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[notsosmallworldafterall-blog]

Getting Hired

So hey there, hi there, ho there to all of my new followers! As those of you who are finding me through my YouTube channel or previous travel blog already know, I’m Mariah, and I kinda like Disney World a little bit.

This summer, I’ll be working very close to the most magical place on earth! I secured a summer position working for the Loews Hotels at Universal Orlando. Putting my Oulton College Travel and Hospitality degree to good use, working in the field I love in the city I love, at a job where within ten minutes of walking, I can be at an Orlando theme park. It still doesn’t feel real. I still feel like I need to be pinched.

I could honestly go for all three of these right now.

So, how does one manage to get such an awesome job? And can you do it while not being as awesome as me?

Well first of all that’s a trick question. Everyone is more awesome than me. I’m a pretty much a giant loser. 

But secondly, it was a long process that actually started with applications to work at Walt Disney World. In this little story, I hope it becomes clear that if you put in enough time and keep a positive attitude, things will work out for you. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday!

I always wanted to work for Disney. I was in middle school, I think, when it dawned on me that people got paid to stand around at Disney World all day and be helpful. Of course, I’m older now and as such realize that that is not what Cast Members do all day. But I was slowly falling in love with the Travel and Hospitality industries, so as time went on, it actually became less of a dream and more of a realistic goal. 

I had applied for Disney’s International College Program (which has since changed it’s name to the Cultural Exchange Program) and I even made it to the face to face interviews in Toronto. Being a small town girl from New Brunswick, Canada, of all places, that was a really big deal. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and for reasons I won’t disclose here, I was having mental health issues and as such bombed the interview and ended up dropping out of university.

In another long story I’ll cut short for relevance’s sake - I enrolled at the last possible minute for Oulton College’s Travel and Hospitality program. As it turns out, everything happens for a reason. I made the best friends of my life and was taught by the two best instructors I could’ve wished for. And of course, I was studying Travel and Hospitality. Air Tarif and Ticketing kept my attention a lot more than Intro to Microeconomics did. 

So here I am, studying what I actually want to do, applying for jobs that could help me get to my goal, which was (and still is) ultimately working for Disney. I did, of course, apply for many jobs within the company itself, and got turned down. Boo.

So then, I start applying for any job I can find in Orlando, as we were told about a program we could use to get us a work visa for summer in America. And I hear nothing back. Most likely because I’m Canadian.

Just when our hero was about to give up, she out of the blue decided to log into her YummyJobs account! And boy was she ever glad she did.

YummyJobs, for those of you who don’t know, is, in their own words “an international recruitment and selection company that specialises[sic] in placing young adults in work, study, volunteer and teaching experiences around the world”

I had heard about them back when Disney’s Cultural Exchange program was still the Disney International College program, and they were the in-country agent for Canada. When I logged in on that particular day, I saw a brand new program. 

And that was the program that ultimately lead to my being hired. But it was no easy feat! After a long puzzling journey to see if they even accepted Canadian applicants, I finally had my interview. Which would’ve been great, had it not been for the Skype call dipping in and out. They ended up calling me long distance from England, and we had a lovely little chat. I was told on the phone we’d find out within two days whether or not we were accepted.

The next day, I got an e-mail. I had been put on the waitlist. And it just about killed me.

Everyone else had gotten either a solid “yes” or “no” and I was constantly waiting to find out. I was supposed to find out the day before my class trip to Mexico. I checked my e-mail one last time the following day on the plane. Nothing. 

But everything happens for a reason! I was selected to be the official Travel and Hospitality Student Correspondent for the Oulton College Twitter account! As such, I needed to purchase wi-fi for my phone at the hotel. I bought the whole week package. I happened to check my e-mail on the first night. I was offered the job. And I had until Monday to respond. if I had’t been the social media addict that I was am, I wouldn’t have been able to accept.

There was, of course, a lot of work to do afterwards, but I’ll touch on that later.

I leave this Sunday to begin my journey, and I hope you guys follow along on my adventure!

[notsosmallworldafterall-blog]

I Guess This Is a Thing?

I thought I already did my hotel review. But I did not do my hotel review. Whoops.

And since it's Friday and these are due Monday this is not going to be fun or funny or probably even properly worded because at this point I just want to get these things done. Quick moral - that SpongeBob episode wasn't exaggerating.

BUT YES HOTEL REVIEW.

As I'm sure all of my loyal readers know by now, this March Break I went to Walt Disney World. And while there, I stayed in a One Bedroom Villa in the Animal Kingdom Lodge - Kidani Village.

Kidani Village at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge is a Disney Deluxe Villa Resort. Resorts in that category have the biggest rooms and most amenities.

I could ramble on and on and on and on for years about this place, but instead, I'll answer the questions and hopefully get straight to the point.

Did it live up to expectations? Yes. This is my favorite Walt Disney World resort, and probably my favorite hotel in the world.

One major selling feature? Other than it's on Walt Disney World property? The safari view rooms. And even if you get a standard view room, there are several viewing areas available to anyone staying at the hotel. You even get a sheet of all the animals on the property with a picture and quick blurb about them so you can check them off as you see them!

How are the staff? Phenomenal. Many of the staff are originally from Africa, so on top of being polite and efficient, they also hold a wealth of knowledge about the culture being represented throughout the building. And the domestic/non-African internationals are incredibly easy to talk to and get along with. The staff there are perfect for their jobs.

Would you like to work there? I feel as though the question is unfair as I would clean toilets if it meant being a Disney Cast Member. But if I was given the choice to work at Kidani Village specifically, there are few places in the world that I'd rather be. Even just watching the staff talk to each other, you could tell how much they enjoyed being there and helping others.

[notsosmallworldafterall-blog]

I Can't Count The Reasons I Should Stay

Oh boy. Is this ever going to sound cheesy. And no, I'm not talking about the time I literally had 8 slices of provolone cheese on my plate. Kennedy still won't let me live that one down.

No, what I meant was - and Mr. Bach, I know that you know what I'm going to mean by this - this blog is going to have Jeff Winger levels of sentimental cheese. And it's your fault. 

For you see, I was originally going to give a play-by-play, as it were. Just touch lightly on all the super awesome fun times we had in Mexico and quite honestly just phone it in because let's be honest my blogs are really awesome and I'm not even trying all that hard. And yet I still won the "Best Blogger" award. But we'll touch on that later.

But no! You wanted something entirely different! And how dare you stifle my creativity. I mean really. (I'm sorry you know I'm kidding please don't hate me more than you already do).

So, getting back on track here, what were the highlights of the Travel and Hospitality 2013-2014 class trip according to this now award-winning blogger? Well I'm glad you asked! 

There's a lot I could talk about. Let's start with what should be considered the obvious for anyone who's read my previous blog posts - the food. I mean, hell, I already mentioned the cheese thing. The buffet at the resort was top notch. Even as the extremely picky eater that I am, I was finding new and interesting foods to try not just every day, but at every meal.  Gold Star, Grand Sirenis. Gold Star.

Some of the breakfast and dinner selections!

I tried three of the a la carte restaurants, and the best, at least in my opinion, was the one we all dined at together. The chicken I ordered at the steakhouse was remarkable. Not quite Epcot's Coral Reef level but pretty darn close! And of course, the company I kept definitely added to the restaurant's level of enjoyability. I'd also like to give a shout out to the Italian restaurant for trying to warn Kennedy, Nadia and I that the house wine was really strong. If only we listened.

