Halloween at WDW

HALLOWEEN PARTY
The opening parade

Well the reason my family and I decided to come here in the first place, besides getting together with each other, was to see how WDW does up Halloween. These days, Disney tends to do their holiday season up right, and one of the things they offer is a series of parties that take place after the parks close. Halloween is no different, but it can be a real bummer if you don’t have tickets. The park closes early and only those who have exclusive tickets can stay for the party.

The highlight for me, was not the parade itself, but the precursor to the parade. The headless horseman rides his horse through Liberty Square. Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m a huge fan of the Sleepy Hollow legend, so this was an extra cool thing for me. Another of the greatest things, was watching my mom and sister, two fully grown adult women, trick-or-treating. It was hilarious!! My sister really scored though, while my mom kept acting like Charlie Brown with his sack full of rocks. If you told me that I would still be trick-or-treating when I was 30 years old, I would have laughed in your face. But there I was too! I did ok, but I’ll be bringing most of it home to the kids. I just can’t seem to handle the large amounts of sugar that I once could. Then again, if they were giving out donuts to trick-or-treaters, I probably wouldn’t bring any home….. That’s all for now!

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Whoa I had no idea

EPCOT
Food and Wine Festival Decor in all of its Alice Tea Party goodness!

Well as some of you may know, I left to visit Walt Disney World with my family for a week! Arrived in Orlando with no hitches, having a great time so far. But I didn’t know that EPCOT was hosting their International Food & Wine Festival during this time of year. I really need to get with the program if I’m going to be a successful Cast Member.

Anyway, about the festival: there are various stations throughout EPCOT with different food and wine pairings from all over the world. It’s mostly just enough to taste, which is cool because then you can do multiple stations in a day. The only problem is that this can get expensive if you get addicted, which I just might! I wonder if I can apply my employee status to get some discounts. Guess I know where I’ll be eating for the rest of my stay!

“Traditions”

TRADITIONS CLASS PICTURE
At the ToonTown Fountain. I’m in the middle row, left middle…

I am soooo excited today! It has been a long time coming… Ever since I was about 11 years old, I’ve wanted this moment to come. I just attended the Disneyland Cast Member Orientation known as “Traditions”! Every cast member has to go through it before they start working at the park. Sure, it’s not all that glamorous, a bunch of stuff on how to treat people and lots and lots of emphasis on safety. But, the moment did come at the end of the day, when the boss himself, Mickey Mouse, presented me with my official ID and Nametag! Weird, but I couldn’t breathe!! How silly am I?!?!?

When I was 11, I marveled at the piano player on Main Street, and one day he actually let me play a little. I played a couple of rags, and he told me to keep it up, and that maybe one day I’d get to do his job. Ever since then, I’ve wanted that spot. I even have a picture of it somewhere… I’ll have to dig it out and post it. The picture above is our “class of” picture that day. Bigger version in my Photos section.

Sure, I’m just a sub now… but it will only be a matter of time! I did get hired very quickly under some great recommendations, (Thanks Rusty and Art!) so I’m wondering if someone is getting ready to leave or retire… time will tell… I’d like to tell you more about the day, but Disney likes to keep a lot of things pretty top secret. Their business is magic, and no magician reveals their secrets! But I will say…. Cloud 9! That’s all for now!

New CD

Well my new CD is going into production. I’ve begun editing the audio that I recorded from my Senior Recital in April 2007. Yes my next CD is going to be a live classical piano concert! I hope I can get it done by the time I have to go to Sun Valley. I like the concept of the album, and I think that it will be a good answer for so many of you who heard about the concert, but lived too far out of town to attend. I hope you all grab a copy when it’s finished!

I’m not sure what I should call it, but the obvious simple title “Recital” seems to stick in my head. I still have to do a photo shoot for the artwork too. This is going to be quite a crunch! However, I’m up for the challenge! This is a really exciting time… my busy fall schedule is coming, new CD in the works, bring it on! Oh, and I’m scheduled to go in for my Disneyland Cast Member orientation on Saturday! Bring it bring it!!  It’ll only be a matter of time before I’m gigging all over down here!

That’s all…. Wish me Luck!