Is This Real Life?

Even though we generally only get two days off a week, I've had quite a busy week so far. However, I did take the time to re-read all my previous posts, and in the interest of honoring my English-Creative Writing degree, I've decided to go this entire entry without describing anything as "amazing" or "awesome" or use the phrase "But really." Nothing like expanding my vocabulary!

Let's see...on Monday I didn't work until 5:30, so Allie, Alex, and another new CPer Corey (a guy, not to be confused with Corri my roommate) went to lunch at Downtown Disney, where we wandered around shopping and killing time all afternoon.

Tuesday I didn't have to work until 7:00 PM, so I met Alex and Corri at Animal Kingdom. They already had fastpasses for Kilimanjaro Safaris, so I went through the single rider line on Expedition: Everest a couple times while I waited. When we caught up to each other, the line was short so we all three went through the standby line checking for Hidden Mickeys (more on this in a moment). Then Alex and I went through with fastpasses, bringing my total Everest rides up to four for the day! Dinosaur (still terrifying!) and the breathtaking Finding Nemo: The Musical completed our afternoon, then it was off to Magic Kingdom. A note about Finding Nemo: The Musical: It is unbelievable. Definitely something that shouldn't be missed at Disney. If you hate Animal Kingdom, get over it. Go to the first showing in the morning then leave, but don't even think about skipping it. The end. Now, back to Magic Kingdom. I didn't have time for much here. We rode Dumbo, because we're super cool, and discovered you can see the Fantasyland expansion while you're up in the air! So we'll probably be riding about once a week just to check on the progress of our beloved castles (both Prince Eric and Beast will be relocating to the Magic Kingdom come 2012!). Rain was predicted, but it was only around 5:30 that the sky started getting dark. All of the sudden, it POURED. Of course, this would be the time I was parked in the third from last spot in the LAST row of the TTC (Transportation and Ticket Center) parking lot. I was soaked by the time I got to my car. I had to take off my shoes and socks and put my socks on my heater vents with the heat on high in the hopes they would dry out by the time I got to work. They didn't. I've never seen a storm come so quickly like that...and the lighting, oh my gosh. Of course I looked up lighting storms in Florida, and we're actually one of the highest lightning-density areas in the world, and have more lightning deaths than any other state, AND have unusually powerful lightning. Very reassuring as I was running to work with the sky lit up all around me.

Wednesday I had off while the three roommates all worked, so I went to explore Epcot alone. Corri was working at the Epcot Character spot, being "friends" with Minnie, so I went to meet her! Finally a character that didn't scare me. I took a picture but it hasn't been uploaded yet, so I'll put it up next time. I spent a lot of time searching for Hidden Mickeys, also. For those of you not in the know, Hidden Mickeys are pretty self explanatory. Imagineers have placed camouflaged Mickeys all over the entire resort. Usually it's just a classic Mickey, formed by the three circles, but it can be a full body or side profile as well. I have the Hidden Mickey guidebook, and I want to find as many as I can, preferably all. To me, Hidden Mickey spotting is the perfect combination of a puzzle (which I love), and a competition (which I love even more...as long as I win). Also I just enjoy learning everything I can about everything, and Hidden Mickeys are no exception. After my fastpass for Soarin', I raced to Magic Kingdom just in time for...WISHES! It gets me every time, really.

Today, Corri was off also so we hung out. First we went to MGM (I refuse to keep explaining that it's actually called DHS. From here on out, this blog calls it MGM because I like it that way). It was packed, so we left pretty quickly to do some resort exploring. First stop was Grand Floridian and the wedding pavilion! I've always been very against a Disney wedding but I can't help being tempted when I visit that place, it's so beautiful. Next was Animal Kingdom Lodge. I'd never been here before and I have to say it might be a new favorite. This lodge actually has man-made savannas with giraffes, zebras, ostriches, kudus, and other cool creatures roaming around. After this was Port Orleans-Riverside, another resort I've never given much thought to until now. It was also beautiful, and so relaxing. The buildings really do look like plantation houses you would see in and around the New Orleans area, and the landscaping was so nice. Finally, we headed over to Magic Kingdom. Tonight we had the "pleasure" of seeing Disney's Main Street Electrical parade, and it was, in a word, disappointing. The floats were pretty, but ANY float at Disney is pretty. The music was horrible, which is almost unheard of for Disney, and some of the characters used in the floats were ridiculously obscure. Pete's Dragon, anyone? All I have to say is PLEASE bring back Spectromagic! There's just no comparison between the two.