Xcaret was nice, but what I really enjoyed there was the food (and trying the drink Amanda ordered [pictured below], that thing was heavenly) and the aquarium. I went to the aquarium three times. The first time I was with my Amazing Race team for the day, Amanda and Kennedy. The second time I was there with Dom A, and I got to play tour guide. I made quite the tour guide, if I may say so myself. The third time I went with Mandi, but it was the end of the day and we were both really tired so my tour was less impressive. "There's a squid guy. He's just chilling."

Amanda's super cool drink

And the only actual picture I have of the aquarium, which was for the Amazing Race - Get a picture of one of your teammates "hatching" from the turtle shell

Playa Del Carmen was a fun time. Lots of interesting souvenir shops, and that's where I bought my great big huge polka dot bow! [pictured below] It also had a Forever 21 that I didn't end up buying anything in and a Starbucks Amanda and I said we were going to go to but never did. The group of us who all went together (Kennedy, Amanda, Nadia, Mandi, Dom A, and myself) had a really fun time looking in all the shops, and all 6 of us were thrilled to find a Subway. I don't care if my Greendale friends call me a traitor. It was so worth it. (Also, imagine if you will, six full grown women who are very obviously tourists all hunched over a table for four in the corner of a Mexican Subway. You could make a movie based on that concept alone).

My super cute hair bow that I bought at Playa Del Carmen!

And I don't know why but this store struck me as so funny.

And this was pretty much us as when we went on our hunt for lunch.

And if I may back track a little....speaking of Starbucks...we had this lovely exchange at the airport!

Me: Look, there's a Starbucks!

Dom A: We all know where Amanda's going.

Amanda (who had gotten a few feet ahead of us and wasn't listening): MARIAH! Starbucks?

And I suppose that was a highlight in and of itself. Especially since I hadn't had Starbucks since the class trip to Mexi's (Sam and I went after) because I usually get it in the mall but lately I couldn't be bothered to actually go in the mall between busses. And Amanda hadn't gone in like a week. We needed it.

And of course, as I'm sure you recall, even though I verbally spelled my name for them, they still tragically butchered it. And Kennedy's was even worse. We had a good laugh about that.

Close enough?

Yes, there's a lot I could talk about. And all of those things were great! But those weren't the highlights for me. Not by far. The true highlights were the moments spent with my friends, and the lifelong memories we made.

Singing the Striped Sweater song from SpongeBob on the bus with Kennedy. Being totally sober and just laughing way too long and hard about things up in Dom L and Maryline's room with them and Nathalie. Claiming to be super picky eaters but yet getting full plates of food from the buffet with Nicole. Kennedy, Amanda and I almost getting kicked out of the spa the first five minutes we were there from laughing too loudly. Heidi making fun of me for being so pretentious. Amanda constantly getting my room number wrong and knocking on the wrong doors. Jamming with Kennedy as she played her ukulele on the balcony and we sang to some guy on the third floor unknowingly. The awards ceremony, where I received the "Best Blogger" award alongside Amanda and then we read all the nice things are classmates had ever said about us and were appropriately moved to tears. Those were the best moments, those are the parts of the trip I hold dearest to my heart, and those are the things I'm going to remember years down the road.

Somewhere down the line, we stopped being just classmates. We became something unstoppable. We became a community. 

Although let's be honest, the real highlight was being at Xcaret when this song came on in Spanish and I sang along with the third verse and everyone thought I was cultured but in reality I was just singing a Disney song like always.

[notsosmallworldafterall-blog]

Fulton's Crab House - Worth Two Dining Credits?

I mentioned in my uber long march break post that on our first night, Sam and I had dinner at Fulton's Crab House. I know what you're probably thinking - why would Mariah willingly go to a seafood restaurant on her first day at Disney? Believe it or not, I was actually the one who suggested it.

Last March Break (which feels so weird to type it feels like 2 or 3 years ago) Becca and I were wandering around trying to find anywhere that wasn't reservations only, and Fulton's was the first place we hit that fit our criteria. They had a couple of steak items on the menu (back before I swore off of red meat) so I was willing to go. I was hungry so I wasn't about to be picky. Upon being seated, I actually went with a vegetarian pasta. We had an AMAZING time, everything was absolutely top notch.

So, when Sam and I needed somewhere to eat on our first night, I immediately recommended it. Also it was right there. So there's that.

We walked up to the outdoor hostess, who informed us that there wouldn't be a table ready for another 20 minutes. We said we'd wait, and were given an electronic buzzer. By the time we got out the big mess of people and I had time to verbally direct Sam to the nearest washroom and she was just about to find it when the buzzer went off. I guess 20 Disney minutes is 4 normal minutes? But hey, we weren't complaining! We trekked back, and were told to wait inside for our table.

The waiting area was roped off with fancy red velvet ropes (and by that, I unfortunately mean velvet ropes that were red in colour. Not deliciously edible ropes.) which really set the atmosphere. It was fancier than most Disney sit down restaurants, yet not so fancy that my jeans felt out of place *cough* Grand Floridian *cough*. 

We waited another five minutes before being seated. The interior of the could only be described in three words - elegant, nautical, and cramped. Fulton's Crab House, as the name implies, is a seafood restaurant. As such, the interior décor is boat-esque. But elegant. As it should be. If you're on the Disney Dining Plan (here on in referred to as the DDP) it takes two whole table service credits to dine here. But boy, was that placed ever cramped. I don't think they used that pi rule.

Everything looks fine and dandy when there's no one inside...

But this picture only begins to illustrate the cramped feeling. Especially for someone with GAD.

Upon being seated, we were immediately handed our menus and were told about the different drink specials, including the non-alcoholic ones. Which was nice, considering neither of us were 21 yet. We ordered lemonade and they returned within five minutes. 

When they took our dinner order, I had asked if it was at all possible to get the shrimp pasta with chicken instead. The waitress was unsure so she said she'd ask the chef. After taking Sam's order she left and came back within 90 seconds, saying they could take the chicken from another pasta and throw it in a vegetarian version of the pasta, if that was okay with me. Of course, it was 110% okay with me. She took our menus, and then Sam finally got to go to the washroom.

While Sam was in the washroom, our waitress came back with crackers and crab dip. I of course enjoyed the crackers, and I was even feeling adventurous and tried a bit of the dip (*cue Indiana Jones theme*) but alas, it was not my cup of tea. Sam liked it, though. So I suppose it was good if you're into that kind of thing.

Having the crackers and dip was a good distraction from the wait, as it was a good 15 minutes until our food was delivered. But it was well worth the wait.

The above images are my pasta, in case you couldn't tell. Look at it! Doesn't it look delicious? The presentation could've been better, but it was super tasty. I nomed that thing up. Nom nom nom. I shouldn't be writing this while I'm hungry. 

In all seriousness, it had a lot of flavour and everything was cooked perfectly. It was simply delectable. (I've also been told Sam's meal was good, too. Unlike every other meal where we all ate off each other's plate like it was no big thing, I didn't try any of her bisque. Mostly because it had lobster. Blech.)

They checked up on us once and the second time they came we had both just finished. Talk about timing! Sam asked to see a dessert menu but ended up not getting a dessert. They were surprisingly cool with it. Most places try to pressure you into a dessert once you've asked to see the menu.

After they retrieved the dessert menu they took about five minutes to return with the cheques. Which was a little long, honestly. But they processed them right there at the table and they were super friendly the whole time so it probably evened out to waiting about two and a half minutes.

Overall, we weren't even in the restaurant for an hour. Which is my definition of efficient. And nothing felt rushed, either. Or at least, not by Disney standards.

My final view on the restaurant: I really like Fulton's, and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a more upscale option at Walt Disney World if they're not on the dining plan. Unlike Le Cellier (the only other 2 credit restaurant I've dined at) this place isn't worth the two credits. If you really want seafood, Coral Reef at Epcot, while less fancy, definitely has better food and the ambiance is still breathtaking, and it's only one credit. However, if you're not on the dining plan and looking for somewhere nice to eat at Downtown Disney, I'd definitely check it out.

