Don't touch that! I need a picture first! TR - **NEW 04/17 PTR IS UP

[jenbear123]

Isn't it crazy waiting that long & wasting so much time to see a parade? It's crazy, but we are guilty of it too!

I think every good DISer is at one point. Then they realize how much better stuff they could be doing. I think the craziest thing we've done is wait outside in the POURING rain in a thunderstorm for Fantasmic. Boy, we were gung-ho that day

Hurray for your perfect timing to get on the boat just in time for the fireworks.

It was great! Who says you need to pay to be on one of those boats on Bay Lake when you can just time it right and get on the free ones!

And, I'm very impressed with your park hopping skills. I imagine ya'll were pretty tired out at the end of the day! I would have fallen asleep after drinking that glass of wine with a busy day like yours!

It was a pretty tiring day but when it's your last full day in Disney, you'll try to conquer it all

 

[catdance23]

I'm new to the Dis boards and I found your TR. It must be fate. I'm planning a trip to WDW over Halloween for 2012. I know it's a ways off. I'm going to surprise the kids (DS will be 2 1/2 and DD will be 8). I was looking for a TR from Halloween and I found yours! What perfect timing. This is a great TR by the way. Thanks for posting.

 

[3prettyprincesses]

Hey Jen, just popping over to say hi! Any news on Bubba and Disney??

 

[englishrose47]

Hi Jen !!I want to know about Bubba and Disney too!!!!!!

 

[jenbear123]

I'm new to the Dis boards and I found your TR. It must be fate. I'm planning a trip to WDW over Halloween for 2012. I know it's a ways off. I'm going to surprise the kids (DS will be 2 1/2 and DD will be 8). I was looking for a TR from Halloween and I found yours! What perfect timing. This is a great TR by the way. Thanks for posting.

Hi there and to the DIS! I hope my info about MNSSHP helped in planning your trip. Don't hesitate to ask any questions you might have

Hey Jen, just popping over to say hi! Any news on Bubba and Disney??

Hi Jen !!I want to know about Bubba and Disney too!!!!!!

Hey you two. Well... we got the news about Bubba. Unfortunately, it's not good. They told her (and me since I had been waitlisted for so long) that they have no positions at this time. Which I find to be complete bullcrap since they still hired other people. I don't understand how they choose who to hire. And why even interview more people when the demand is already over the number of positions available?? Anyway, Bubba is pretty bummed and I am too. I was mainly hoping she would get in again because I know how much she enjoyed it last time. It's really too bad she won't be able to go back any time soon. At least not this year. But that means we can plan a possible November trip with me, my mom and Bubba! My mom is just itching to get her Disney dose.

 

[englishrose47]

So Sorry about Bubba not getting the position!!!But Yay for the November Trip!!!

 

[jenbear123]

So Sorry about Bubba not getting the position!!!But Yay for the November Trip!!!

Thanks Rosie. I guess she must call herself lucky for getting in the first time!

 

[3prettyprincesses]

Well crap! I'm sorry to hear that Jen. I hope Bubba isn't too disappointed. It would've been cool to eat in Canada and name drop..."hey, is Bubba working tonight? Tell her I know her sister Jen from the disboards!" Ya, that doesn't sound creepy or weird, right? Hey, is Bubba on the disboards??

Hope the planning is all set for the big Vegas trip. Sounds like you need a good break. And November isn't really that far off either!

 

[Flossbolna]

I am sorry for Bubba that she did not get the job she wanted. And I agree with you, why do they interview if they don't have any jobs available?

 

[jenbear123]

Well crap! I'm sorry to hear that Jen. I hope Bubba isn't too disappointed. It would've been cool to eat in Canada and name drop..."hey, is Bubba working tonight? Tell her I know her sister Jen from the disboards!" Ya, that doesn't sound creepy or weird, right? Hey, is Bubba on the disboards??

Sadly, no Bubba isn't on the boards. She hates reading even if it is Disney related so she wouldn't be on here much since everything involves reading! She says it's too tedious It would've been cool if y'all could've asked for her. It really stinks!

Hope the planning is all set for the big Vegas trip. Sounds like you need a good break. And November isn't really that far off either!

