I'm Back!

Seeing as I have less than five months left, I figured it was time to start blogging again!

Its really hard to believe how fast time has flown. I've done so much, but I have so much left to do! I have friends & family visiting me every month until I leave, which will just make time fly even faster. Christmas and New Years were so busy, but such a blast! On Christmas Eve, a bunch of us stayed at Fort Wilderness cabins, which was a blast. We're staying there again next week with pretty much all of the merchandise crew. It'll be a great few nights for team building.

Looking back, some of the highlights of my program have been:

• Ed Sheeran concert
• Riding Space Mountain with the lights on
• Backstage tour of The Haunted Mansion
• Staycations
• New Years Eve (Glow shift until 2am!)
• The Main Street Electrical Parade
• Christmas Day Parade taping (and seeing Reba!)
• Candlelight processional with Chondra Wilson
• Family visiting
• Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party
• Micket's Very Merry Christmas Party

And so much more! Tonight I will be planning out the rest of my bucket list. No more wasting time! Kimberly's family is here, so tomorrow I'm going to be spending the day with them at MK!

Love, love, love,

Morgan

Week Four & Five!

Florida is hot.

And from what I hear, its just going to get hotter.

I'm also working a lot. Outside. In the heat.

But its a good thing I work in the most magical place IN THE WORLD. I have finally gotten into the swing of things down here. Making food, waking myself up for work, getting on the early bus, laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping. I have officially decided that when I get home, I'm never moving out ever. Growing up is AWFUL. At least I'm only living in Walt Disney World, which is as far from growing up as I'm ever going to get. I visit the Magic Kingdom at least three times a week. You never get tired of fireworks here.

Work is good. We get a lot of people coming in saying "Welcome to Canada, eh."... And then I have to tell them that they're saying it wrong. Guests often ask me if I'm actually from Canada. And every so often, we get French speaking guests, and I'm slowly getting better at putting my years of french immersion to good use! Also, because I'm still newer (more new?), I close every evening I work, which means I get to see IllumiNations! Which is EPCOT's fireworks. Boom.

Last Wednesday I auditioned for Disney's Christmas Candlelight Recessional. So that'll be super fun if I get it!

The hardest part so far has been being away from my family. I miss hugs, I miss dinner time. I miss Friday nights at Grandma's. I miss my cats. I miss driving. I miss my church. I miss my friends. I miss my own space, my bed, my room. The most magical place on earth isn't so magical without the people you care about.

The BEST part so far has been the biggest and bestest prayer answered ever, and thats Cast Member Church. It's literally a church for Disney cast members. The wonderful thing about it, is that its like a backwards church, so instead of meeting all together once a week (which is impossible because Disney is 365 days a year company), it is made up of a bunch of small groups (CommuniD's) of 3-5 people who meet up all over Disney property! So my group meets at Coronado Springs resort on Wednesday mornings, since I'm off Wednesdays! It is so nice to finally know other Christians down here. And because God is just so incredibly wonderful, one of the girls in my group also works with me in Merchandise at the Canada Pavilion! Amazing!

Thats all for now. :)

Love love love,

Morgan

PS. MY FAMILY GETS HERE IN ONE MONTH!

Week Two & Three

Hello all!

I am proud to say that I've earned my ears, and now officially a Disney Cast Member! Woooo! My Birthday was a blast and a half. Went to 1900 Park Fare character breakfast with Heather, and we got to meet Mary Poppins, Tigger, Pooh, Alice, and The Mad Hatter! After that I went to Senses Spa at the Grand Floridian to get my nails done, which was lovely. And thennnn I went to the Magic Kingdom! If you ever get the chance to go to the parks on your birthday, DO IT. Everyone says Happy Birthday to you and its the most magical thing, and it makes you feel awesome. After getting the best farmers tan I could imagine, I went home for dinner, and then headed to Hollywood Studios to see the Frozen fireworks and Fantasmic with my roommate Pam, and co-worker Becky! So needless to say, it was an absolutely wonderful birthday. :) (And thanks for the ears, Heather!)

 The past week has just been busy with work. Most days I work 3:30pm-9:30pm. I went to see Disney Pixar's Inside Out with my Roommate Solvor from Norway, it was cute! I also went to a dueling, sing-a-long piano bar thing called Jellyrolls with my co-workers which was so much fun as well. :)

As for today, I went to the Magic Kingdom with some friends, had breakfast at Be Our Guest, the Beauty and the Beast themed restaurant. It was simply breathtaking. One of my most favourite things about Disney, is how much detail is put into every aspect of the park. The imagineers do a stellar job.

And I also met Gaston! Totally forgot my autograph book though, so I'll have to go see him again. :p

Tomorrow I'll be going to the Animal Kingdom! Finally! And then on Wednesday, I get to go to the Cast Member Church at Coronado Springs with my friend/co-worker Micayla! Can't wait to meet other Disney-loving, Jesus-following people! :) 

A vlog will be coming soon, don't you worry. I've just run into some technical difficulties. Thats all for now, folks. Have a magical day!

Love love love,

Morgan

I have arrived!