[notsosmallworldafterall-blog]

This is not a drill!

I have an interview. To work in Orlando. This summer.

I feel so blessed. I know it's an over used line but everything happens for a reason, you guys. You just have to keep going after these things.

[notsosmallworldafterall-blog]

"Yoo Hoo Big Summer Blow Out!" And Other Personal Jokes That Didn't Make Their Way Into the Article

Let's start at the very beginning (that's a very good place to start). Travelling in a group of 3 can be difficult. But somehow, we made it work. Well, mostly. But we'll touch on that later.

Upon landing in my favourite place and taking the Magical Express for the first time, Sam and I boogied our way down to Downtown Disney almost as soon as we checked in the room (Becca stayed behind for a little while and then went to Magic Kingdom) The afternoon was nice. We grabbed some lunch at Earl of Sandwich where Sam enjoyed her first of many, many, many ice coffees and we had a super fun time hitting up stores after that. We went to pretty well all the stores and I think the only thing either of us bought was the souvenir Sam picked up for her Dad.

But then it quickly became late afternoon/early evening. Because I'm super awesome I was all "OMG we should totally go bowling!" and we did.

Not your typical bowling alley! Splitsville Luxury Lanes has a brand new facility with a retro feel and an extensive menu including a full Sushi Bar.

I seriously used to have so much love for this place before things got weird.

And it was fun. Until they switched our waiter on us. And by that I mean we went from a waitress to a waiter. And I somehow forgot I was there with "Sam Bam Oh Hot Damn."

Here's the thing about being the ugly friend. You never see this stuff coming. But for me, it's hilarious. For Sam...poor girl, being hit on, getting asked for her number...it must be so difficult being good looking. And the best part? She actually gave him her number. I may be the ugly friend, but I at least know how to make up a random combo of seven digits on the fly instead of caving and claiming "It was so awkward! What else was I supposed to do?"

(For the record, Becca later suggested giving him her number where she would fake being Sam's boyfriend back home...which is really weird in retrospect considering what came later...)

And that was our first day. We literally hadn't even been there 8 hours. But oh, how it delightfully set the mood for the rest of the trip.

From there we grabbed dinner at Fulton's Crab House (more on that later) and we were originally going to go on the hot air balloon, but it closed due to weather. Thank God.

Me at heights. Since apparently I vomit Rainbows and Sparkles anyway.

We went home early-ish and decided a good night's sleep was needed since we travelled all day and we were going to Disney's Animal Kingdom the following day. After all Animal Kingdom has the largest land mass with the least amount of attractions which means one thing and one thing only - walking. And a lot of it.

So the next morning we got up and walking is what we did! We also rode Dinosaur a couple of the times (2 or 3? Memory escapes me) and of course we went on Everest and Becca and Sam did Primeval Whirl (which I couldn't because it involves my two arch nemesis - heights and spinning) and we had a good time. I even got to watch Finding Nemo: The Musical in the front row! (Becca and Sam wouldn't let me watch it more than once. Sadface.) 

Then...came the endtimes.

Well, not exactly. Originally I think Becca and Sam wanted to recreate "A Day Well Spent" with Kali River Rapids. They did end up with the lovely diddy of "We went on Kali siiiiiiiiiiiiiix times (clap clap)" while I only went on 5 times.

But it was dark when we got off the last time and Kali River Rapids soaks you thoroughly. (And of course, since I was with Becca and Sam, there was a lot of dirty jokes when I said something like that...) so we walked to the bus in the dark, all three of us dripping wet (say nothing) and then our MagicBands decided to lock us out of our room. Yay. 

Plus, we had to switch rooms that morning so all of our dry clothes were still being delivered up to the room even when we did get back in. Dry towels as our only salvation, we rejoiced upon our luggage being delivered.

The next morning started the trend of "Oh yeah Mariah's actually a morning person lol whoops" since I was up at 6:25 and woke the other two at 7 so we could be at Magic Kingdom before opening to see the opening show. Guess what we ended up missing. I'll give you three guesses and the first two don't count.

Luckily for Sam and Becca, I recreated the opening for them. My choreography wasn't up to par, but I loudly sang both parts as we walked in. Just imagine me singing "IT'S ALL PURE MAGIC WRAPPED UP IN PIXIE DUST (IN PIXIE DUST) WELCOME TO THE PLACE WHERE DREAMS COME TRUUUUUUUEEEEEE." loudly and off key and you'll get the idea.

Devouring what was probably the 6th frozen coffee each so far Becca and Sam were actually awake by the time we got to the first ride, which was the Barnstormer (why they wanted to ride this is still absolutely beyond me.)

After hitting a few more Fantasyland attractions, we hit my favourite part of Magic Kingdom - Tomorrowland. We did a couple of the smaller rides including my absolute favourite attraction - Monster's Inc Laugh Floor, before Sam's first ever trip up Space Mountain.

Luckily, she loved it. After Becca and Sam enjoyed probably their 10th frozen coffee (and I had another bottle of water because who needs caffeine when there's Pixie Dust amiright?) we did Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin and while I didn't max out the game like last March Break, I did get the highest score of the 3 of us.

After that we wandered and did small things until it was time for our Big Thunder Mountain Fastpasses. We held on to our hats and glasses on the wildest ride in the wilderness before meeting Woody and Jessie (and I had to bite my tongue so hard when a well meaning bypasser referred to them as Woody and his Girlfriend....NO WOODY AND BO ARE FOREVER AND ALWAYS AND JESSIE IS WITH BUZZ *deep breaths*) After meeting the Roundup Gang, we went our separate ways.

Personally, I went back to the hotel to shower, then I decided to head back to Magic Kingdom before meeting the other two at the Contemporary for dinner. 

Well, 25 minutes pass. There's an Epcot bus. No Magic Kingdom bus. Another 15 and I loudly proclaim that "I'm just going to get on this bus and ride the monorail over to Magic Kingdom!" which was met with laughs and cries of encouragement from my fellow Magic Kingdom goers. 

So, I get to Epcot and have to go through bag check just to get on the monorail, get off the monorail at the Tickets and Transportation Center, get on the express monorail to Magic Kingdom and go through bag check again and you know what I end up doing? Going on one ride.

Well actually, it was Monster's Inc Laugh Floor, which isn't really even a ride. I mean, you don't go anywhere. You sit and the monsters tell jokes while interacting with the audience in real time (I'd explain it further but why ruin the magic?)

I've actually perfected my Marty Wazowski (Mike's nephew) voice and I'd be lying if I said being Marty Wazowski for the rest of my life didn't sound like a really awesome career. Now if only I was funny....

We met up for dinner at the Contemporary, eating at Becca's favourite restaurant in the entire world, Chef Mickey's. Parents with small children love it because Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto all come to your table in cute little kitchen outfits, the atmosphere is bright and colourful, and there's always some fun music playing. Becca and I (and now maybe Sam) love it because you aren't going to find this quality of food at a buffet probably anywhere else. I ate so many mashed potatoes that I looked pregnant afterwards and I'm not even trying to exaggerate. I actually had a little pot belly. I had two full plates of other food and three full plates of potatoes. And people wonder why I'm dieting now. I DON'T EVEN REALLY CARE FOR MASHED POTATOES!

I walked back to the Magic Kingdom bus stop after dinner and Becca and Sam spent the first of many Mariah-free nights at Magic Kingdom. Which I can only assume must be lovely. I'd love to spend a Mariah free night some time, but I don't see that happening any time soon. 

