Epic Catch-Up Post

"Keep close to Nature's heart... and break clear away, once in awhile, 

and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. 

Wash your spirit clean."

- John Muir

Middle of May already! Time is flying, and life is crazy. Please forgive me for not keeping up with this blog the way I should. On top of working my standard 40 hours a week, I've been applying for jobs, interviewing, working special events, getting in some play-at-the-parks time... and it was my birthday. :)

But I have an epic catch-up post here for you! Enjoy!


Teambuilder: The Seas Tour
Our Presenter team was lucky enough to get to tour The Seas at Epcot! We got to see some behind-the-scenes areas with the manatees and dolphins, and we got to look down on the whole aquarium from above. Pretty incredible! 

African Cats
Our Presenter team also got to go to a special early screening of the new Disneynature movie African Cats, and then I got to see it again with Brian during opening week. It was an awesome movie. (The credits were definitely worth staying for!) I hope you got to go see it opening week too, because if you did, a portion of your ticket sale went to help save the savanna that African cats and lots of other animals call home! 

Earth Day 2011: Party for the Planet
Earth Day was on April 22, and Animal Kingdom celebrated big time! Our Party for the Planet was focused on African cats this year, in honor of the new movie, and there were games and activities all over the park where guests could learn more about African cats and the ways we're trying to help protect them. There was a tracking activity to identify footprints, an ethogram to learn about lion and cheetah behaviors, a "supermarket sweep" type game about environmentally-friendly products, and lots more! Us Presenters staffed lots of these activities and helped guests fill out their Party for the Planet postcards along the way - when they were all done, they could mail their postcard to friends or family with postage paid by Disney. 

My birthday :)
I got to spend my birthday in Disney! Working... but only for part of the day. ;)  That night, I took some Presenter friends to Epcot for dessert, and the next weekend Brian and I had a mini vacation - we got an All-Star hotel room and spent our days parkhopping, just like old times. :) 

Brian took me to Mickey's Retreat for a picnic that he packed himself, he threw me a tiki-themed party in the hotel room (please note that that blue box is full of delicious cupcakes, which he baked himself!), then we went to Epcot to check out the Flower & Garden Festival, and we topped it all off with an amazing lunch at Biergarten.  

I couldn't have had a better birthday! ... And I couldn't have a better fiance. :)

Goofy's Mystery Tour

Cross another Disney Dream off my list! I competed in Goofy's Mystery Tour! This is an epic trivia and scavenger hunt adventure for Cast Members. This year's theme was a Time Machine, so we answered questions and puzzles about all different decades and hunted for mysterious figures around Hollywood Studios... all while bungee-corded together. :D Me and three other Presenters made up a team, and we knew we wouldn't come anywhere close to placing, but we beat out over half of the other teams, which was our goal! It was an AWESOME experience! I would love to do this again!! I don't know if I'm allowed to post any photos from the actual event, but here's a photo of my team afterwards, un-bungeed. 

International Migratory Bird Day

May 14 was International Migratory Bird Day, and Animal Kingdom took the opportunity to celebrate by inviting guests to become Honorary Birds! Us Presenters "banded" Honorary Birds by putting a bracelet on their wrist (boys on the right, girls on the left, just like it's done in the wild). We gave them a bookmark with blanks that they could fill out at activities around the park to compare themselves to birds using leg length, wing span, feather color, and more. 

As you can see, there has been a LOT going on! It's been exciting, but time has been flying. My internship will be over in almost exactly a month - I can't believe it! I'm going to miss all my Presenter friends so much. 

As far as what I'll be doing after this internship, I'm still trying to work things out... Whatever is meant to be will be. :)