Planning for Vegas has been quite difficult. I'm not sure how to tackle an itinerary for it. It's not the same as a Disney itinerary. I was going to break it up into a day by day itinerary but not sure how well that would go. Disney is much more structured in the times and stuff but with Vegas, everything is pretty much 24hrs. Any suggestions on planning??? And July is even sooner than November

I am sorry for Bubba that she did not get the job she wanted. And I agree with you, why do they interview if they don't have any jobs available?

It's so frustrating. Even since then, Bubba found out some other people did get placed. I don't understand it. I guess Disney wants to give as many new people the opportunity but you'd think they'd also like people back with experience?

 

[All7OfUs]

Awww shucks! That really stinks!

I guess I was under the impression that once you got a job at Disney, you could be there forever? One waitress we had at B&Cream had been there like 25 years!! Please tell how sorry I am, but that I know your November trip is going to the bomb!!

 

[YukiPhnx]

Awww, too bad about Bubba and you!

Wow, a trip with your mom. That sounds REALLY nice.

 

[jenbear123]

Awww shucks! That really stinks!

I guess I was under the impression that once you got a job at Disney, you could be there forever? One waitress we had at B&Cream had been there like 25 years!! Please tell how sorry I am, but that I know your November trip is going to the bomb!!

It has to do with being Canadian and the contract Disney gives us. Basically you only have a one year contract with some sort of card that allows you to work up to one year and 3 months or something like that. Once your contract is done, you literally only have a couple days to get out of the country before getting arrested. The only way us Canadians can stay to work there is if we get a Green card (which is apparently pretty hard to get) or if we marry an American.

Awww, too bad about Bubba and you!

Wow, a trip with your mom. That sounds REALLY nice.

Hey Yuki! How have you been? Haven't seen you around much lately. I'm not too upset about Disney but I know deep down Bubba is disappointed. I've done the mother/daughter trip once before back in April 2010 which was for 10 days. That was awesome but eventually I needed a break from my mom If Bubba comes with us, I'm sure it would be fantastic!

 

[All7OfUs]

It has to do with being Canadian and the contract Disney gives us. Basically you only have a one year contract with some sort of card that allows you to work up to one year and 3 months or something like that. Once your contract is done, you literally only have a couple days to get out of the country before getting arrested. The only way us Canadians can stay to work there is if we get a Green card (which is apparently pretty hard to get) or if we marry an American.

Ok, that totally makes sense. Here's an idea. Go to anywhere SOUTH of our border- hop north and stay as long as you like. Millions and millions are doing it everyday. Oh, and they seem to have oodles of job opps.

 

[jenbear123]

Ok, that totally makes sense. Here's an idea. Go to anywhere SOUTH of our border- hop north and stay as long as you like. Millions and millions are doing it everyday. Oh, and they seem to have oodles of job opps.

Isn't that the truth! What's up with that anyway? And how do they get jobs??? Crazy world we live in... sheesh.

 

[jenbear123]

Hey Everyone

Sorry it's been taking me so long to update. Life has been absolutely insane. Let me give you a sneak peek into the life of me over the last few weeks.

I saw Colin Mocherie and Brad Sherwood from Who's Line is it Anyway and it was absolutely fabulous. It's true those guys do it all with no script and it's complete improv. I really wish they hadn't cancelled the show but I know the same gags can only be so funny for so long.

My lease is up on my car at the beginning of April so I've been having to run around to get estimates to fix the dents and scrapes. The best I was quoted was about $600 to fix everything. Not too shabby after my dad had told me it was going to cost $100 per dent plus whatever it is to fix scrapes on the bumpers. Seeing how I have at least 5 little door dents, it was going to add up pretty fast! I'm not sure why this is stressing me out so much but I swear I will never lease a car again. It just seems like such a hassle having to make sure everything looks nice on the car before you return it. I've never gone through inspections either so I'm worried they'll find something I'll have to pay to get fixed. Oh and just a little FYI, never - I repeat - NEVER buy a 2006 Chev Aveo. It is the least reliable car I have ever driven and has had all sorts of problems. I'll be so happy to be rid of it.