The next morning I got up bright and early and left Sam and Becca both texts and a little note saying that I was going to Hollywood Studios without them and they could meet me there. 

I of course auditioned for the American Idol experience and I was told that technically my voice is perfect (as in there was nothing I could do to better it) but they were looking for Pop-Rock voices and I was too musical theatre for what they were looking for. Me? Musical Theatre? Excuse me while I exit stage out of your life until Act Two. That'll teach you.

Also a really quick side story...you have to be 18 to audition without an adult. I'm used to being asked to prove my age. You have to be 14 to audition at all. I was asked to make sure I was 14. Really? 14-16 I can handle. But do I really look 10-13??

After shopping for a little bit I grabbed some breakfast and actually made friends with another girl with pink hair! I think I've found my friendship niche. After a delicious bagel with cream cheese and chocolate milk, Becca and Sam made it into the park, ice coffees in tow.

After running around and doing a lot of fun Hollywood Studio things (which unfortunately only included MuppetVision once because Sam doesn't think the Muppets are funny which almost convinced me to desert her) we made our way over to the FastPass line for my favourite big scary ride (Dinosaur excluded) - Tower of Terror.

Right as we were about to head in, I feel a tap on my shoulder. I scream and hug the prosecutor. Sam's too wrapped up in talking to Becca to notice anything. "SAM!" I scream. She looks at me in irritation. "Look!" I cry, thrusting my arm towards the guy beside me. "JUSTIN!" she cries, also running to hug him. Becca stood there awkwardly. She didn't know Justin. But that was okay.

We chit-chatted about our trips and such but alas we needed to part ways since our FastPasses were only good for so long so off we went!

...there's also a story about a really weird creeper guy that really wanted to get with Sam who also got offended when Sam said I knew everything about Disney since he worked there. I kept trying to make it sound like Sam and Justin were a thing and Becca was trying to make it seem like they were lesbian together (not that that needed much help, the way they jokingly hit on each other the whole trip) but buddy wouldn't go away. It's actually a really long story so I'm giving you the basics.

After ditching creepy guy, we went to CharacterPalooza (or Fantasmic Character Sets, depending on who you ask. I like CharacterPalooza because I like saying the word Palooza) which is random characters on the Streets of America available for pictures. Some of these characters are difficult or impossible to meet outside of Palooza, so it's always fun to see who shows up!

My favourite find so far! Goofy's son, Max Goof, as he appeared on Goof Troop. I still wish teenage Max from A Goofy Movie met but hey, this is pretty darn close. Picture circa June 2013

CharacterPalooza, unlike other character meets, are not orderly and have no lines. You gotta go in prepared for war. And we made out well, meeting A Green Army Man, Snow White, Chip, Dale and Mulan, Max was there but he left before I could get to him. 

From there we did some smaller things before heading to dinner. We showed up an hour early but our feet hurt, it was hot out, and sometimes they can seat you earlier. We were seated past our reservation time, but at least they warned us. We parked our bums at one of Pizza Planet's outdoor tables and chatted for an hour before dinner. Gotta love those pagers. They just make life so much easier.

Mama Melrose's is an "Italian" place, but it's much more a New York-Italian place. But hey! It has good pasta and my dessert had a nutella ganache.

After dinner I left once more to go to the hotel since I'm all "early to bed early to rise there's less people in the morning things and stuff!" and Becca and Sam went on their second date. I say that because the joke flirting had become so commonplace they had stepped it up to holding hands and calling each other ridiculous nicknames making me look the lesbian third wheel. And I'm not gonna lie. Being perceived as the lesbian third wheel is kinda awesome. Definitely an experience I won't soon forget.

The next morning is what my good friend Agent Wendy Pleakley of the Galactic Alliance would call mass mayhem and planet-wide panic.

See. I told you.

I once again was up slightly after the crack of dawn. Becca and Sam were out pretty late the night before so I let them sleep. All prepped and ready for the day, I got on the Epcot bus.

"First things first!" I told myself "I need delicious morning substances!" so I heroically went to FountainView, which is now the Epcot Starbucks.

I was greeted by a man at the doors who told me, with a look that could only be described as vengeful on his face "They don't open til 9."

Taken aback, I wondered what I would possibly do without my Epcot Starbucks fix. I wandered as I wondered, and I wandered right into The Land Pavillion. They had a quick service breakfast platter which I ordered and proceeded to only eat the eggs and bacon off of before jumping onto Living With The Land. Now, Living With The Land is a slow moving boat ride, but I think it's really cool for a lot of reasons. The top 3 being...

"For your safety and to refrain from being asked to leave Epcot, please stay in your boat"

"These Sturgeon can grow up to be 300 pounds!" which is almost immediately followed with a "Don't I know it!"

Nine. POUND. LEMON!

I did a couple other smaller rides before heading over to Downtown Disney for a job hunt. I started at Rainforest Cafe and ended at House of Blues, hitting every establishment that wasn't owned by Disney and asking for an application. At House of Blues, I met with the manager, and even got to go behind the "Authorized Personnel Only" door. I WAS AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL!

When I returned to the hotel, I expected to see Becca and Sam's things strewn about with a note telling me where they went off to in case I wanted to meet up. What I got? Becca getting dressed and Sam still asleep. It was 1:30 PM. I was awake for nearing eight hours, and Sam was asleep. That girl confounds me.

Becca and I soon headed back to Epcot with Sam saying she was heading to Downtown Disney and would meet up with us in the early evening, which worked out great since our first fastpass wasn't out of use until 4:40 anyway.

The Sturgeon Girls adventured around Epcot as we do (which of course, included a fight where Becca stormed off only for me to get a text 15 minutes later asking where I was because she didn't want to go on rides alone) before heading to the land pavilion, where we were going to meet Sam. Our first fastpass was for Living With The Land. REVENGE OF THE NINE POUND LEMON!

Little rides and two ice coffees later (or bottles of water if you're "being a baby") we were getting in the single riders line for Test Track. This is where we invented a new way to pass time. It was called "if we were characters from [insert Disney movie here] who do you think the other two would date?" What started out as a cute and fun game later turned into answers which revealed embarrassing secrets about each other or picking terrible characters in an act of revenge ("Well I was going to put you with Lando Calrissian, but you put me with Jar Jar Binks so I'm putting you with Jabba the Hutt!") We played this for the rest of the trip, but it was most prolific on that night.  

We only hit three of the World Showcase Pavillions that night - Norway (to get on Maelstrom), Mexico (to ride the 3 Caballeros Ride and buy candy) and Japan (for dinner). I know Sam filmed our dinner experience, and I think she's going to use it as either her restaurant review or for her blog for business class, so I won't touch on it. After dinner, it was back to the hotel for me and Sam and Becca were Downtown Disney bound. (They went bowling again. Not sure who's bright idea that was.)

Our last full day brought us back to Epcot. There's a lot to do at Epcot and a lot worth doing twice. It was also the first day of the Flower and Garden Festival, not that we ended up doing anything with that. We passed a couple of really nice topiaries but we had bigger and better things on our minds. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Sam and I went for park opening, which was 9AM that morning. We were there bright and early at 8:16 AM, some of the first in line to go into the park as soon as the figurative rope dropped. Sam got a coffee and "the best doughnut she's ever had in her life" to help tide over the wait. I was just happy to be there.

The "rope drops" and Sam hands me her coffee, pink hair flying in the wind, she takes off towards Soarin'. I laughed as I overheard a mother say "just follow the girl with the pink hair, that's where she's going" and I made friends with an elderly couple who were speed walking (more my pace) towards the uber popular attraction. 

Thanks to our awesome planning, I walked right onto a ride that has had 7 hour waits in the past (Sam would've walked right on but she was waiting for me.)