While I'm on a negative note, let me talk about something I see at Disney that always irks me. Adults being inconsiderate of kids. The scene we witnessed tonight: Corri and I were waiting for the parade, and the sidewalk was obviously kind of crowded. We were very near a man and woman standing together. A mom walks up with two small boys and tells them to go stand in front of us, but to ask and make sure it was ok. I nodded and told her they were fine, but the man (probably mid 40s-50s) turned around and snapped (and I quote), "There ain't no room for them up here." Um, okay. If it had been a huge crowd of older kids, fine. But it was two boys, probably 7 or younger, and they were about three feet tall. Definitely not blocking his view. We're adults, we know that isn't REALLY Tinkerbell lighting up the floats with an ACTUAL magic wand. But to little kids, it's happening and it's as real as anything. Do we have to be on the front row in situations like that? No...be considerate, seriously.

Rant over! To go in the opposite direction of that bad experience, next on the list was "The Magic, the Memories, and You" show on the castle, then...WISHES!! Then we met Allie and drove to Red Lobster where we met Alex, for our (hopefully) weekly roommate dinner.

Non-park related things I've been doing lately: CPers are allowed to take classes at Disney University, but I wasn't planning on it since I already graduated and I should probably just work overtime instead. But I just couldn't resist, so I'm now signed up to take "Exploring Guest Service at the WDW Resort," and "Exploring Disney Leadership." I know, I'm a nerd. I've also been planning/helping to schedule a couple vacations! One for my mom, dad, and brother, who are visiting at the end of February. I'm excited, because they've never done Disney the "right" way, and I can't wait to show them all the magic it really has to offer. Now pictures!

A Hidden Mickey in the aquarium at The Seas at Epcot.

We found a Hidden Mickey that isn't even in the Hidden Mickey book! That's quite an accomplishment...this is in the carpeting at the Grand Floridian, right in front of Citricos restaurant.

Disney's Wedding Pavilion. No, I didn't take this myself, obviously. It's just so pretty, I had to put a picture of it up here.

In the interest of not ending EVERY post with a picture of the castle, this is facing away from the castle down Main Street, USA. Taken by my new favorite Disney photographer, Tom Bricker. I love all his pictures and will probably be using more in the future.

Have a magical day, everyone!

Kiss Goodnight

Well, it's been a few days and people have started to complain, but honestly most of the time my life here isn't THAT fascinating. Mostly I just do normal things during the day, then go to work at night. I'd love to go to the parks every day before work, but honestly it's a lot of trouble, and I find myself exhausted pretty much 24/7, no matter how much sleep I try to get. However, I don't sit at home ALL the time, so here's a recap of the past couple days.

The 19th I didn't have to work until 7 PM, so Allie, Alex, and I spent the day at MGM (ok technically it's DHS, for Disney's Hollywood Studios...the name changed in 2008, go back to my first blog and I wrote about this. But I still call it MGM because I'm stubborn and I like it that way). The park was pretty much dead, and we walked straight on to almost every single ride, with the exception of Toy Story Mania. However, we were able to fastpass it, which can be almost impossible during peak season. From the name, you'd think it was just another kid ride, but it's amazing. Especially if you like competition! It's basically a 3D "shooting game," but it is considered 4D because they have special effects such as wind when you shoot a balloon, etc. Also, the standby line includes a huge animatronic Mr. Potato Head, who is actually the first animatronic character able to remove and replace his own parts. I also decided to be very brave and try meeting a character. Bad idea. Much like cats always gravitate to the cat-haters, apparently characters can sense fear in people. Buzz cornered me (as evidenced by the picture below), and messed with me for probably close to 3 minutes (quite a while when there's a line of kids waiting for pictures too).

The next day (aka yesterday), Corri, Allie, and I were all off, and Alex only had to work until 3 in the afternoon, so we decided to make an evening of it. Alex made us reservations for 5:40 at Mama Melrose's, an excellent Italian restaurant located at MGM (*cough, DHS). We all dressed cute (yay!), and killed some time before dinner by taking pictures. See below...

DHS is all about the movies...this is a recreation of the famed "Singin' In the Rain," if you couldn't tell...

