Kouzzina and the Kitchen Sink

Last Thursday we decided to go to Cat Cora's restaurant Kouzzina on the Boardwalk because it will be closing at the end of the month and reopen as an Italian restaurant in December. We also got 40% off..... It was supposed to be Greek with a southern cooking influence. It was really good! I had a trio of feta mashed potatoes, Greek lasagna, and a lamb slider.  

After Kouzzina we decided to attempt the Kitchen Sink at Beaches and Cream at the Yacht and Beach Club. It is a huge ice cream sundae but between the four of us we barely ate half! It was really fun and we got to check something off our bucket list. 

Food & Wine Festival

Tuesday we visited Epcot to check out the food and wine festival. This year there are so many more marketplaces. I think there are around 34. Some of them even have little areas to eat and drink, like Puerto Rico and Germany. We tried a lot of different things including watermelon juice, lamp shank, garlic shrimp, caramel creme brule, Belgium waffle, key lime wine, and Riesling. This year they have a little passport book you can get and you can get a stamp from each marketplace. Even though we have over a month left I am not sure we could try all the places! 

Lamb Shank with Pesto

Resiling Flight

day 2 of working

Yesterday was my second day of actual work. I was the expoditor, which means I stay in the back of the store and pick the things that need to be restocked on the floor, then the floorstockers take it out to the front. I actually really liked it because you get to work sort of independently and you get to self-break which means you decide when you take your breaks. The day went really fast and I got off at 8:30, but it took me a while to get to my car because they were doing the Frozen fireworks. Since Hollywood Studios was never really set up to have fireworks they have to set them off a lot closer to the people than at Magic Kingdom or Epcot. They have to close off pretty much all of the backlands (Toy Story, Great Movie Ride, Backlot Tour, anything behind the Sorcerer's Hat), which includes the parking garage where cast must park on weekends. It took me forever to finally get to my car, but I did get to watch the fireworks from the parking garage which was kind of cool! 

My first trip to Universal Studios

My first day of work after earning my ears!

I finally finished my training yesterday so today was my first day of work without a trainer and it was so much fun! It was definitely my favorite day of work. I started out at the Main Entrance Cart. It was a little slow, but not too long after I got to go to one of the hub carts by the Sorcerer's Hat to give someone their break. Then I went to the Main Entrance Cart again. Finally I ended up at Movieland for the rest of the day. Since I was moving around so much the day went by pretty quickly. And for lunch I got to have Olive Garden because my area was celebrating being the top pin traders in Hollywood Studios and fourth top traders in all of Disney World. Everyone was excited so that made it more fun. Almost all of the guests I interacted with were happy and nice. One guest didn't speak any English so that made it hard but it turned out okay. I don't work again until Saturday but then I will be inside at Mickey's of Hollywood or Keystone. It seems like every day will be something different!

Cast Connection!

This morning Shelby, Allison and I visited Cast Connection. Cast Connection is a store that Disney employees can visit that has discounted items like plush, clothing, and even some groceries. I found a Lilly  Pulitzer dress 50% off (plus I got an additional 10% off with my ID). We also got some much needed groceries including a ten pound bag of pasta for $10, a huge loaf of bread for $1.50, and two big bags of broccoli for only $4 each. We will definitely be back to Cast Connection!
  

 

visiting my roommates at work!

After five days of training I have Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off! Friday morning Shelby, Allison, and I went to Hollywood Studios to see the Frozen Summer Fun before it closes at the end of the month and also visit our roommate Veronica at The Little Mermaid/Disney Junior. I also got to take some pictures of a few places where I will be working.

These first two pictures are of the main entrance cart at Hollywood Studios. This is one location I will be working at. The cart is actually outside the park after security but before you get your ticket scanned. I will wear my teal outfit at this cart.

This is another car I could be working at. There are two carts by the Sorcerer's Hat (one to the left and one to the right). Currently they have Frozen merchandise but that will probably change once Frozen Summer Fun ends. You can see in the picture the costume with the blue shirt and black shorts or pants.

Frozen Summer Fun

Hollywood Studios has so much going on for Frozen Summer Fun. There is a processional (smaller version of a parade), "snow" throughout the day, Anna & Elsa's sing-a-long, a nightly dance party, nightly fireworks, and in the back near Pixar Place they have Wandering Oaken's Trading Post. 

Wandering Oaken's has a gift shop full of everything Frozen, tons of Frozen snacks like cupcakes, cake pops, churros, and hot chocolate, an area to build a snowman, and an ice skating rink where you can skate around. This is all ending at the end of September but they will definitely be doing some sort of Frozen events for the holidays! They are also turning the Malestrom in Norway into a Frozen themed ride in the near future. 

Flying Fish Cafe

Friday night Veronica, Shelby and I went to Epcot and then had dinner at Flying Fish Cafe on the Boardwalk where Allison is a hostess. I had never been here before but everything we got was so good! It was fun to see where Allison worked. Since September is "off-season" it is easy to get into almost any restaurant and in the parks the lines for most of the rides are relatively short.