After bumming around Future World for a while, we ended up grabbing a pretzel for breakfast and then waddled around doing some minor attractions before the World Showcase opened, leading Sam into her first World Showcase Mission.

March Break 2013, Becca and I decided that we were going to buy candy or some other small snack from every pavillion. We ended up with 3 grocery bags full of candy that I only finally finished come this past December. We warned Sam of this on her go-round, and she definitely ended up with less. It was during Sam's mission that I spent the best 11 dollars of my life when I bought my Chinese fan. It's cute, light weight, helped keep me cool in the ridiculous heat, and it was so easy to bop Becca and Sam on the head when they said something inappropriate.  I only wish I invested in one sooner.

After meeting Alice and my favourite character, Miss Mary Poppins, in the UK, we trekked back to Future World to meet Becca and go to dinner. And oh dear god. That dinner.

Remember when I talked about Animator's Palette on The Disney Magic?? Nothing on this dinner. Since it was our last dinner we went all out. And so did they.

Not my picture, but it was taken from the seat I sat in. This was literally my view.

The service was to die for. Super friendly, knowledgeable, and efficient staff. And the food....oh boy the food. Like I said, we went all out. We started with appetizers. I ordered a seemingly simple app - ceaser salad. As soon as it arrived I was aware but how above and beyond these people were going to go. The aesthetic was astounding, and their was a "cheese cracker" that was literally parmesan cheese toasted to a crisp without being burnt. Beautiful.

For the main course, I figured my meal would be just alright, since unlike Sam's Rainbow Trout and Becca's Lobster Pasta, my seared chicken breast was not exactly what they're known for. But you all know my motto - "If it comes from the ocean I'm not touching it!"

Was I ever wrong. The single best meal I ever had in my life. Deliciously juicy and flavourful chicken, served over spaetzle with chicken broth and tomato chutney. I can literally taste it in my mouth as I write this and it makes me so sad because I have no way of eating it today.

Becca and Sam enjoyed their meals just as much, so we all sprung for dessert. I can't remember exactly what I got but it was chocolatey and delicious. And even doing three courses, this wasn't our most expensive meal. I'm so glad this was our last dinner, because it was undoubtedly the dining highlight of the trip for all three of us.

After dinner we had FastPasses to use, starting with the Finding Nemo ride, which was convenient, since it's in the same building as the restaurant. 

After Nemo, we headed towards Test Track, as we had FastPasses and when you're not in the single riders line, you get to design a car. I might post a separate video link, because our car - and the creation of such a car - was far too beautiful for mere words to explain.

Afterwards, Becca and Sam really wanted to ride Mission: Space again. I headed over to MouseGear where I bought my Dad a set of of shot glasses to finish off my souvenir purchases.

As I wandered out of the store, I began looking for something to do. And then - like a shining beacon in the night, I saw it. FountainView - the Epcot Starbucks.

I got in line (and oh boy, was there ever a big line) and took it all in. It was heavenly. I also met a girl who basically had my dream job - she stood at the front of the line and talked to people and then let them know when a new counter was open. She was living the dream. Why can't I be paid for hanging out at Starbucks and talking to people about their day at Epcot? It's perfect!

A good friend once told me I needed to "marry a man who makes bad jokes and good coffee." Now that Disney has Starbucks, I think that means I should marry Disney.

Once Becca and Sam had finished their space mission, they joined me under the Electric Umbrella. They were vastly jealous of me rocking my Starbucks, so I had to sit and wait for them to go get frappuccinos (although I was vastly surprised they didn't spring for another ice coffee) before we headed towards our end of day attraction - Spaceship Earth. After our slow moving journey which reminded us that our future "is truly in the past" it was time for me to head back to the hotel. The night owls went back to Downtown Disney to finish their souvenir shopping. 

Heading back to Canada was not a lot of fun after the fun filled adventure that was our March Break Disney Extravaganza (which is what I've decided that it shall henceforth be referred to as). Honestly, this trip once again reminded me of why I love Disney so much. It's not the rides, it's not the characters, and believe it or not, it's not even the food. Disney got it pretty spot on when they named it. What makes these trips so spectacular is The Magic, The Memories, And You. I had so much fun on this trip with two of my favourite people and there were so many memories made I couldn't even begin to record them all here, and I expect it has the same effect on everyone who visits. 

[notsosmallworldafterall-blog]

T Minus 10

There's ten days before I go to Walt Disney World over March Break and I still haven't finished with my uploads from January. I know, I know, I'm a terrible and lazy person.

But I only have two more days of Disney footage to edit and then you can expect a tidal wave of content appearing on my blog. Of course, if you'd like to see any of my videos at any time, I'm Mariah Does Disney on both YouTube and Facebook (I'll link the accounts once I get home but I'm currently on a school computer)

This is how I picture you, my faithful readers. 

Since there's only ten days until my adventure, I've been feeling an abnormal amount of stress - so for anyone who reads these that knows me in real life - please, know that it's nothing personal. My anxiety is so bad I can literally feel it in my throat. 

But soon that will all be okay. Because I'll be at my favourite place in the whole entire world. With my bestest best friend and my younger sister who is a good half foot taller than me (well to be fair, both of my biological sisters are a good half foot taller than me despite the fact that that I'm 2 and a half years older than one and 6 and a half years older than the other) I'll be the shortest cutie pie in our party!

Also I'm calling us cutie pies now. It sounds less creepy than love ducks or munchkins or any of the other nicknames.

[notsosmallworldafterall-blog]

Turn and Face the Strange

Alright. So. Update time!

Turns out, this is not going to be the grown-ass adult Disney trip of my dreams. Sadface. It's a hardknock life.

My sister wiggled her way onto my reservations and flights somehow. So Sam and I are going to have a third musketeer. 

Becca can be Donald. Sam can be Goofy. But I'm clearly Mickey rocking the the ratchet hat. (And before you ask, I've seen this movie so many times I think I quote it in my sleep so I know the sentimental value behind the hat)

Because of this change, a few rearrangements had to be done. The first of which being a room upgrade. Sam and I have to share a bed now. But oh no, however will we share a king sized bed? It's not like we've shared a double before when she lets me crash at her place. We also get to share a master bathroom. And since I stayed in a one bedroom villa last March break, I can vouche for the fact that that thing is bigger than some hotel rooms.

The living room - the couch folds out and that's where Becca will sleep

The absolutely beautiful bedrooms. Who can spot the Disney character?

This is just the shower and the bath. The mural on the wall could bring an emotional Lion King fan to tears

The other big thing is that I'm not going to be there alone. I will have to babysit. But Becca's 17 so as long as she picks up after herself and texts me every hour on the hour to let me know where she is I should be fine - so long as Dad understands that if anything happens to her I can't be held responsible. It was his idea to have her tag along. Sweet Baby Jesus I'm already feeling the anxiety about the whole thing so much for having a fun and relaxing trip

Becca is going to do her own thing, or so I've been told, so I'm not adding her onto my dining reservations. Which is fine with her. She wants to make her own - all character dining or buffets, of course. Apparently she's either going to get on whatever bus comes first or she's just going to go to Epcot everyday. And as long as she doesn't get into too much trouble that's fine by me.

I'm going to have to remind her to remain seated to refrain from getting asked to leave Epcot. 

And really, other than that, my plans remain - give or take - unchanged. it was more the scrambling to get everything figured out and booked properly. 

But hey, those of you who know me from my YouTube channel must be pumped! Becca's back to lick things and pose seductively with statues and ask characters questions about their love lives!

[notsosmallworldafterall-blog]

Blogs might be slow

I have a lot of projects coming up - 3 themed to Walt Disney World and one about Disney Cruise Line!