Allie, Corri, me, and Alex! No, that's not a real walkup/townhouse. It's part of the San Fransisco "set" towards the back of the park.

Our dinner was pretty awesome; we all had a ton of leftovers that we carried around for the rest of the night. We wanted to make the 8:00 Fantasmic show, so we raced to Great Movie Ride and thankfully got on with no wait. Next we (by that I mean Alex and I) had to get dessert for the show, so we stopped and got my new favorite park food, chocolate dipped marshmallows rolled in chocolate sprinkles (plus they come on a Mickey straw, you can't beat that!). After that Allie and Corri got in line for Fantasmic (they're only doing the show two nights a week since it's low season, so it can get pretty packed) while Alex and I literally ran for Tower of Terror. We were in the pre-ride room with the most OBNOXIOUS BTG (Brazilian Tour Group...they can be scary sights, I'll talk more about them later) ever. They screamed every time a light went on or off, and they were yapping so loud we couldn't even hear the pre-ride video. We made it off just in time to find Allie and Corri (who were already seated and saved spots for us), then Fantasmic started. Now, as anyone who has previously read my blog knows, Wishes is my very favorite thing ever (besides Cher of course), and it exemplifies Walt's vision in every way, but Fantasmic captures every aspect of Disney showmanship. It includes pyrotechnics, live performers, fire, video (projected onto huge sprays of water), and of course, an amazing soundtrack. While it includes quite a few princesses and almost every villain, it really is Mickey's show, which is fine by me (check out the subtitle of my blog, that should clue you in as to how I feel). After the show, Corri and I decided to drive around and check out the Boardwalk (the actual Boardwalk and the Boardwalk resort), and the Yacht and Beach clubs. I've never really spent time here, and I have to say I almost regret it. It was really nice and relaxing, and we had fun just walking and watching the people. We also were thrilled to find a dance club! All four of the roommates have repeated over and over how much we hate that all the clubs on Pleasure Island are closed (they're refurbishing the entire area). This is such a theme with us four that we even named our wireless network/apartment PleasureIsland...and it's also how I got my last blog title, in case anyone was wondering. On the next night we all have off (which could be a while, lining up our time off is something like trying to line up a slot machine), we fully plan on going out and dancing.

Today began as a lazy day for me, Allie and Alex both had to work and Corri had a phone interview at 3. Afterwards it was pouring, so I almost decided to stay home, but we decided to suck it up and head to MK. This was a good decision, because the rain had stopped by the time we arrived, but the park was still cleared out of most guests because of the previous downpour. We just wandered for a bit, stopping to get "pixie dusted" in the little girls store Castle Couture, riding Snow White's Scary Adventures and Peter Pans Flight, then visiting Allie at Cosmic Rays. They have amazing new billboards around the Fantasyland Expansion describing different coming attractions, so we also went and looked at all those. This is me beside one of them, with my very favorite princess (I basically AM Belle, I swear! Look, she's even reading!)

Eventually Alex met us, and we watched the new show (that takes place 20 minutes before Wishes). It's called "The Magic, the Memories, and You," and it. is. AMAZING. The castle becomes a sort of projector for a video, and photos taken during that day by the Disney photographers are also projected onto the castle! When I first heard this concept I thought it sounded a little dumb, but as usual, Disney pulled it off in high style. Even the details projected onto the castle itself are amazing. I have no idea how they did it (obviously they used projectors, but it's still an amazing feat). And it ends with the entire castle projecting a video of Walt saying "To all who come to this happy place, welcome!" Remember that from my last blog? A perfect ending, in my mind. Afterwards, we saw Wishes yet again! Then we waited around for about half an hour for the "Kiss Goodnight." This was just a little 3 minute bit in which they play Roy Disney's speech from the Magic Kingdom dedication while lighting up the castle with a bunch of sparkles (everyone knows how I feel about sparkly things), then Mickey wishes everyone a good night. Such an unnecessary but Disneyesque over-the-top touch.

There was basically no one in the park after the Kiss Goodnight, so I took this picture. No people in the background! That's definitely a first. This also seems like a great way to end this post.

So, until next time, have a magical day!

(P.S. I'm so living there someday.)

Greetings From Pleasure Island

It's been a few days, but we've all been crazy busy and I think we're all about ready to settle into some sort of routine. I'm going to go backwards, because Wednesday was definitely the most blog-worthy day I've had so far. The past couple days have mainly just been training, doing computer classes, etc. Boring but necessary things like that. Last night, all four of us roommates were home, but instead of doing something fun in Orlando we just sat, had dinner, then read/watched movies. We felt so old.

