So I am finally home after a year in Florida and I thought I should put an end to my blog...
The last week of Disney was very strange, alot of tears were shed (although not mine!) and there were very mixed feelings.
On my last day off it was the England vs USA match and I wouldn't have missed it for the world! A few of us who were off including one of our co-ordinators went to The George and the Dragon on I.Drive, we didn't want to watch the match in an American bar so somewhere tacky and British was the best option! We got there early to grab a table and it's just as well we did as the by the time the match started the pub was packed with English scuzz! Having said that it was nice to be surrounded by English accents and we had a really good time. I was so disappointed with England's performance but it was the best way to spend my last day off in Florida.
On the Monday evening Beth and I had our last meal at Ihop and it was really nice that nearly all the Merchies could make it. For the last time I stuffed myself with New York cheesecake pancakes and they were lush! At the end one of our friends, Jack stood up and gave a little goodbye speech that was nice.
Wednesday was our last day of work and I have to say I woke up that morning feeling a little sick. Id been so excited about going home that, that morning it all seemed real and I wasn't looking forward to the last day! Our co-ordinator did our last morning meeting and we had photos and stuff. To be honest I didn't do much the whole day! Beth and I pretty much hung out in the back office eating donuts that our manager, Celia had brought in for us! Although at one point Celia took us into the Tea shop and announced in front of all the guests that we were leaving and gave us our certificates. While I was in the Toy shop Jack also decided to anounce to everyone it was my last day and I got a huge round of applause, it was embarassing but thoughtful!
After we got our final bump out and finished work for the day we got something to eat and had a drink in the pub. At 9.00pm we were allowed on the lower deck of the restaurant to watch the last Illuminations with the girls and everyone else. I have to admit I had tears in my eyes knowing it was the last time!
The next day was the day to do jobs before going home! We had to take our costume back to costuming at Epcot, change our address to our home address, go to the bank to close our accounts and hand in our IDs to front desk. It was a busy day! I also finished packing my stuff and throwing everything out of the apartment. The apartment looked so bare by the end it was very sad.
That night at 11.30pm all the Uker's collected across the road from The Commons in the car park for last song. It was very surreal. Throughout my time here I have countless times stood in a circle and sung Greenday's 'Time of your life' to other people who were leaving and it was very weird being one of the people in the middle of the circle this time! Afterwards there were alot of people we had to say goodbye to and there were alot of tears too. I think I have a heart of stone, although I was devastated, I couldn't bring myself to cry!
The next day was D Day- Time to leave :-( Rachel and I were up quite early, we had to be out of our apartment by 11am and we had to clear what was left in there and take the bags of trash to the bins we had collected over the past few days! It was horrible leaving the empty apartment, we'd made it our haven so it wasn't nice to see it bare. Also the apartment had been a UK apartment for about 4 years so it was sad in that sense too. Goodbye 416!
After we had handed our key into front desk Beth and I went round to Luke and Jack's apartment with our friend Darren. Really we were meant to leave The Commons straight away but as we weren't leaving for the airport until 3.40pm they let us hang out there. I felt sick with apprehension while I was there about going home, it seemed like the final countdown! We watched the first half of the England game and then we got our taxi to the airport.
I felt very sad leaving The Commons for the last time but it was nice to be with Kirstie, Beth and Rach- we flew out together so it was like we'd come full circle. At the airport we all checked in, Kirstie and I were flying to Gatwick at 7.30pm and Beth and Rcah were both flying to Manchester at 8.25pm so it was perfect that our flights were so close together. Kirstie and I managed to get seats together and the check in man also didn't charge me for my second case which was a touch! All too quickly the time came for Kirstie and I to board so we had to say goodbye to the other two. It was horrible, both Kirstie and Beth were crying alot and saying goodbye to Beth was the hardest thing for me. When you've spent a whole year with someone, at work and on your days off you become best friends so it was heartbreaking to leave her. I still didn't cry, however once I was settled on the plane I read the message Beth had written in my leaving book and I just burst into tears! So there is a heart there after all!
How to sum up my year at Disney? It isn't possible. It was everything I expected and more. It was the most exciting, scary, incredible, hard, amazing year of my life! I never in a million years thought I could so something like this and the sense of achievement I feel is wonderful. I did so many fantastic things and above all I made the most amazing friends- people who became my family and people I know will be friends for life. I will never forget my year as a Disney Cultural Rep and the memories I've made will last a lifetime. I really did have the 'Time of my Life.'
Tuesday, 22 June 2010
Monday, 7 June 2010
The Final Countdown...