Would you guys be interested in seeing them show up here??

Videos are still being editing from my January trip and once they've all been uploaded to YouTube a playlist will be posted here! :3

[notsosmallworldafterall-blog]

Bitch I'm Grown

Believe it or not, I am a grown-ass adult. I know I don't look like one. Or act like one. Or carry myself like one. But I am. And as such, I finally talked my father into letting me go on a grown-ass adult trip to Disney. No little kids, no Daddy holding Becca's hand through the airport cause she's never flown without him, no him picking out where we eat based on where everyone else wants to go, none of it!

This March Break, Sam and I are going to Disney. Alone. Not only will it be my first trip to Disney as a grown-ass adult, but it will be my first trip to Disney where one of my friends will be there with me. Although I'm afraid I might lose my roommate in Mexico once Sam sees me in my natural element. I've been told it's terrifying to the untrained eye.

Zachary Levi gets me.

The plans are all (mostly) set. We're staying in a Deluxe Studio at my family's home resort, Animal Kingdom Lodge - Kidani Village. We're going to be on the DDP and I've already made all of our dining reservations!

Lobby at Kidani Village. Glad to see those monthly dues aren't going to waste! 

What our room will look like. Isn't pretty?

Of course, since I'm Mariah, I may have pushed Sam into going to some of my personal favourite restaurants even if they aren't the best choices. 

The first day we get there, we'll spend the day at Downtown Disney. The second day we go to Animal Kingdom, but won't be dining anywhere fancy - we're saving that credit for Fantasmic Dining :)

The second full day we're there, we're dining at Tony's. This is one of the ones that was chosen more because I like it...but come on! It's Tony's!!! Lady and the Tramp is one of my top ten favourite movies - Disney or otherwise. And to be able to eat at the restaurant that the famous spaghetti-kiss was created at is pretty special don't you think?

Sure, they don't look exactly the same, but it's the principle of the thing!

AND YOU CAN ACTUALLY ORDER SPAGHETTI AND MEATBALLS HERE I MEAN ISN'T THAT THE CUTEST THING IF I HAD A BOYFRIEND I WOULD MAKE HIM SHARE A PLATE WITH ME BECAUSE IT'S TONY'S *deep breath* But really though. Isn't that the cutest thing?

We'll also (hopefully) be meeting up with Heidi and her husband Chris to watch Wishes. Which will be nice, considering no one will watch Wishes with me anymore. Alli because she's not into fireworks, Becca because she hates the wishes song (which, to be fair, is probably because I screech it into her ear every time we avoid the fireworks but still hear the music as we're walking along), and everyone else because they don't have the gumption to stick out an entire park day when they roll with me - my Disney park philosophy is "the roses will still be there on the way out, we can smell them then!"

Day three brings us to the place of my people - Disney's Hollywood Studios. We will be dining at Hollywood and Vine for the Fantasmic! Dining Package, because Fantasmic is the show of my people. And if we go on the ride of my people - The Great Movie Ride - well, it would be a day well spent. (Ha, that's a pun).

Honestly, I would've much preferred Mama Melrose's for dinner, but Hollywood and Vine was the only restaurant that still had Fantasmic! Dining options open. And if we're going in the afternoon, it won't be all that bad. It's a buffet with character for the breakfast and dinner crowds - featuring characters from Disney Junior.  Hey, at least they finally updated to current characters - and even I have to admit, Jake the Neverland Pirate is a cutie. 

At dinner, however, it's a plain old buffet. It's got some really interesting features though - my personal favourite being the pasta station where a chef will prepare made to order pasta for you, and since it's a buffet, they'll make as many plates of it as you want - no matter how gross alfredo and pesto look when they're mixed together.

The outside of it is actually super pretty at night.

The inside is kinda cheesy, even by Disney standards - and Hollywood Studio standards, at that! But I guess it serves it's purpose. And besides, since the restaurant is before you hit the Cinderella Castle of the park (the Sorcer's Apprentice hat) and before you hit Echo lake, it helps capture the cheesy feel of walking into the park.

And of course, what would be the point of going to Fantasmic Dining without seeing the absolutely breathtaking Fantasmic? *cue me singing the score* Fantasmic is just...a fair and wondrous dream. I can't even describe it without using lines from the show. Some imagination, huh? (THATS WHAT MICKEY SAYS AT THE VERY END HAHAHAHAHAHHA IM SO FUNNY IF YOU'VE SEEN THE SHOW YOU'D UNDERSTAND)

Day 4 is going to bring us back to Hollywood Studios because we had to reschedule everything and I'm not one to oppose two days in a row at Hollywood Studios. See ALL the shows! Ride ALL the slow moving rides! Seriously, this is sort of a victory lap for me.

Dinner that night will be at Sci Fi Dine In. This place is one of those "you go for the experience not for the food" places. 

You sit in a "car" and your meal is served to you as you enjoy the "drive in" with trailers from old B-Movies, commercials from back in the day, and even some non-Disney cartoons (one in the reel is Tom and Jerry, if memory serves correctly). It's dark, but the stars are twinkling and the bathroom is exactly where you'd expect it to be - in the trees. Sci Fi is a definite must for anyone who's spending more than one day at Hollywood Studios, in my opinion.

God, I just love the way this place looks. The atmosphere itself sells this place, don't you think? The feel alone just...amazes me. Two thumbs up Disney. Two thumbs up.

It's a bit hard to see, but the washrooms are just below where the trees are painted.

And our last full day will be spent at Epcot for the Flower and Garden festival, which I'll probably get into at a later date (and by that I mean post-trip)

We end this list of dinners with San Angel Inn at Epcot's Mexico Pavillion

...

And this post is totally irrelevant now. Yay. Updates later munchkins!

[notsosmallworldafterall-blog]

Music and Fandoms and Bandoms - Oh My!

Does my love for musical theatre stem from Disney, or does my love of Disney stem from musicals? It's truly a chicken-or-the-egg question. I never thought about until an e-mail from Paw Dugan of ThaGuyWithTheGlasses fame, but music has shaped a lot about me - even my travel preferences.

So, for those of you joining this blog for the first time - Disney is my passion. Having to take a vacation that doesn't somehow tie into this magical umbrella company kills me a bit inside - even as a travel and hospitality student. 

However, the older I get, the more I'm learning that Disney - much like music - can really tie into everything. My upcoming class trip to Mexico will undoubtedly make my next boat ride in Epcot's Mexico all the more enjoyable - and I fear for the students who'll have to endure me singing "Three Cabelleros" all day when we visit the Mayan Ruins. 

Photo Credit: The Disney Wiki

Originally, when I saw that Paw needed writers to contribute for Auditory Dumpling (which, by the way, I was the VERY first guest comment on) I was beyond ecstatic. Not to brag, but my instructor has asked me - on multiple occasions - if I've ever done any professional travel writing or if I was considering it as a career. That's when it hit me. I'm a travel writer. He wants music writers. People who have bass lines pumping through their veins...

...Or something. I was a drummer. Most of my music knowledge has come from karaoke contests. Don't expect many good music themed analogies.

Anyway, I figured he wanted people like this:

Photo Source

Not people like this:

Look at me. I'm not exactly the "Revolver is clearly superior to Magical Mystery Tour in all ways and here is why" type. (Thank you to my Beatles fanatic and Future Mrs. McCartney friend Kennedy who -painfully- picked a best and worst Beatles album for the sake of this article). I'm much more of the "Look at all the parallels between Let it Go and Defying Gravity! I wonder if they wrote those before or after Idina Menzel was casted..." type. I thought Auditory Dumpling didn't need people like me. I thought they only needed people who bled in 2/4 time.