Friday night we did do a little, though. Alex couldn't make it, she had to get up super early on Saturday for work/training, but Corri, Allie, me, and another girl, Megan, went to Downtown Disney and had dinner at Paradisio 37 then shopped for a little bit. Cast Members get 40% merchandise until February so we're all trying to take advantage of it now! Even though Downtown Disney was pretty crowded, we were seated with no wait whatsoever (Disney magic, I tell you), and we even had a window table so we could see the Wishes fireworks! We couldn't hear the music, but I was able to narrate what part of the script it was at depending on what fireworks were going off. Maybe I've seen it too many times...who, me, obsessed? Never.

Anyway, back to Wednesday. Corri and I had to be ready to catch a bus at 6:45 AM to our Traditions class. Once we got there, we were separated into several different class-sized groups. Anyone who works for Walt Disney World has to go through Traditions class, regardless of their role. We watched a bunch of videos, many of which had clips of my favorite guy, Walt Disney himself, and we played games, such as naming as many Disney animated characters as possible (my team won, I was pretty excited). Then we started talking about the "4 Keys" of Disney World: safety, courtesy, show and efficiency. However, instead of just learning about them in a classroom setting, our facilitators surprised us and we were off to tour the Magic Kingdom itself! Touring MK as a cast member is different than seeing it as a guest. Remember, we were backstage. So we hopped a bus from Disney University to...(something I've been wanting to see for years)...

THE UTILIDORS!! If you aren't a Disneyphile, let me explain. When Disney World was first being built, Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake were both created. The land excavated to build these man-made water areas was used to "build up" the area that was to be the Magic Kingdom. So technically, MK is on the second floor. What's on the first floor, you ask? The utilidors. It's what makes the magic happen. It's a massive series of tunnels, offices, and other rooms (including Costuming and the Mouseketeeria), under nearly every square foot of the Magic Kingdom. It's why you'll never see anyone in a Tomorrowland costume walking down Main Street, and it's how characters just seem to magically appear in their specific autograph areas. It's how trash disappears and it's where ambulances wait for a call, if need be. On the way there, we actually drove by major construction areas and were allowed to see inside the much-anticipated Fantasyland Expansion area. Our facilitator was amazing and told us a lot about the expansion, but I don't think we're really supposed to talk about it, so I'm not sharing the secrets! He also just told us a ton of Disney trivia; a lot of things I didn't even know, and I would consider myself a Disney trivia expert. So, once we were there we got to come out from backstage and wander around the parks a bit, looking for examples of Disney's 4 Keys. Then we headed back to Disney University where we did a few more activities and watched more videos about Walt and the creation of WDW.

While that might not sound too exciting, Traditions was really amazing. I'm going to do an entry sometime about why I love Disney so much, so I'm trying to keep the adoration for Walt at a minimum right now so I won't sound repetitive later, but honestly, going backstage at MK and watching Walt made me want to cry. People have warned me that working here and seeing everything happening backstage will take away the magic, but I think the opposite is true. Knowing how much work goes into creating magic for the people visiting, and seeing how much the employees here care about keeping Walt's dream alive, makes it even more amazing. I apologize because I feel like I'm rambling here, but it's hard to put exactly how I feel into words. So, in the words of Walt himself, "To all who come to this happy place, welcome! Disneyland is your land." Those sentiments are still an integral part of the Disney experience, and that's the most magical thing of all.

Have a magical day!

Disney Day 1! And Day 2.

This is probably going to be pretty long, so bear with me. I know it's only been a couple days but we've already done SO much.

On the 9th, I left South Carolina bright and early and kept myself amused by calling people for most of the 7 hour drive down, it really wasn't so bad except for the momentary freak-out when I thought I forgot my makeup (but I didn't!). I met Corri and Allie at our hotel for the night, All-Star Sports, then we headed to downtown Disney to meet up with some other girls from the program. Dinner at Planet Hollywood (a very important picture from this is coming in a bit!), then we hopped a bus to the Grand Floridian to see...WISHES from across the lake! Then off to the Polynesian where we goofed off on the beach for a little bit, then we left and literally fell into bed like it was 3 AM, even though it was only around 10:30.

