I'm at Disney!

This morning Ed and I got the RER into Marne-la-Vallee, Chessy (the station for Disney) and had some lunch at Annette's diner in the Disney Village. I started to get a bit nervous and just wanted to jump on the Eurostar with Ed and go home. Saying goodbye at the station was really horrible, but there were two girls there starting as well who I spoke to which stopped me thinking about it.

We waited for everybody else to arrive, all in all there are 20 people in my formation (group that you arrive with), 3 boys and the rest girls. We put all of our cases in a van..I was so relieved to be rid of mine, and then we went on a tour with Daniel, the casting director.

We went through security like normal guests, but then instead of going through the gates of either Disneyland Park (Park 1) or Walt Disney Studios (Park 2), we went through a gate in between, which took us to Castmember Land (I'm not joking, that is what it's called).

We had to show our passports to get in as we don't have our Disney IDs yet, we get those on Monday. Backstage is still quite Disneyfied which is nice, I was worried it was going to be all Portkabins and yukky places. There is a Tower of Terror lift outside one of the backstage buildings which looks like it has fallen from the sky which is quite cool.

The first place we saw is called Imaginations, which is one of the Cast Member areas. It has a huge costuming room which deals with all of the clothes that the Cast Members wear (but not characters), such as the outfits for ride operators and stuff because they are usually themed. There is also a canteen and a coffee bar and other useful things.

From there, we went to another backstage area and then went into the park. We came out at the bottom of Main Street USA, near the Christmas tree. I started to feel really excited then as there was a show happening by the castle. We walked past it but I saw Mickey with the Incredibles. We just headed straight to the back of the park and went to another backstage area behind It's a Small World. I saw a big garden centre type place where they grow all of the trees and flowers for the park, such as the cube shaped trees by the castle. There was also an abandoned Teacup, Small World boat, and Buzz Lightyear's Laser Blast car, along with loads of other props and stuff, it was quite exciting.

We then headed to the Simba building, which is where I will be based everyday. We went straight to costuming, which is amazing. It is like a huge warehouse with shelves and shelves of character heads (which look quite creepy) and all of the bodies and padding and stuff hanging up everywhere. There were also boxes with things like 'faux bras' (fake arms) in, for characters like Lilo who are human but still wear a proper head costume.

From here we went into a room which has rows and rows of dressing tables with mirrors and loads of wigs. This is where you get ready if you are a face character (a character who wears a wig and make up instead of a head, like the princesses), or if you are a dancer in the parades. I saw a Tinkerbell wig and got excited! There's a fair chance that I won't get face fitted (tested out for a face character) though, as my contract is short, and it requires another week of training to be a face character. I'd love to play Tink or Wendy but I am really excited about dancing in the parades too so I won't mind if I don't get to do face.

After this room, Daniel took us to a room which, from the door, I thought was going to be a maintenance cupboard or something. It was actually a HUGE warehouse, called the high bay, where they keep all of the floats for the Once Upon a Dream (DOUD) parade and the Fantillusion parade. Everyone in my formation went 'WOWWW' when he opened the door which was quite funny. One of the Fanti floats was having its lights tested (there are over 1 million bulbs and they test them all every single day), so it was turned on - it looks so pretty I can't wait to do that parade over Christmas.

After this we went past another warehouse containing the floats for the Stars and Cars parade in Park 2, on the way to an admin area where we spent aaaages signing things. We went from here to our housing complex, Les Pleiades, where we spent ages signing more things.

Some people in my formation are sharing rooms, but I got put with somebody who is already here, so I went up to my room on my own and unpacked, as my roommate wasn't in. The rooms are pretty basic, 2 beds, a bathroom, and a hob and microwave. It's all in one room so it's more of a bedsit really.

After unpacking I went downstairs to find James and Joe (two of the boys in my formation), as they had told me their room number, but they weren't in. At this point I wasn't sure what to do with myself so I went back to my room and started to feel a bit homesick, as I didn't have any internet or food. I went downstairs to Beth's room, who is the girl who is already here who's blog I have been reading. It turns out I am on the floor above her in the same building, but she wasn't in so I came back upstairs. I think all in all I spent nearly 2 hours on my own and I was just starting to get very desperate when my roommate, Ashlie, arrived. She has been here for 2 years so she knows the ropes. It turns out that it was her I saw playing Mickey in the show earlier!

I have got past the point of hunger now, so I am going to go to try and find some other people in my formation and get their numbers, so I don't find myself stuck again with nothing to do! Luckily Ashlie has given me the password for some free wifi which saves me €15 a month!

I think tomorrow some people are going to Billy Bobs in the Disney Village for a leaving party for some other cast members, so I might go there to try and get to know some people. The rest of the weekend will probably be spent shopping and resting, in time for the beginning of character training on Monday!

I'll update you soon!

xxx