But then, I sent out an e-mail. Completely on a whim. And his answer...well...it lulled me into a false sense of supremacy. 

"Even if you wanted to chronicle different kinds of music from region to region, state to state or country to country, that would be amazing. Musical theatre types from region to region, evolution through time periods, how they affected eachother and cross-spread.. choices are endless!

Point is really to be as open as you want to be, even if music or sound is only loosely tying together the theme of the article."

And that's when it hit me.

Photo Credit

Music isn't just albums and bands and knowing what adagio means. Music can be about how an instrumental version of Under the Sea being pumped through a bus going to Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort really makes you feel the cheesy, tropical feeling that the resort so wonderfully recreates. It can be about the chills that run up your spine when One Republic's Good Life starts to play as you drive into Disney's gates. It can be about me making references to Avenue Q while in Travel Fundamentals. It can be about screaming the lyrics to It's A Small World into your best friends ear as you loudly proclaim she hates you and all things fun because she won't let you ride it.

The internet, Tumblr in particular, has this strange stereotype where if you're not in the "bandom" you obviously cannot appreciate music. But maybe - just maybe - appreciating music is closer to what the fandom blogs are posting. These over the top reactions to things they so passionately care about that while other people think they're simply being dramatic. Maybe, just maybe...those kooky Whovians have a better understanding of what it means to appreciate music while they're off singing "Doo-weee-oooo" with their toy TARDIS' than people who turn their nose up at me and my friends dancing like lunatics to Call Me Maybe because we clearly have no taste.

And I hope, should Paw (Paul? Not sure which he wants to go by) and his colleagues think my passion is intense and well articulated enough, I'll be able to dive deeper into more precise examples over on Auditory Dumpling.

[notsosmallworldafterall-blog]

A Blog I Don't Want To Write

Dear Mr Bach,

I accept the fact that I had to sacrifice a whole blog post for wherever it is we'd go if we won the lottery. But I think you're crazy to make me write an essay telling you that I wouldn't go to Disney World simply because I've already been. You see me as you want to see me: in the simplest terms and the most convenient definitions. But what I found out is that I am....

Yeah....that reference doesn't really work much farther than that. But you get the point, don't you?

Originally, Sam and I (with Gabe's helpful enthusiasm) were going to cheat the system. I was going to talk about how my dream vacation would include Golden Oaks - the super shishipoopoo residences on Walt Disney World property for the very affluent and young at heart. After all, I technically have never been there...

But I decided that, rather than risking a very important grade (because this blog needs to get 100%, god damn it, it's the only thing I'm good at!) on a loophole, I'd play by the rules and write about some other trip.

So....that got me to thinking...

As we all know at this point, Disney is my default. I could go back over and over and find something new and fantastic and never get bored of the most magical place on earth. If Disney was off the table, my next three choices (Sydney Australia, Manhattan, and the entire country of New Zealand) are also off, since I'd been to all of them before, too. Sure, I'd like to see Europe - but England is Alli's territory, and what would I do in France? Visit Disneyland Paris? It's still not "home". And having the world's most single pringle/the virgin Mary in the city of love would not end well for the young romancing couples. I don't speak the language anywhere besides Ireland, but I've honestly never thought Ireland to be all that interesting. I'd go if offered, but it would never be my first choice.

So....where does that leave me? Alone and loveless here, with just the girl in the mirror...

Hahahahahaha, I'm just kidding. I couldn't be the Wicked Witch of the East. I don't have a Boq to kill other people over.

From Wicked, which I saw on Broadway, by the way

No, for real, what options does that leave me? Honestly...I thought about it for a long time. Maybe to California? Perhaps a trip to Norway to see the Fjords? No matter what options I went over, all roads were leading me back to one thing - Disney.

So, I racked my brain some more. Honestly...what would I do if money was no object? I think, at one point or another, I would relive my Disney Cruise, but this time, make it longer. I thought about a lot of destinations, and in the end, I chose one going to some place I've never been before.

I ended up choosing to do a 7 day Alaskan Disney Cruise on the Disney Wonder out of Vancouver. 

Anyone who's read any of my blog posts by now knows my adoration for musical theatre. And as I learned on my 3 night Bahamian cruise on the Disney Magic, that's something Disney does beautifully. The Wonder does the Emerald Award winning "Disney Dreams - An Enchanted Classic" which they also play on the Magic. Believe you me, that thing put me through such a range of emotions I'd be beyond thrilled to see it again.

Other than Disney Dreams, the Wonder offers for more shows. "All Aboard: Let The Magic Begin", "The Golden Mickey's", "Toy Story: The Musical" and "Remember the Magic: A Final Farewell"

Let the Magic Begin and the Final Farewell seem like your basic Mickey and Friends pantomime shows. Not that I dislike them (I once watched Dream Along With Mickey 4 times in one day...don't ask me how or why because even I myself am I little fuzzy on those details) but it's not exactly what I look for when the same theatre will host a Broadway calibre show the next night.

The Golden Mickey's look amazing. While it's plot seems thinner than Disney Dreams (which is about a little girl who no longer believes in the power of dreaming until she's paid a visit by Peter Pan who reminds her about his story and the stories of his friends and how far dreaming can get you) the show about an awards show praising Disney's greatest heroes and heroines has similar vignetted scenes from classic Disney movies. 

  I bet you can't guess what my favourite Disney movie is by the pictures I chose to use!

Toy Story: The Musical on the other hand...is a much bigger gamble. Pixar movies, if you haven't noticed, aren't musicals. While Toy Story was the first one of Pixar's movies that Disney adapted to be a musical, I've only seen the other - which I've heard much more positive feedback about. Finding Nemo: The Musical, took the idea of turning a non-musical movie into a musical stage production and they absolutely nailed it. I've seen Finding Nemo: the Musical more times than I can count on all my fingers and all my toes. 

However...and this just might be me...I feel Finding Nemo lends itself to a musical format a lot better than Toy Story does. In Finding Nemo, the humans are portrayed as big shadowy creatures with thier voices coming from offstage. You can't do that with Toy Story. Andy and Sid and their interactions with the toys are a vital part of both the plot and the flow of the story.

This uncertainness may also stem from the fact that Toy Story is not only my favourite Pixar movie ever, it is my favourite movie ever. Period. I could go on and on about how much I love the original Toy Story movie...so long that it could become it's own blog. Possibly longer than this one. I flipping love Toy Story.

And, of course, when you have such a strong, personal and emotional attachment to something, any remake or revamp will seem like the bottom of the barrel. I learned this first hand from my sister who refused to watch the musical version of Finding Nemo for two years because she thought it was sacrilegious, or something. However, that same sister has sense seen the both the 10 o'clock and 11 o'clock showing of Finding Nemo - literally running from our seats, back into the line, and getting our same seats again. So...maybe I won't like Toy Story the first time around, but I'd learn to love it over time? Or maybe Finding Nemo is just that good. Until I take this fantasy vacation, the world will never know.

Why are Sid's toys taller than him?? WHHYY?!?!?!?!?

Of course, if there's one thing the Disney Cruise lines are known for other than their entertainment, it's their food. (Oh god, the food. Best meal I ever had was at Animator's Palette on the Disney Magic) And, according to the menu on the website (which of course, is subject to vary from the menus on board) the only restaurant that the Wonder shares with the Magic is thankfully Animator's Palette, and they also offer that dish. *Cue Hallelujah Chorus*

I know this doesn't look like anything special, BUT HOLY FLIPPING CRAP IT WAS A FOODGASM OKAY?!? What I wouldn't give to relive that dinner....

