Hello again all!

I'll begin with my first couple of days off after training. We (my formation) decided to go round the park on Saturday to see it as a guest. It was SO busy, and the first ride we went to had a queue of 70 minutes. A few of us decided to just do it and queue, and the rest went to find something else to do, so we were split up within minutes of arriving at the Studios. It ended up just being 6 girls, which was quite nice because we got to know each other a bit more, and we didn't spend too much time faffing about what to go on next. One of the girls, Katie, decided we should try to use out Disney Cast Member IDs to get in the fastpass queue. I was a bit apprehensive about this, but with a bit of eyelash fluttering and the occasional sob story about one of us leaving for Tokyo Disney in the morning and wanting one last chance to go on the rides, we managed to get in the Fastpass queue of the Indiana Jones ride, the Tower of Terror and Rock'n'Roller Coaster! We also went on RC Racer and Pirates of the Caribbean, so considering how busy the park was we did quite well. We also had a shop on Main Street, which is soooo Christmassy and lovely. I bought a Tinkerbell keyring for my keys, and a Chip and Dale mug so I can have tea because mugs aren't provided here.

After the park, we all came back to Les Pleiades and got ready to go out. Katie, a girl from my formation came over and we had some wine, before meeting the others to get the 9.50pm bus to Disney. We went to Billy Bobs, where there was live music. It was really busy, mainly full of Cast Members. I had a quite a lot of wine, as even with my discount, drinks are expensive, and wine is the cheapest. I ended up getting really quite drunk and having a good dance - my memory of getting home is quite fuzzy, but I made it and even took my make up off! I don't think I'll be drinking too much here again though, I'd rather save the money! I think I definitely got the wild nights out of my system at uni.

The next day I was really hungover - I had planned to go back to the park with some of the girls to watch the shows, but I decided to stay in bed all day instead. It was very cosy and enjoyable so I think I made the right decision, so I was well rested for my first proper day at work which was today.

The first day didn't start too well. Our Navigo passes were valid until Sunday, so we technically couldn't use them today, as we have paid for December, so they're valid again from Wednesday. Normally I get the bus to Val d'Europe, which takes a a few minutes, and then the RER train from Val d'Europe to Chessy (Disney) which takes another minute. However, as we need our Navigo passes to get onto the platform at the train station, we decided to get the 'long bus' to work which goes directly to Chessy but takes 35 minutes so works out longer than the train option. We just hovered our Navigos quickly over the scanner thing and managed to get on the bus. However, after being on the bus for half an hour, the bus driver stopped the bus and said he couldn't go any further because of the snow, so we had to get off and get on another bus going back in the other direction to Val d. This took a further 40 minutes, and then we had to pay for the train . I called Character 1 to say we would be late, and they seemed fine which was ok. I ended up clocking in at 9.04am for a 9am shift, which is actually fine because you get a 5 minute leeway. Luckily as it was our first day we had left for work quite early.

When I got there I went straight to Character 1 to find out what I was doing. They told me I was Suzy (one of the mice from Cinderella) in Park 2 (the Studios) and I had to be ready for 9.30am. They also told me that my shift tomorrow had been changed to 10.30am until of 9am, which is quite nice.

I went to costuming and got my head, made sure it fitted, then got the rest of my costume at put it on. I had tights and a leotard, some bloomers and a humongous dress with massive hoops in it. The shoes are just normal character shoes from dance, so it is nice to have your normal feet to walk in. I quickly learnt the signature (lucky I havea good memory), then got in the traffic and headed to our breakroom, which was the Sulley one. The Sulley costume is really big so they just keep it in the breakroom. The head is so big and heavy that it is attached to a backpack type thing which the guys have to clip around their waist to take some of the weight. Luckily I was with about four other people from my formation, which was nice. There were also a few other people there playing different characters like Mr. Smee and Jafar, who were also really nice.

We did about 5 'sets' altogether. Each set was meant to be half an hour, but a couple were shorter. My toes froze so much that I was in loads of pain, but other than that I really enjoyed the day. I got to be really girly which I enjoyed, and the sets go so quickly. You get at least a half hour break between each set too which is good. It is really fun playing with the guests and interacting with them, the adults get just as excited as the children.

After work, I handed my costume in and got changed, and put on a bit of make up. We can't wear it in the character costumes so it is nice to put some on at the end of the day. A few of us had a quick ride on Crush's Coaster, and then headed for dinner at Maccy D's in the Disney Village. With my discount my meal was €5, which isn't too bad. I didn't feel too guilty about a McDonald's because I haven't had one for ages, and the job is quite hard work so I'm sure it wasn't too bad. I've definitely lost a few pounds since being here.

After dinner we headed to the cinema to see Harry Potter on the Imax screen, as it is showing in English a few times. The screen was huge and the sound system was amazing, so the film was really good to watch. I can't wait to see the next one! We just missed a bus after the film, so had to wait over 45 minutes in the cold for the next one, but I think we were all a bit hyper from the sugary popcorn so the time went quite quickly. I definitely feel like I've made some friends now and feel a bit more confident.

It's 1am now and I'm absolutely shattered, so I'm heading to bed, but I'll update soon!

xxx