The way work does the schedule has changed so now it's a process of "bidding" for the shift we want. Basically you have a list of shifts to choose from. Your turn to pick is based on whatever our company decides. One week it could be based on seniority or another could be based on our best scores from our scorecards. I work in a call center now (still same company) so they monitor everything and are always tallying up scores at the end of every month. This was the first time we were doing it so it was based on seniority. Another point to mention is that I just started training to take Europe calls which meant my seniority dropped since I'm moving into a different skill set. The shifts I got to choose from weren't the best but at least they're not closing shifts!

Not only was I stressed about this new shift bidding stuff but also my vacation requests. We had been told that we'd know if our vacation was approved by the first week of March. Well that didn't pan out because instead we had to learn all this shift bidding stuff. So now we were almost into the 4th week of March and we still hadn't heard anything. DBF and I have planned to go to Italy end of June/early July to visit family (his side of course) but I couldn't book anything until I knew my vacation was approved. I got this amazing deal for a flight through work and it's in first class on the outbound. The catch is that there's only 3 seats left. So I'm panicking with the fact that these seats could sell out and then we'd be stuck in nasty economy for an 8 hour flight Not the biggest deal but still if I can get first class, I'm getting first class. End of story. Finally yesterday I got an answer and my vacation had been approved!!!! For both my Italy trip AND Disney in July!!! I was super duper happy. I sent in my request to book the flight so hopefully they can confirm those seats for me. Keep your fingers crossed!

On top of all that, I had a freak out session making sure I had 3 weeks vacation this year. There was a whole mix up at work and many people were not showing the correct amount of days for vacation. I thought I was only showing 2 weeks instead of 3 but after I spoke to my supervisor I had had 3 weeks all along. I had stressed out for over two months with Human Resources only to find out I had it all along. ARGH!


Through all of this I have had absolutely no time to plan my Vegas trip. One thing I have done is book our hotel stay in Buffalo the night before using Hotwire. I've started listing restaurants I want to try and things to do. Making an itinerary has been impossible for some reason. I can't seem to make a day-by-day itinerary. Maybe I'll try to tackle this again next week. Bubba keeps bugging me for an itinerary since she's so used to me making one for our Disney trips. But I've never been to Vegas so I have no idea how to plan things! It was like that when I first when back to Disney in 2005 and made no ADRs. Learned from that mistake!!! How do you tackle a trip to Vegas?? Do you wing it or what?

Next week DBFs uncle is visiting from Italy so I've been invited to all sorts of dinner parties and such next weekend so my spare time is pretty short. If I get any time between now and next Sunday, I'll do an update. Thanks for your patience!

 

[BridgetR3]

I know what you mean about making an itinerary for Vegas because that was much like me making an itinerary for Disney this year without ever having gone there. I think the whole itinerary thing only works if you are familiar with where you are going. Other than that, have someone make one for you!

 

[jenbear123]

I know what you mean about making an itinerary for Vegas because that was much like me making an itinerary for Disney this year without ever having gone there. I think the whole itinerary thing only works if you are familiar with where you are going. Other than that, have someone make one for you!

You're probably right about the whole itinerary thing. I have looked at lots of guides for itineraries and most of them say to look around hotels and check out the casinos. I'm assuming this will take up enough time. I'm excited to look at the shops too but not sure if I'll buy much since things are so expensive from what I hear. Oh well. It'll be nice to have a chillaxed holiday for once. Hopefully it'll be warm enough to go swimming in the giant hotel pool!

 

[glennbo123]

Colin Mocherie is the best! I'd love to see him perform.

You've got some great trips coming up. I hope you get your first class seats. If you can only get one, just make DBF sit in economy.

 

[YukiPhnx]

Ooooh, I REALLY wanted to see Colin and Brad when they were in Waterloo, but the times didn't work out for me. I'm so glad YOU got to enjoy them though!

Wow, that's a lot of traveling for this year! I've got a lot planned for next year.

What a mess with your new shift bidding system. I wonder why they changed it.

Hm....Vegas....I didn't have much of an itinerary when I went to Vegas, but had a great time. It doesn't really NEED much planning. I guess if you want to eat at a popular restaurant you should make a reservation. My family only ate at buffets and it was awesome.

Basically....you can count on visiting 3 hotel/casinos a day. Be sure to check out all those little shows in the hotels I told you about! I had a list of all the free and inexpensive stuff we could do, plus a list of where the best buffets were and then just let loose! Work your way up the strip I guess?