They still had a few Christmas decorations up at Downtown Disney. Toy Story tree!

If anyone was wondering how long I could go without mentioning Cher...wonder no more! Look at the handprints I found outside of Planet Hollywood!

On the 10th (yesterday) we got up at 6, and arrived at Check In at 7, where we met Alex. Check In is supposed to start at 9, but they usually start it at 8...so around 8 we headed back to a building where we did paperwork, filled out more paperwork, oh, and did I mention paperwork? We also got our housing IDs and roommate assignments. This took about 45 minutes. Next we took a bus over to the Casting Center where we did still MORE paperwork! We got our job assignments, did background checks, fingerprints, got our schedules for the week, etc. Finally by about 11:30 we were back at our cars, had lunch, then unpacked all our things and started organizing before going to our very long, boring housing meeting. A grocery store run, dinner at Fridays right next to Downtown Disney (our very first discount because we told them we were cast members...we felt so special!), then we were done for the night.

Today was a free day for all of us, so of course we went over to Universal to experience The Wizarding World of Harry Potter! Thank goodness we're all Harry Potter nerds. It was amazing. The Forbidden Journey, the new ride that's had so much buzz, was like no ride I've ever been on before. Hogsmeade was so cute, and the window displays were so detailed (they're taking a leaf out of Disney's book!). My favorites were Ollivanders (the wand shop) and Honeydukes (the candy shop). I tried a Cauldron Cake, which is basically a cauldron shaped chocolate brownie dipped in chocolate and filled with chocolate mousse. Obviously right up my alley! Now we're all back home updating blogs and uploading pictures to facebook. Corri and I have Traditions (our first training/Disney class) tomorrow at 6:45 AM, then in the afternoon we're going to check out the parks. Alex and Allie have Traditions in the afternoon, but hopefully we can all meet in the evening for yet another WISHES viewing! Now pictures:

Hermione's wand! She's my favorite character of course.

Allie, Corri, me, and Alex with the conductor in front of the Hogwarts Express.

Real butterbeer!

Alex, Allie, me, and Corri in front of part of Hogwarts Castle.

More in a few days. Have a magical day!

The Time Has Come...

Well, my car is packed, the oil is changed, I've been to the dentist, my hair is cut/colored, and I have a map (or three) that hopefully won't send me astray tomorrow. The only thing I'm really having trouble coming to terms with is leaving Gatsby. Whenever we're in the same house, he absolutely doesn't let me out of his sight. He can tell I'm leaving, and he isn't happy about it (this is obvious because he keeps trying to make a break for my car anytime anyone opens the front door).

As far as how much I packed, I'm guessing, as always, it's too much, but I feel I did quite a good job, considering I'm a hopeless overpacker. I have my entire backseat down and everything fits in quite nicely, it's not crammed at all, which makes me feel better about the return journey, because yes, I'm already thinking about how I'll pack to come back to South Carolina. I only packed 15 books, which is definitely a record low for me, though I'm sure I'll buy at least that many while I'm down there.

Now I'll move on to my Disney to-do list. Almost everything has some sort of addendum, so be prepared (if you haven't already noticed my extensive use of parentheses, you soon will. I have to comment on everything, including my own comments...consider this a blanket apology for the next four months). This list is in order from least important to most important (to me). I might add to it as I come up with more ideas, but this is a pretty good start. Some of them are interesting, however, some of them probably won't interest anyone but me.

1. Go to Harry Potter World- Kind of a cheat, because I'm planning on going on in 2 days, if we don't have any required events. I've wanted to go ever since I heard about it being built, I'm almost as big a Harry Potter freak as I am a Disney freak. In preparation, I've spent the last 13 days rereading all seven books in order.

2. Ride "Dinosaur" without closing my eyes/hiding/freaking out- As the biggest chicken in the world, I have a love/hate relationship with this ride. I profess to love it...until I'm actually on it. Then I'm terrified. It's weird, and I need to get over it.

3. Visit the beach- I've never spent a significant amount of time near the ocean (my family goes snow skiing, we don't go to the beach), or any time in Florida outside of Disney World specifically, so I'm really hoping I'll have a chance to see some Florida beaches.

4. Parasail- They offer parasailing over Seven Seas Lagoon on Disney property. I've been parasailing before, but never at DISNEY!