The other restaurants look just as mouthwatering as the ones I experienced on the Magic (and while it wouldn't be a problem from me - as I still stand by my "if it comes from the ocean I'm not touching it" statement, I can only imagine how awkward a disnerd would feel eating seafood at a restaurant called Triton's...)

And, of course, what would a cruise be without a buffet? And Beach Blanket basically looks like Cabanas (the buffet on the Magic) under a different name. So there's that.

And of course, there's the ports of call. Alaska in the summer looks beautiful. I would almost regret not taking Alli with me for sake of her awesome photography skills. Almost.

I'm not sure if this is what Alaska actually looks like in the summer, but damn this is pretty.

Which brings up another very important point. Who would accompany me on such a magical vacation? No offence to my siblings (who wouldn't bother to read this far down anyway) but I would like a child free vacation for once in my life, please and thank you. Ideally, since this is a fantasy vacation and all, I would take this cruise with either one of my loving husbands, Abed Nadir or a young Dick Van Dyke.

  But given the fact that I feel you'd like a more realistic account of this dream vacation, I'd probably go with either Sam or my friend Chelsey from Mount A (even though she goes to Mount St Vincent now, we met at Mount A, and that is how I identify her). Maybe even both! Now that would be an interesting mix....(Chelsey is like, the more childlike an innocent version of me. Sam's one extreme, Chelsey's the other, and I'm - believe it or not - the happy medium)

And, that, in short in a very long winded way, would be the vacation i would take if money was no object and another Disney World vacation was off the table.

....does that answer your question?

[notsosmallworldafterall-blog]

I have!! You know that you're not supposed to use the whole package, right? Just a little tiny bit.

What are you talking about, Vegemite is delicious.

Have you had it? bleh…..

[notsosmallworldafterall-blog]

A Kingdom of Ice-olation

Guess who's back in Canada? So, I've returned to the land of ice and snow (at least until March Break, when I take my bestest best friend Sam with me to Disney!) and I'm doing my best to adjust to the weather and lifestyle (early mornings to walk right onto Star Tours - Hell Yes! Early mornings to drive an hour in the cold and go to school - ugghhhh).

As I'm moving to Dieppe this week on top of all that, the blog will be updated...soon. And that's all I can promise. HOWEVER! I can also promise that I have a lot of fun videos, pictures, and stories to share about my New Years Eve Cruise on the Disney Magic and my 4 night/3 day stay at Walt Disney World! So stayed tuned, lovelies, munchkins, and buttercups!

[notsosmallworldafterall-blog]

"I'll Twerk But I'm Not Going!"

....yesterday was weird.

But first, let me get you all caught up to speed!

Christmas Day the Sturgeon/Meagher's packed up and drove down to Bangor and flew into Punta-Gorda, Florida. We drove to our vacation home in North Port, dropped our things and went over to Gay and Don's for an authentic, traditional, Newfoundland Christmas dinner.

I helped set the table and serve and seat people because "I'm basically going to school for it" before enjoying an amazing meal with some good friends and some new Newfoundland friends who also have a house here. I'm starting to feel like Bobcat Trail is a gated community exclusively for Canadians and residents of the states bordering Canada, but that might be because we're the only ones friendly enough to introduce ourselves.

Boxing day was spent the way I think everyone expected it to go - Rhoda, Christian and I were the only ones up to grocery shopping, Alli and Ella spent most of the day either swimming, on their electronics, or napping, Dad had a headache from the travel, and Becca didn't wake up until the afternoon. That's basically my entire family dynamic in a nutshell.

After losing my step-mom and step-brother is Target not once, not twice, but thrice, we went to Publix. Publix is my favorite part of domestic Floridian life. I was whizzing through those isles like nobodies business. I think I may have terrified Rhoda a little. Whoops.

For those of you who don't know, Publix is a grocery chain that pops up like daisies all over the state of Florida. It smells really good in there and a lot of the food is really fresh and local.

We returned to the house with visions of swimming swirling through our heads, but unfortunately for me, Becca was awake and wanted an ice coffee. So, I walked over to the nearest convenience store with her. It was nice. We bonded and after a conversation about car washes, shampoo, the plague, and recycling, we decided that I'm the Annie Edison to her Britta Perry and vice versa. I got a bottle of fruit punch and of course she got her ice coffee, and we walked back and chilled with the ducks in the pond and had a grand old time!

We made it back and I did get to swim, which was great and refreshing and all kinds of awesome. I would later discover tanlines which was like a blind man being able to see. PASTY PALE GINGER KID WHO ONLY BURNS GOT A BIT OF A TAN?!? ALERT THE MEDIA!!!

So....then yesterday happened. That was fun. To start of with, I had 3 phone calls to make. The Florida Bus? Yeah, never use them. They're impossible to contact. Disney Reservation Center? I was on hold for 40 minutes. And let me tell you - if you listen to the Soarin score followed by the score to Peter Pan's Flight while lying down on your bed - there's a good chance you'll fall asleep. Finally, Rainforest Cafe. Well....I'm still waiting on Kelly to call me back. So there's that. 

An hour later, the plan is to head to the Ellenton Outlet Mall. Poor Ella was so exhausted from being exposed to the sun all day and more exercise than she was used to and she was throwing a tantrum because she didn't want to go shopping. But we somehow convinced her to get in the car.

"It's only a half hour! It's less than the ride from Rexton to Moncton!"....an hour and 45 minutes later, we made it. I didn't mind, since shopping is my superpower. The kids were there for all of 20 minutes before wanting to leave. So, ten minutes after that, Rhoda and I were the only ones left while Dad took the others to Chuck E Cheese. 

Rhoda was looking for sneakers, so she told me to just text her when I wanted to meet up. After finding out that my debit card works in the states, that wasn't until an hour and seven stores later (I'm in an out of those places like a ninja. I wasn't joking when I said it's my super power)

Picture I took of some of the outlets. The architecture is really neat, although the set up is more than a bit disorienting.

After a german chocolate cake flavored milkshake blended with oreo pieces from the Hershey's Outlet and Rhoda and I getting lost a couple of times before making it to Vanity Fair, we get a call from Dad. They just got to Chuck E Cheese. Apparently, just like how Dad "knew" the way to the outlet mall, he "knew" how to get to Chuck E Cheese. Well, Rhoda and I put three plans into action.

Plan A) MORE SHOPPING! We did this for like, an hour.

Plan B) STARBUCKS HO! Except Rhoda was in line for 25 minutes before calling it quits. We just got some bottled water from a vending machine instead.

Plan C) Play on our phones until they got here. 

We were a good 20 minutes into Plan C when Dad and the others picked us up. We drove for a bit before stopping for dinner at Texas Roadhouse. That was an experience.

So, here's the thing, about Texas Roadhouse. Firstly, it's very meat oriented. Which is great, except I don't eat red meat (unless I'm really craving a burger) and Alli is a vegetarian. She doesn't eat meat at all. So, you can imagine the wonderful selection she had. 

The food took an abnormally long time to get to the table. I ordered "Chicken Critters" with mashed potatoes and rice, Becca got "Country-Fried Sirloin" and Alli got a kids macaroni and cheese. They weren't very accommodating for the poor girl.

The food was all very tasty - except for the rice. That was disgusting. And I had others try it! It wasn't just me being a rice snob this time. 

After we finished we all loaded back into the car and drove home, happy to be back where there was a wifi connection, vegetarian friendly food, and beds.

Overall I've definitly enjoyed my time here so far, and there's only two more days until I'm on my very first cruise, so stayed tuned for that!

[notsosmallworldafterall-blog]

You'd think for two kids so close to Christmas and their first Disney Cruise they'd be a little more excited....

[notsosmallworldafterall-blog]

Oh Christmas Theme, Oh Christmas Theme...

(I'm hilarious)