Idiot of the week:
Girl: (Looking at my costume) So is that the kind of thing you wear in England?
Me: (Laughing out loud) No! We dress just like you (but with more style!)
Wow, I cannot believe I have one week left of work, which means I have just over a week left in Florida. I have a mixture of feelings. I am definitely very excited to be coming home but as the end is becoming nearer I am not looking forward to saying goodbye to my life here.
Beth and I have now completed 'The List'. Last weekend along with Kirstie we went to Downtown Disney to go on the hot air balloon there, we have wanted to do that the whole time we've been here! It stays up in the air for about 15 minutes and you can see things like Epcot and Hollywood Studios from the sky! We also had dinner in Morocco which we have also been intending to do forever! It was nice and we even had a couple of photos with our servers!
The other great thing we did last week was see the Backstreet Boys! It was so exciting! They were playing at Hard Rock Live at Universal Studios, I got ready at Beth's and we had a few drinks and stuff beforehand. We had standing tickets so we made sure we got there early so we weren't pushed to the back. I was really suprised because I've only ever seen BSB at huge arenas like the 02 and Earl's Court, and Hard Rock Live is tiny! The people in the front row were actually so close to the front of the stage that they could touch them! The boys were excellent as usual, they performed their old stuff as well as their new album which I love already! And Nick was looking hot as usual. I'm so glad I got the chance to see them, I'm a fan for life! :-)
During the week one of my friends, Michelle left. She had a last party/song at Nick's apartment so we all had the chance to say goodbye. Alot of people were very upset, I never seem to cry when people leave so it will be interesting if I do when I go! Lol. Over facebook Michelle has seemed very upset since she's returned home and it's only been a few days so I really hope I'm not that sad when I get back!
This Sunday, Monday and Tuesday have been my last days off before I go home and yesterday was my last day off with Beth so we decided to do the 4 park challenge. Basically we fitted all four of the Disney theme parks into one day. We started off in Epcot and did our favourite rides; Spaceship Earth, Test Track and Soarin'. We then headed round the World Showcase and as we were hungry we grabbed a pretzel from Germany. We then got the boat across to Hollywood Studios and went on Tower of Terror. Unfortunately the park was heaving because they're holding Star Wars weekends there at the moment so we had to miss out Aerosmith's Rockin' Rollarcoaster. We the took the bus to Animal Kingdom where we rode Expedition Everest and Dinosaur. We also looked for one of our old managers who works there now but unfortunately she was off. Our last park on the list was Magic Kingdom, when we arrived we were slacking so we got a cake from the bakery on Main Street for a boost! We had a look in some of the shops and I got few last bits. The rides we did at Magic Kingdom were Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Philharmagic and Haunted Mansion. We planned our day well too because in the evening it was the first day of the new parade and fireworks. People were getting places for the parade from 7pm even though it didn't start until 9pm, so we grabbed a hotdog and drink and took our places. The Main Street Electrical Parade was amazing, I loved it and then the Nightime Spectacular fireworks were also good. I think I prefer the Wishes fireworks as they make me quite emotional but it was nice to see something different. By the time we left the park it was 11.00pm and we had been at it since 9.00am so we were pretty much exhausted!
Today I've had quite a relaxed day. I was going to sunbathe this morning to catch some rays before I go home but the weather was awful when I woke up. We've been having some really bad storms in Florida recently and alot of rain so this morning was no different! The weather people have also predicted this summer will be really bad for hurricanes so it's probably just as well I'm heading home soon. I did my laundry and skyped the fam and I also packed one of my cases so I am halfway ready to go! Eek!
Tomorrow I'm going to Downtown Disney to have a last look at World of Disney, have a last sandwich from Earl of Sandwich and a last ice-cream from Haagen Daz while I'm at the cinema! In the evening I think I'm going for dinner at Bahama Breeze as it's one of my favourite restaurants here.
After that I'll be down to my last week of work and that's one thing I can't wait to finish! We've also set some dates for our 'lasts'. Next Friday night is mine, Kirstie, Rach, Beth, Niamh and Katherine's Throw Out. It's basically a collection of stuff we don't or can't take home and is good enough for other people to have. People come along and 'shotgun' if they want something! I think Beth and I have decided to have our last meal on the Monday at Ihop. We decided on Ihop because it's open 24 hours so people can make it after work and it's fairly cheap. On the Wednesday we finish work I think we're going to drink around the world then end up back at the UK to watch Illuminations for the last time nad on the Thursday it will be our turn for last song! :-(
It feels very strange arranging our 'lasts' after seeing so many people before us. The final countdown is definitely on!
