A day off with Sarah!

Today, Sarah and I were both off from work. We decided today would be a good day for a park hopping adventure. After being home for a week, I finally realize how cool it is that when I have nothing to do, I can just go hang out at Disney World for free. Well, not really free because I always spend too much money when I'm there, but free admission at least.

 

Sarah and I went to Magic Kingdom first. We were on a mission, not to ride rides or anything, but to find particular items. While I was home in Texas, my parents gave me various figurines of Disney characters. Each figurine represented a character I have been friends with over the last 4 months. The only friends that had not been found were Mickey, Marie, and Piglet. I have been looking on Ebay since I got back to Florida, but haven't found anything I really liked. There was a particular Mickey I knew I had seen at Magic Kingdom, so Sarah and I were determined to find it today. 
We were also in search of the infamous Peter Pan hat for Sarah. This hat is only made available at the Disney Parks for short periods of time for reasons we do not know or understand. Sarah saw a girl wearing one yesterday so we knew that was on our list of things to find. We also wanted to go retrieve our Cast Member Christmas gifts from Disney and the New Fantasyland Cast Exclusive Pin for Magic Kingdom cast members only. We had a long list of things to find.

First stop: Christmas gift and New Fantasyland pin! The Christmas gift this year is a Bambi ornament. I will probably never include it in my Christmas decorations. I plan to keep it with Disney Memorabilia instead! After we got those out of the way, Sarah had to go talk to one of her managers about something, so I headed into the park to see if I could find this awesome Peter Pan hat. There was one left. Jackpot! I bought the last one before Sarah returned and gave it to her. She was so excited. She has been wanting it for basically forever. Merry Christmas, Sarah! After that, we ate lunch at Columbia Harbor House, which is one of my favorite places to eat at Disney.

After lunch, we went to Main Street, USA to look for the Mickey I wanted. Unfortunately, the store didn't have it, but they did have a really pretty Marie figurine! So I got that instead! We walked around the park a little while longer, did some pin trading, and then headed off to Epcot! Sarah really wanted an Epcot shirt because she loves Epcot and is only working here for a few more weeks. I say "a few," but I really mean like two and a half. Boo to that.

So anyway, we went on the search for an Epcot shirt, but first stopped in The Art Of Disney. It's pretty much our favorite store! While we were in there, I found the Mickey figurine I was looking for! It is made by Jim Shore and is Mickey as Steamboat Willie. I was so excited! It was the last one left. I had to buy the display. Luckily, it was in perfect condition, so that's good! I was really happy I found it. I have seen it at Hallmark before, but Hallmark doesn't give me a 40% discount for the holidays like Disney does.




After that, Sarah and I went to get her an Epcot shirt. Then, there was no line at Character Spot, so we went to meet Mickey, Pluto, and Minnie! We love the characters! After a little more pin trading, we were ready to head over to Hollywood Studios.

 

 

Our initial goal for today was to eventually end up at Studios so we could watch the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights. 5 million lights are hung on the buildings of Streets of America and the lights dance to the Christmas music playing. It also snows. I had never seen this before, and Sarah hadn't seen it this year, so we really wanted to go. When we got to Studios, it was only 4:30 in the afternoon, so it wasn't dark enough for the lights yet. We walked around and traded pins some more, got fast passes for Tower of Terror, met Vanellope and Wreck It Ralph, and rode the Tower of Terror while we waited for the sun to go down. Side note: Vanellope and Ralph are adorable. I am so excited to be friends with Vanellope. If you haven't seen the movie Wreck-It Ralph, stop what you're doing right now and go see it. If it's too late to go to the movies, go Saturday morning while the tickets are cheap. It is a great movie and Vanellope is so funny! After all of these adventures, Sarah and I went to eat at Pizza Planet. It has some of the best pizza in all of Disney. AND, you get a small caesar salad! I don't know about you, but I think caesar salad makes pepperoni pizza taste better!

 Finally, after all of that, we got to go see the lights! It was so beautiful. It was crazy to see that many lights. It felt like being back on Times Square. I'm really glad we got to see it. After the lights, we decided to go home. It was getting a little chilly and we weren't really dressed for it. When we got back to our apartment, we sat at the computer desk and watched videos of Peter Pan at Disneyland because we are weird. That's the funny thing about life though. People don't always realize it, but everyone is weird. You just have to find people who are weird in the same ways as you. Then they won't notice that you're weird, and if they do, they won't care or they'll like you better for it.

I'm glad I got to spend the day with Sarah. The last few days have not gone very well for me. My birthday was Sunday. It was alright. Mostly just another day working. But it felt extra lonely. I don't think anyone ever expects just how lonely the happiest place on earth can feel at the most wonderful time of year. But it really is. If you take any time to just pause, or sit at home watching a movie, it is very lonely. Even if you're in the middle of a park, surrounded by thousands of people, if you aren't with that one person you want to be with, it is a very lonely experience. I'm trying to get passed this though. Today was a much better day than the last few have been. Even yesterday was a huge improvement. I talked to my dad on the phone yesterday. That always makes me feel a lot better. And I talk to my mom quite a bit. I talk to Michael every chance I get. I really miss him. But I know he will be here very soon! (34 more days!) And we are going to have the most wonderful time together! Walking through the parks today, I was already planning in my head all kinds of things we have to do. I can't wait to be able to go see him while he is working. And to have him come see me! That will be so fun!

I'm really nervous about not having Christmas with my family. It wasn't too bad being away for Thanksgiving. I had Thanksgiving like 5 times, and got to eat good food with nice people, so I feel like that's a fair trade. But Christmas is my only day off next week, so I'm wondering how that will go. Fingers crossed. If anyone wants to send a little extra love my way, I wouldn't complain. And I will return the favor.

Side note: I get a kick out of sending people postcards signed by the characters. If anyone wants one, just tell me.

I figured out my apartment situation. I am staying in a one bedroom in Patterson, which is what I wanted. They are keeping me in the same building, which is nice, and moving me up one floor. They are pairing me with another girl who is under 21 who has extended her program. I'm crossing my fingers that she is normal because I have no idea who she is and they wouldn't tell me her name. AWESOME. Oh well! Everyone cross your fingers for me! I hope everyone is doing well! I am being reunited with Donald tomorrow. I'm really hoping it goes well! And on that note, ladies and gentlemen, Goodnight!