Playing in Hollywood Studios

Ok, so I should let you guys know that I will not continue to be doing blogs as frequently as I have been doing them because I start working on Wednesday morning. But anyway, let me tell you about my day.
I went to Property Control and Cast Connection today (Disney merchandise stores for Cast Members) and decided that I need to limit the amount of money I can spend when I go to those stores. The same thing goes for the stores in Hollywood Studios, but I'll talk about that when I get to it. Anyway, I got back to my apartment and saw that the two packages that my mom sent to me last week finally got here today. So I let her know I got them while I was unpacking them. Then my friend Jessilyn from the singles ward here and I went to check out the Animal Kingdom Lodge where I'm going to be working. Dude, that place is SO nice! You feel like you are in a completely different place when you are in the lodge! And the pool area is amazing too. We kind of just wandered around the hotel, mainly because we were trying to find our way around, but it was fun exploring too. We went down to the first floor where The Mara, the place where I'm going to be working, is located. I think I am going to like working there. It's quick-service food and beverage, so its not really a sit-down-and-people-take-your-order place. Its more like you come to the counter and look at the selection that is available to you and then eat where you want, whether it is inside or outside by the pool. It is a very nice place and I am looking forward to seeing what I'm going to do while working there. While Jessilyn and I were wandering around, we looked out one of the windows and saw some kind of animal with horns (it looked kind of like a bull or a buffalo- it was hard to see from where we were) and then we saw the back of a gazelle. It was just kind of cool to be able to feel like you were living in a safari in Africa while staying in the DAKL (Disney Animal Kingdom Lodge). Anywho, after we were satisfied with how the place looked, we left and went to Hollywood Studios. We were planning on going on both Rockin Rollercoaster and Tower of Terror, but the wait for Rockin Rollercoaster was 70 minutes long, so we went on the Tower of Terror. Good golly, that ride scared me so badly, but it was really fun. It was quite exhilarating to be dropped from the top of the Tower and then bounce back up again to just go back down and feel your stomach go into your throat. It was fun though. So yeah, after that, we were thinking about going to Rockin Rollercoaster cause the wait went down to 60 minutes, but we looked at the map again to possibly find something else that we could do. Well, there's a new Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian ride, so we went and checked it out. We were originally not going to meet Prince Caspian when we were standing in the line (you have the choice of just going on the ride, or meeting Prince Caspian and then going into the attraction) but the more we thought about it, we decided that we did want to meet him. Jessilyn and I are so glad we did! We were planning on things that we were going to say, but when the guy let us in to go see Caspian and he started talking to us, we forgot everything we were going to say. Prince Caspian acknowledged us by calling us "Two beautiful princesses" using that adorable Spanish accent he uses in the movie. The guy didn't look exactly like Prince Caspian, but he was quite charming with us. First, he asked us what land we came from and then he asked us if we "flew in by Griffin or use the war drobe?" Jessilyn said she flew in but I said I used the war drobe. We were planning on getting a picture of both of us with him, but I think were both so flustered that we totally spaced it and we just got individual shots with him. When I took my turn to get a picture with him, he noticed my POTC locket and asked if I was a pirate instead of a princess, but I told him I was both. He asked me if he could hold my hand and I think I told him "I would love for you to hold my hand!" hahaha I am such a dork! So yeah, we got our pictures and then waited in line for the attraction to start. You basically just get a feel for the movie by going into a room with a broken great stone table and then you see the basics of the movie. Its actually a pretty cool attraction. After we left the Narnia attraction, we decided we wanted to try to make it back in time for FHE, so we started heading toward the bus stop. Well, it was thundering and 'misting'- it wasn't raining, there was just a mist in the air. At least, it was up til the point when we were almost to the entrance of Hollywood Studios. Within about 20-30 seconds, a huge downpour happened that lasted for a very long time. The rain was coming down in buckets and people were getting soaked right and left because ten minutes earlier, it had been sunny and hot and no one was thinking of rain. Well, we were trying to decide where to go to find our bus stop while standing under the cover from the rain. Jessilyn had a poncho, but I didn't. I suggested we just go out to the place the guy told us to go to, even though I had nothing to cover myself with. I told Jessilyn that I didn't care if I got wet, so we ventured out into the rain. Yeah, I was soaked head to toe, clothes and everything, within 10 seconds after going into the rain. The rain was creating little rivers and huge puddles on the ground, so while we were running, I almost lost my flip-flop because it was just floating in the water down the little stream. I just decided that it'd be easier to take my flip-flops off and run in the rain barefoot through the puddles. It was pretty fun, but I was concerned about my stuff getting wet in my bag. We finally did get to the place that the guy told us would be the stop for cast members, but we found out that it was the bus for the All Star Sports hotel. The bus had pulled up and we were debating on whether to get on it or not when a gigantic lightning bolt struck somewhere really REALLY close. I think it might have been somewhere in Animal Kingdom because my roommate that works there told me that she actually heard the lightning bolt where she was. I think maybe a milisecond had passed before there was a cracking KABOOM that I swear could have made me deaf if it had been even the smallest bit louder. Anyway, that all happened within one second and so I looked at the bus and I was like "Let's get on that bus! I don't care where its going!" So we got on it and got dropped off at the All Star Sports hotel. We were thinking about taking another bus back to the Magic Kingdom, but the only buses that were coming were just dropping people off, so we couldn't take them. We were kind of worried about catching a Cast Member bus and were going to call to see if one could come get us when one just randomly drove up like it had been an answer to a prayer. So we got on the bus and headed home. It would have been a lot more pleasant of a ride if it wasn't air-conditioned. I was totally soaked, so when you combine water with cold air, it causes a person to get a little cold. But anyway, we met a nice young married couple from Logan on the way back to Chatham who were also LDS, so we became instant friends. And there, my friends, was my night. Well, unless you count me watching Monsters Inc with Jessilyn afterwards. But yeah, that was my day! Very eventful, I know. Hopefully I will be able to have just as much fun tomorrow and the rest of the week as I did today, just without any kind of hurricane-like weather. That I can do without. I did learn a very valuable lesson though: when in doubt, BRING AN UMBRELLA WITH YOU. Even if the weather is 100 degrees outside and its really nice, don't underestimate Florida weather. It can turn on you faster than you can say "Kaboom!" Believe me, I experienced it first hand today. Alright, that's all I've got for now. I'll continue with more when I get more.