Girl: (Looking at my costume) So is that the kind of thing you wear in England?
Me: (Laughing out loud) No! We dress just like you (but with more style!)
Wow, I cannot believe I have one week left of work, which means I have just over a week left in Florida. I have a mixture of feelings. I am definitely very excited to be coming home but as the end is becoming nearer I am not looking forward to saying goodbye to my life here.
Beth and I have now completed 'The List'. Last weekend along with Kirstie we went to Downtown Disney to go on the hot air balloon there, we have wanted to do that the whole time we've been here! It stays up in the air for about 15 minutes and you can see things like Epcot and Hollywood Studios from the sky! We also had dinner in Morocco which we have also been intending to do forever! It was nice and we even had a couple of photos with our servers!
The other great thing we did last week was see the Backstreet Boys! It was so exciting! They were playing at Hard Rock Live at Universal Studios, I got ready at Beth's and we had a few drinks and stuff beforehand. We had standing tickets so we made sure we got there early so we weren't pushed to the back. I was really suprised because I've only ever seen BSB at huge arenas like the 02 and Earl's Court, and Hard Rock Live is tiny! The people in the front row were actually so close to the front of the stage that they could touch them! The boys were excellent as usual, they performed their old stuff as well as their new album which I love already! And Nick was looking hot as usual. I'm so glad I got the chance to see them, I'm a fan for life! :-)
During the week one of my friends, Michelle left. She had a last party/song at Nick's apartment so we all had the chance to say goodbye. Alot of people were very upset, I never seem to cry when people leave so it will be interesting if I do when I go! Lol. Over facebook Michelle has seemed very upset since she's returned home and it's only been a few days so I really hope I'm not that sad when I get back!
This Sunday, Monday and Tuesday have been my last days off before I go home and yesterday was my last day off with Beth so we decided to do the 4 park challenge. Basically we fitted all four of the Disney theme parks into one day. We started off in Epcot and did our favourite rides; Spaceship Earth, Test Track and Soarin'. We then headed round the World Showcase and as we were hungry we grabbed a pretzel from Germany. We then got the boat across to Hollywood Studios and went on Tower of Terror. Unfortunately the park was heaving because they're holding Star Wars weekends there at the moment so we had to miss out Aerosmith's Rockin' Rollarcoaster. We the took the bus to Animal Kingdom where we rode Expedition Everest and Dinosaur. We also looked for one of our old managers who works there now but unfortunately she was off. Our last park on the list was Magic Kingdom, when we arrived we were slacking so we got a cake from the bakery on Main Street for a boost! We had a look in some of the shops and I got few last bits. The rides we did at Magic Kingdom were Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Philharmagic and Haunted Mansion. We planned our day well too because in the evening it was the first day of the new parade and fireworks. People were getting places for the parade from 7pm even though it didn't start until 9pm, so we grabbed a hotdog and drink and took our places. The Main Street Electrical Parade was amazing, I loved it and then the Nightime Spectacular fireworks were also good. I think I prefer the Wishes fireworks as they make me quite emotional but it was nice to see something different. By the time we left the park it was 11.00pm and we had been at it since 9.00am so we were pretty much exhausted!
Today I've had quite a relaxed day. I was going to sunbathe this morning to catch some rays before I go home but the weather was awful when I woke up. We've been having some really bad storms in Florida recently and alot of rain so this morning was no different! The weather people have also predicted this summer will be really bad for hurricanes so it's probably just as well I'm heading home soon. I did my laundry and skyped the fam and I also packed one of my cases so I am halfway ready to go! Eek!
Tomorrow I'm going to Downtown Disney to have a last look at World of Disney, have a last sandwich from Earl of Sandwich and a last ice-cream from Haagen Daz while I'm at the cinema! In the evening I think I'm going for dinner at Bahama Breeze as it's one of my favourite restaurants here.
After that I'll be down to my last week of work and that's one thing I can't wait to finish! We've also set some dates for our 'lasts'. Next Friday night is mine, Kirstie, Rach, Beth, Niamh and Katherine's Throw Out. It's basically a collection of stuff we don't or can't take home and is good enough for other people to have. People come along and 'shotgun' if they want something! I think Beth and I have decided to have our last meal on the Monday at Ihop. We decided on Ihop because it's open 24 hours so people can make it after work and it's fairly cheap. On the Wednesday we finish work I think we're going to drink around the world then end up back at the UK to watch Illuminations for the last time nad on the Thursday it will be our turn for last song! :-(
It feels very strange arranging our 'lasts' after seeing so many people before us. The final countdown is definitely on!
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