my Senior Art Exhibition with ome of my best friends from college, and everything was awesome! We had DELICIOUS food and good friends there, and it was totally rad.

And last but not least, I GRADUATED! I am officially finished with my undergraduate studies! After 5 years, a BFA and a BA later, I think I'm ready to get out of this town, and start something new.

I've started packing up my apartment, and thinking of things to pack for the CP. I'm going to make a huge list of things I can take, and things I'll have to buy once I'm in florida, as well as things I hope someone else is bringing already, lol

I've already been living on my own for several years now, so I have everything you'd need for an apartment. The hard part is deciding what to take when I fly down, and what to pack up for my mom to ship to me once i'm down there.  I don't want to buy all new stuff like a lot of people on the CP seem to do. I don't have the money for that, and it would just be a waste since I already have everything I need.

It feels strange knowing that this is my last May in undergrad, and that from here on out will be a bit different. At least I have plans for the next 7 months! But after that.... who knows?

Oh, and I've found a roommate as well! How exciting! Neither one of us will have a car, so we'll see how this will go, haha.... I'm sure it will be fine :)

Arrival Date

Well, I did get a reply the day after my email, and I just forgot to update.
I will be arriving June 6th.

I've also found out that I am flying down, thanks to my uncle! (Thank you!!)
I have to rework my packing list to things that I need instead of random stuff like I was planning to take before.

I've been taking to a few people about rooming together, but only one person seems to want to reply more than once...

Other than that, I've had my fashion show, and in 2 weeks my Senior Exhibition goes up, then graduation on May 7.  Good grief, I have t a lot to do ):

A couple of complications...

well.

I was counting on being able to move in on June 13. When I could finally afford to pay the housing deposit, June 13 was the only date unavailable.

I emailed them and asked what to do, and they advised me to sign up for another date, and to email a different person with my info. I will probably hear back tomorrow. The one thing the CP staff seems to be awesome at is getting back to emails in a day or so.

Here's to moving in on the date I need to! >_>

My Email!!

Guess what I got last night?

I can't tell you how excited I am! I got my first choice!
I seriously went "WOOOOOOOO!" Several times (and very loud), as my friend and boyfriend looked at me like I was crazy, before I told them I was accepted to the College Program, haha

When I first read the email, I just saw the purple, and didn't even read it for what role, or if I Fall Advantage or Fall 2011. They asked what I got, and I didn't even know for a couple of minutes of WOOOOO-ing...

I'm going to accept the June 13th check in date, if it's not full by the time I can pay the $305 and get to a Windows computer (I'm a Mac girl...)

My family and friends seem really excited for me, which I wasn't really expecting from everyone. There are a few people I expected to get some negativity from, so I kept it a secret that I was applying to the program until I knew either way if I got in or not.

Now that everyone knows, they seem pretty happy for me :)
My boyfriend says he's happy, but I'm not sure how he really feels. I know that I will miss him a lot, I've lived with him for the past 2 years, so it will be a lot of adjusting to roommates and being away from him again. I'll especially miss our cat. My boyfriend can come visit, but my cat can't, which will be hard for me. I'm used to sleeping with my kitty, and I can imagine it will hard to get used to sleeping without him again ):

Now that I know that I am accepted into the program, I can start planning on how I'll be moving my things back home that I'm not taking to WDW, and figuring out out how I'll be getting to Florida in June with my junk....

Interview!

So I was really nervous about my interview for nothing! I was nervous up until the moment I answered the phone, and as soon as the recruiter (Karen) started talking to me, it all melted away!

I had prepared by typing up some responses to some questions that others have said that they were asked, and I was asked several of them as well. I also printed out the the list of roles and the descriptions. I found an empty studio in the art building and locked the door as I anxious awaited the call.

I spread out all of my notes and the role descriptions to have ready to look at in case I flubbed or panicked.
In the end I don't think that I ever said anything directly from my notes, but I think it was good to have thought about the process and questions as before hand. At least that is how my mind works, and how I will feel at ease about it.

Interview...

I may have jumped the gun on making this blog. I don't even know if I'll get in....

So tomorrow at 3:30, I'll have my interview.
I've been reading a lot of blogs about other peoples' experiences and the tips that they provided.

I'm still nervous as all get out though.
This is what will make or break the recruiters' decision on if I'm accepted to the program. I really wish I knew more about how they choose who gets in and how they assign roles.
Is it really just luck of the draw? Do they look at who is a senior, and this is the last time they could participate? Do they look at your major and future interests?

I just hope I don't get the dreaded QSFB question. I think I'll say that I would honestly do Housekeeping  over QSFB or Custodial, but if that is my only chance to participate, I would gladly take the opportunity.
I don't even have any experience in Food Prep, either, so I'm not even sure if I would be much of a help if I were cast in that role...

I just hope I get accepted for something! At this point the College Program is the only plan that I have for the upcoming future. I missed all of the deadlines of the grad schools I was looking at, back in January. If I don't get in, I plan on going back to my hometown and working through a temp agency to make some money before moving.

My dream is to work in costuming for movies. I want to move to either NYC or LA to try for my goal.
I would be happy just working in the shops, I have no desire to be billed as "Costume Designer" and I will leave that title to those who care about the glory. Going through the Disney College Program in costuming would help me in so many ways to reach my goal, it isn't even funny. To say that I have worked in wardrobe  for a company as prominent and HUGE as Disney will make me look awesome.

AAAAHHHHHHH only 15 hours!

The beginning of my journey! I really hope it happens!

Ok, I'm keeping this on the down-low, but I applied to the Disney College Program at Walt Disney World.
 I just don't want to get everyone's hopes up that I'll be working for Disney, or hear the negative opinions of a few people that I know will try to rain on my parade until I can shove it in their faces! :)
I just needed to tell someone, even if no one ever sees this. I have an interview on Monday. I never really looked into as much as I should have, and after someone from my class mentioned it, I decided to make the jump and apply.

My top choices are:
1. Costuming, which is more like wardrobe. I won't be making any costumes, but it will be killer to have on applications that I worked in costuming at Disney! 8D
2. Character attendant, which is following and helping out the furry characters around the park.
3. PhotoPass Photographer,  which would have me being one of those people who kind of make you buy photos, lol I would love to take photos all day though!
4. Merchandising,  I wouldn't mind working in the shops, and I basically applied for this position to kind of make sure that I would have a chance at the program.

Honestly, I think I'd even be up for Mousekeeping, if it were a last resort, so that I can participate with minimal guest interaction... I think there's a lot I could learn doing that as well :)

I think I will learn a lot working there, no matter where I end up!

I'm really excited, and I hope I get the internship. I've talked with Brian, and he'd live with his brother and stay in our hometown, while I move to Orlando for a semester. I'd be back soon, and it will give him a chance to save a lot so we can move to California sooner!

The program runs from either June - January or August - January, depending on position availibility and what I have preference in.  I would be living in dorm styled apartments, with all bills included, fully furnished, even with kitchenwares! It comes out to about $380 a month, and it's down the road from Disney. Transportation would be provided for the participants from the apartments to the parks in the form of busses. It's a paid internship, so I'd be making some money while I am there, although not too much.... but that's OK! I'd be having an awesome time, and can get my friends and family to come to Disney World! :D

I think it's an awesome oppurtunity, and I really want to be able to go!

As soon as I know if I am accepted, I will make a blog just for posts related to thr program and my trip there, as well as tell everyone that needs to know, haha.

The latest I'll know if I'm Accepted, Rejected, or Pending will be April 4. If it comes back pending, the lates I can find out will be April 30 ):

Here's to me getting accepted! :D