Official Wilderness Explorer

That's me!  I'm done with training, so when I start work on Tuesday I will be an official Wilderness Explorer.  I'm currently enjoying my first (and probably last) three day weekend of the program, which has been lovely so far.

Last days of training recap:

We were finally out in the park interacting with guests this week, which was awesome.  I don't really have many specific stories because everything was kind of a blur, but I really loved talking with kids.

There are two different location types that we staff: badge locations and animals.  At the badge locations, we usually have a conversation with the explorers and complete an activity (with many different activities for each location).  After that, we give them their badge (a sticker for their wilderness explorer handbook).  At animal locations, we get to hang around some of the animal exhibits in the park and tell guests about the animal they're looking at.  So far there is not a single location that I don't like staffing, which is great.  They're all different and some of them definitely push me to learn more myself (little ones know so much more about dinosaurs than I currently know).

Yesterday evening, another Explorer and I had a mother come up to us and tell us that her son had completed the Wilderness Explorer Program two years ago and loved it.  Since then, all he's talked about is wanting to come back to the park to do it again, which they were able to do this week.  That made me so happy :)

Note about work: I think it's pretty clear by now, but I won't really be posting any pictures from work unless people come visit me and take them. I keep my phone on me during the day so I have it if I need it, but it stays away otherwise.

Work hard, play harder:

This morning, I went to Epcot really early...we got there an hour before park open.  Which is something I'd never done before, and not something I'd ever thought I would do.

Why did we do this, you might ask?

Frozen Ever After. The new Frozen themed ride at Epcot in the Norway pavilion.  It's pretty similar to some of the other movie-based rides, like the Little Mermaid one or the Peter Pan one, in that you ride through scenes from the movie.  However, the animatronics are so much more advanced with this ride.  The faces on the characters are somehow digitally projected onto the mannequin, so it really looks like they're singing.  It was so cool.

The line behind us when we finally got to the ride

The Norway area is beautiful

The last scene on the ride

...I like to talk with my hands

Listening intently to Queen Elsa

We ended up staying at Epcot for most of the day.  We rode the new Soarin' ride, which was excellent. It takes you around the world to places like the Great Wall of China and Sydney.

We also met a bunch of characters today, which was a lot of fun.  I'm especially a fan of our group photo with Joy and Sadness.

Baymax! He's exactly as squishy as you think he should be when you poke him

We're normal, I promise

Just kidding...
(we're recreating a photo of Joy and Sadness)

Bonus photo: we visited Liana at work today!
(left to right: Haley, Erin, Liana, me)