5. Meet an Imagineer- As someone who considers Imagineering to be one of the most amazing careers ever, I would probably have a heart attack if I actually met and had a conversation with a real live Imagineer.

6. Eat at Victoria & Alberts or California Grill- Probably the two nicest restaurants on Disney property, this is definitely right up my alley.

7. Visit Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon- These are the two waterparks on Disney property, and sadly I've never had the opportunity to visit either one. So far, at least...

8. Do every ride/attraction at least once- I've actually ridden every ride at Disney World, but I'd like to do them all again plus see every attraction (live show, movie, etc.) because I am missing some of those from my repertoire.

9. Visit every resort- I don't want to stay at every one, I just want to look around and see them all. Disney is famous for their theming, and their resorts are prime examples of creating a theme and integrating that theme into every single detail.

10. Visit all four parks in one day- Just so I can say I've done it...

11. Volunteer for Give Kids the World- GKTW is a sort of branch of the Make-A-Wish foundation located in Orlando. I couldn't give you exact facts or details, but Disney is very involved in this program, and CPers have the opportunity to volunteer (through the Disney VoluntEARS program) and meet/assist lots of Make-A-Wish kids who are visiting WDW.

12. "Backstage Magic" tour- This is the most in-depth tour offered at WDW. Seven hours of behind-the-scenes information and random Disney trivia.

13. See Wishes...x number of times- I was going to put an exact number on this one, but I can't decide how many is reasonable, considering I do have this minor detail called work to contend with. But basically, if I'm not working and I don't have other plans with friends/roommates, I plan on being at Wishes every night possible.

And I saved the best for last...

14. Get over my fear of characters! I'm not sure how many people know this, but I am absolutely terrified of people in fur costumes (that is to say, face characters, such as princesses, Peter Pan, Aladdin, etc. don't bother me, but full body suits, such as Mickey, Minnie, Donald, etc. do). It's probably so severe as to be unhealthy, but I can't help it. I've hated them (and clowns, don't even start me on clowns) since I was little. This paralyzing fear is something I really need to come to terms with, since I'm an otherwise proficient, normal (ha) adult, and I figure there's no time like the present! Please don't judge...

Well, if you've suffered through all that, I applaud you! I'm sure I'll be back before too long with an overview of my first few days, but until then...

Have a magical day!

Counting Down!

Well, it's been quite a bit longer than a few days since I posted last, but I haven't really had much to say since then. Mainly I've just been constantly anticipating this at the back of my mind, but there hasn't been any real news to share. At first I'd planned on talking about the entire interview process and everything, but I decided most people who read this are probably just my friends and family, and that part might not interest them too much. So if anyone is just dying to know about it, I'll discuss it, but unless someone informs me of their interest, I'm not going to bother.

So far, here's what's been going on. I'm planning on living with three other girls, Alex (who is working Main Entrance Operations, also she is the one I'll actually be sharing a room with), Allison (who happens to be the same role as me), and Corri (who has the role everyone is jealous of: character performer). We want to live at the apartment complex called Chatham, which seems to be a happy medium between the party-central Vista Way complex and the kind of boring Patterson complex. I'll be driving down on Sunday (the 9th) and having dinner with a few other CPers who are also checking in on Monday (the 10th). Then Allison, Corri, and I are spending the night at All Star Sports and meeting Alex bright and early the next morning to check in!

I have a lot of information about what supposedly happens during the first few days, but I guess I shouldn't talk about it until it actually happens, just in case. I will say we are supposed to get the second day (the 11th) off completely to unpack, set up, and go to the grocery store, things like that; but our idea of "unpacking and going to the grocery store" might be "skipping out on unpacking and going to Harry Potter World, then watching Wishes that night!" Wishes is definitely the first thing I want to do, I miss it SO much. In case you don't know, Wishes is the nightly fireworks show at the Magic Kingdom. But it's so much more than just a fireworks show...it really is the perfect example of what Disney is all about. If you ever go to Disney, that would be the absolute TOP recommendation from me, no question. Here is a link to the video I watch whenever I miss it just a little too much. It's not the same as really being there, but it's a pretty good video nonetheless.

This is about all I have to say at the moment; I'm hoping to post one more time before I leave with an update on exactly how many clothes I was able to fit into my car (which should be interesting), and a list of certain goals I want to accomplish or cool things I want to make sure I do while I'm down there. I have a list going, but I want to make sure I don't forget anything! Until next time...

Have a magical day!