Greetings from Florida! Here's a recap of the last 10 days:

The Tuesday morning I was due to leave, I realized that I had been weighing my suitcases wrong, and they were in fact much more than 40 lbs each. So I left a good portion of my belongings behind. Mind, you this is all occurring at 2am, a couple hours before I had to be at the airport. Ha.

After lots of hugs and kisses (and tears, mainly when I had to say goodbye to my cats, LOL), I boarded the airplane to head from London to Chicago. After a looong wait at U.S. Customs, I had to run through the airport to get to my connecting flight to Orlando. Thankfully, it was delayed, otherwise I would have missed it. (Blessing!)

I got to the Vista Way Clubhouse at around 3:30, and fiiiinally got to my new apartment in The Commons! I was super excited that I got the housing complex I wanted, but all magic comes with a price. I ended up in one of the older buildings, so a lot of things weren't working. And of course, I ended up in a bunk bed on the top bunk. Not so great. HOWEVER, I have some of the most loveliest roommates in the world, and I am so thankful for that. :)

The first few days involved shopping trips to Walmart and meetings regarding housing, immigration, etc. And then on Saturday, we had the most magical day of all; TRADITIONS! Basically a class at Disney University that teaches you about the history of The Walt Disney Company, and gets you super stoked to work there. We also got our I.D. and our name badges on this day!

The next few days were a couple more classes and then a couple days of in-store training, and I finally got my costume! I didn't think I'd like Merchandise as much as I thought I would. I looooove it. I get to pin trade, interact with guests, and play with the merchandise. So much fun. :)

Also, last Friday I went to Universal Studios and got an annual pass. Totally worth it! Even though it rained, we still had a blast. The new Harry Potter part of the park, Diagon Alley, is incredible.

Today was my day off so I went grocery shopping and went to the pool. My Birthday is tomorrow, so I have breakfast reservations at 1900 Park Fare with my friend Heather, and we're going to meet Mary Poppins, Winnie the Pooh and his friends!

So that's what I've been up to! Thank you to everyone who has been praying for me during this transition, it has been quite the adjustment.

Love love love,

Morgan

P.S. Its hurricane season in Florida, so it basically rains every day for at least a couple of hours. Ew.

T'was the night before Disney...

It's currently 11:30pm. I am 95% packed. My room is a disaster. I'm pretty sure my bags weigh more than 50 lbs each. I still have laundry to do. Annnnd I have to be at the airport for 4:30 A.M. Cool.

The past few days have been jam packed with visiting friends and family, running errands and procrastinating. To think that in just a few short hours, my life is going to totally change.

Boom.

Love love love,

Morgan

One week to go!

This time next week, I'm going to be in the land of palm trees, sunshine. Living there. Full-time. What.

On Friday we had my family goodbye party. Let me tell you, I have the biggest, most fun, loving and caring family I could ever ask for. Between the BBQ, ice cream cake and sing-a-longs, I couldn't help but smile just thinking about how lucky I am to be a part of something so special.

And to top off the evening, my mom gave me the best gift I could ever ask for.

SHE MADE ME A T-SHIRT QUILT! Made with shirts dating back to when I was like, 6 years old. I maaay have cried like a baby when I opened the box. Its just so perfect. <3 

Tonight, I went to Young Adults just like any other Tuesday. But when I entered Mark's house, SURPRISE! A goodbye party with cake! And hats! And princesses! And balloons! And weird conversations! 

Thanks you guys. :) 

The next week is just crazy busy with visiting people and packing! TIME IS GONNA FLY, KIDS. 

Love, love, love,

Morgan

Faith, Trust & Pixie Dust

Are you scared?

Are you excited?

Are you sad?

Are you happy?

When people ask me these questions, I usually answer yes to all of them. Now that I have less than a month until I leave, a whole mix of emotions has me bouncing off walls with excitement, crying, and panicking about all the things I have yet to do.

I've never been a homebody, but I've never been a wanderer either. I often have people tell me that they'd love to live in a different country or city, anywhere far away from here. As for me, I'm content living in my hometown, surrounded by family, familiarity, and comfort. Sure, Orlando isn't that far away. Its still in North America. But the mere fact of moving away from my family, my friends, my job, my church, is sometimes terrifying.

Lately the main thing I've been worried about is putting my life on hold for a year. Am I being irresponsible for not going back to school? Am I running away only to work at a theme park? Am I giving up the opportunity of being in love? What if by going away, I'll lose my friends? These are the questions that have constantly been racing through my mind. But at the same time, utmost joy is taking up the other half of my heart.

I get to work at the happiest place on earth. I get to be a part of creating magic for kids. I get to make new friends from all over the world, and live and work with them. I get to see what its like to live away from home, discover new things about myself. I get to have as much fun as I choose. I get to start a new life. Though it may only be for a year, for a brief moment in time, I get to live a dream.

I don't know why God has led me to go at this time, as there are many things that seem to be going wrong. But as I've said before, His timing is perfect. And His plan is always better than our own.

This leaves me with a choice. Though we may not be able to choose what happens to us, or when; we can choose how we respond. I can choose to stay, and live my comfortable life, or I can take the leap, and live out this one-in-a-lifetime opportunity I've been given.The following verse is above the door in my room:

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid, or discouraged. For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9

So with a bit of pixie dust, and a whole lot of faith, I think I'm gonna be just fine. :)

Love love love,

Morgan