Thursday 11 August 2011

We interupt your regular broadcast....

...to talk about films!

What can I say? I'm a film student and as soon as I stop studying them I enjoy going to the cinema even more!!!!

But first there is an important thing to mention here...that I am in no way affiliated with AMC or indeed any of the people that make the films I'm about to mention. Well...except for Disney but they aren't paying me to promote their films.

This week I have been to the cinema 3 times. Well actually, it's been 3 times in the last 24 hours and I would have gone a 4th time but figured I should leave something for me to watch in the next 3 weeks! One thing I LOVE about the AMC is how cheap it is to go and see a movie. With a flash of the old Cast ID a ticket is $8 which is A LOT cheaper than I'm used to paying in London where you can easily pay $20-25 a ticket. That means that those 3 films cost roughly the same as me seeing just one film at home. CRAAAAAAZY! One thing I don't love about the cinema, and let's face it, it's pretty much a universal thing, is the price of food and drink. Today I bought a large soda for $5.25 which entitled me to a free refill. Usually I don't bother with the large soda because that thing is way too huge for one movie but as I was seeing 2 back-to-back I figured why not? Well...I never even got close to finishing it by the end of the second movie. Even by the time I walked back to the bus stop I hadn't actually finished the thing so that means you'd need at least 3 people to be sharing it to finish it within 1 film and don't forget you then get a free refill on top of that so really you need 6 people. Mad isn't it!

Despite the soda I thoroughly enjoyed all 3 films I saw so if you want some entertaining then go and check out Cowboys and Aliens, The Change-Up, and The Smurfs! They are all as ridiculous as each other but in a good way.

The other source of movie fun that I love having here is the Disney Learning Centers. There's one at Vista Way and then ones at the various theme park cast service centers. There's a whole range of stuff to choose from (not just Disney!) and it's a free service. Vista Way lets you check out 2 films at a time for up to 4 days each (but not in the last 2 weeks of your program) which means you can leave those DVDs at home (Don't forget that you'll need to set your laptop/DVD player up to play Region 1 discs though!).

Well, I think that's pretty much it from me for today. Sayonara!


Wednesday 3 August 2011

For Sarah

Today's post is dedicated to Sarah who says she's slaving away over her MA Dissertation and would appreciate hearing about how much fun I'm having in Florida. She genuinely asked me to blog more so it's not just me rubbing it in.

So far I haven't posted many pictures on here and there is a reason for that that I won't go into right this second but shall become clear once I've returned to the UK. One thing I can say about doing my second program at Disney is that I have continued to experience new things and go one new adventures. I didn't know how it would compare to my first program but it has been a completely different experience and I have made entirely new discoveries about myself and what I am capable of doing.

So with that said let's talk about some of this "fun" that Sarah thinks I'm having :P

Last week I got to go on the Wild Africa Trek at DAK (Disney's Animal Kingdom) that usually costs about $189.95 + tax but I was lucky enough to do for free as part of some DAK cast appreciation thing. There were 6 of us (all cast members) plus two tour guides: Bethany and Chapin, and many, many photos were taken.

One of the best things about the day was that I got to share it with 3 other cast members from Everest. Also....if anyone ever offers you jungle juice at Disney World then I highly recommend trying it.

My sister came down for the day a couple of weeks ago which was fun but also ridiculously busy. We visited Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom and Downtown Disney all in the space of 24 hours and got to meet some of the great people she works with at Hilton Head Island. Here are a couple of photos (I didn't take nearly enough though!)

This summer I've been trying to do things I haven't done before and it turns out there was quite a bit of DAK that I hadn't seen before including Rafiki's Planet Watch which is right in the back of the park and is only accessible via the Wildlife Express Train over in Africa. One thing that surprised me a little was that they have character meet and greets there so I got the chance to hang out with.....

....My consicience - Jiminy Cricket and Rafiki (who was in a very flirty mood by the way and was making some very odd noises!)

THere were also lots of animals that you could see up close: frogs, turtles, lizards, 10ft pythons, etc. Actually the snake seemed to be enjoying staring at everyone through the glass and had a surprisingly small head considering how big he was.

I also took some photos of Pandas...

:P

Once I returned to Africa I met, hands down, my favourite animal of the trip so far

This hippo was hilarious and clearly enjoyed showing of and having his picture taken. I haven't yet worked out whether it was Hans or Henry (who I met at the Wild Africa Trek) but H was awesome nonetheless.

Oh and then i did this....

So I have this fabulous ride counter app on my phone (made by wdwmagic.com) which basically does what it sounds like so here are some stats of the trip so far...

I have done 155 rides.
My 5 most popular rides are:
- Expedition Everest (36)
- Disney's Bus Transportation (9)
- Rock 'n' RollerCoaster (6)
- The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (6)
- Space Mountain (4)

The monorail would be on that list but it counts the different colours separately!

So yeah....that's all you're getting for now. I'm heading off to Animal Kingdom soon to say goodbye to some of the CPs that are leaving :'( and then heading off for dinner in a super secret location which I have been instructed not to talk about. I'd tell you, but my roommate kinda knows where I live!