Candlelight

 Sorry for the lapse in posting- my laptop stopped working a few months ago and I finally decided to replace it with an iPad Pro, which I am currently using to write this post.  Lots of fun activities and goings on have been happening here, but the most notable and exciting is that I have been performing in the Candlelight shows here at Epcot for the past two weeks.  Auditions were held in August and I was accepted as a Soprano 1! I went to over 10 rehearsals over the course of a few months to prepare.  I was fortunate enough to perform in the first show of the season with Josh Gad as narrator.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Candlelight show, it is a retelling of birth of Jesus with a choir singing Christmas carols.  I had the pleasure of singing in the Disneyland Candlelight show which takes place on Main Street USA when I worked at Disneyland.  Here at WDW Candlelight takes place at the American Garden theater at Epcot.  So far I have performed with the following narrators: Josh Gad, Nico Santos, Whoopi Goldberg, and Chrissy Metz.  I attended Candlelight as a guest for Brenden Fraser and I worked tonight cleaning the theater when Gary Sinese was narrating.  Tomorrow I will be performing with Gary Sinese as the narrator.  Other than that I have been keeping busy with work and playing in the parks.  

For WDW Candlelight we wear gold robes, pictured below.  

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 

Settling in

 Hi friends, 

I have had time to settle into my new place and new role with Disney.   I am a custodian at Epcot and I am global, which means I work everywhere in the park.  I have not had a day that I am working in the same area, so every day I have learned a new area.   I have been able to clean mostly Canada 🇨🇦 in the World Showcase, along with the Ratatouille restrooms in France,  the area near test track (which is currently closed right now! Will be for a while!) and the American Adventure restrooms in America.  The largest restroom is the American restroom with 44 stalls. So I got to beat my personal record of how many stalls I cleaned when I worked at Magic Kingdom.

I had the opportunity to go on a backstage tour of the Parade Building.  We got to see where the characters get ready and dressed, as well as how they are lifted onto the floats (forklifts!).   We got to see and touch the parade floats and see the set up for the drivers (some have visibility whereas other float drivers utilize cameras).  They also pointed out a few hidden mickeys on the float and they pointed out the emergency stop buttons on each side of the float.  Try and look for those next time you watch a Disney parade!  

After the tour, our leaders spread some pixie dust on us and we got to ride the newest ride at Disney, Tianas Bayou Adventure!  

I have been going to a few other cast member events, such as a cinema trivia night, where my team won first place!  

Our cast member discount was up to 40% until yesterday, so I was able to buy a few items with a great discount.  Our cast connection store was also discounted as well and I was able to buy 4 spirit jerseys for the retail price of 1! 

I will try and add photos later, since I don’t have a laptop anymore it’s not letting me insert them.  

Please follow me on instagram or tik tok for photos and videos of my shenanigans.  My username is sweeping.beauty  

-KB 

Epcot Custodial

 Friends, family, countrymen…I have accepted a position as a custodian at Epcot!!  I am currently packing up my stuff to get ready to drive across the US and begin another Disney journey.  

Follow me here or on my social media accounts! 

Instagram- sweeping.beauty

Tik tok- sweeping.beauty 

Spending the Holidays at Disneyland

Hello friends! This holiday season was the first time I spent it away from my family, but I did get to experience Christmas at the Disneyland Resort, and I spent it with some awesome cast members and in one of my favorite places in the world!

The most amazing experience I got to be a part of this holiday season was the Candlelight Processional! I was honored to be part of the Cast Choir for this performance on Main Street, U.S.A! The performance was invitation only and sadly only those working the event or invited were able to view it, so not many of my friends were able to see, but some of them did! We sang a number of Christmas carols, then the guest celebrity, Chris Hemsworth, started narrating the story of the night Jesus was born.  Then the chorus would sing traditional Christmas songs such as "The First Noel" and "Silent Night", with guest soloists.  Although I was sick during the performance, I gave it my all! It was such a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I could not pass it up!  We ended the performance with Handel's "Hallelujah" from The Messiah.  I wish you all could have been there!

Chris Hemsworth, and me right behind him a little to the left!

"The Living Christmas Tree" I am in the center in the 2nd row

 Some other awesome things that I have been able to do is to Tour Walt's Apartment inside Disneyland that is above the Fire Station.  It was so cool and a humbling experience to get to see a place that is so rich in Disney history.   Another great experience that I have been able to do is to clean Club 33, the most prestigious place in Disneyland!   I had a lot of fun seeing the goings on at Club 33 and I am hoping to get to work another shift there before I leave!   Speaking of leaves...Although I was not able to earn my Water Art license, I have been sweeping up the leaves on the ground and making magic for the guests by making Mickey leaves! It's sooo much fun and I love to see the guests's reactions! They also love to take pictures of the finished artwork and even like to take pictures with me!

One way Custodians can make magic at the resort! 

 The parks have been very busy this past week.  They ended up extending park hours and they have on a case by case basis been adding an extra viewing of "Fantasmic!".  I have not had a great chance to visit the parks recently, but I enjoy working there and getting to know my fellow custodians.   I am going to miss it here! Especially the weather! I love the weather because it doesn't get too cold!

We had an awesome view of the rocket launch in Disneyland along the Rivers of America! 

Our time as College Program participants is coming to end! We had a pretty cool celebration held at Disney's Grand Californian Hotel and Spa.  They served us a meal and gave us our certificates for completing the program and even Mickey Mouse, the boss himself, showed up and took a few pictures with us.  Not sure how I managed this, but even after three college programs I still have not taken a picture with Mickey Mouse.  Oh well. 

The Disneyland College Program Custodians at the end of program celebration.

I hope everyone reading this has had a wonderful Christmas and I hope you all have a happy new year!  If you would like to see more pictures of my adventures working at Disneyland and of my life in general, please follow me on Instagram.  My username is sweeping.beauty 

Disneyland Cast Member Life

Hi friends, sorry for not posting for a long time, but life has been kinda busy here in Southern California.  I have had the chance to experience working as a cast member for a few months now, and my program is over half way over.  Here are some pictures and moments from my program so far:

My roommates took me to the Museum of Ice Cream for my birthday! It was a LOT of fun and there was ice, cream, and a pool of sprinkles!!! 

One of my fellow cast members took this of me while I was doing trash on Main Street!

This is a picture of my fellow custodians, gathered in Cars Land for the Mid Program Celebration.  We got free churros, popcorn and drinks and got to roam around Cars Land in our best Disneybound outfit.  I went as a Coconut. (consider them)

My friends and I went to the Goodwill Outlet.  I was SOOO stoked!!! Found some great items for very cheap.

I had the chance to visit Northern California last week.  I went on a walk with my brothers, as well as visited my grandparents, went to church, and visited my old work! It was nice being home and getting to experience actual Fall weather. 

My Aunt and Uncle and cousins came to visit! We had a blast. 

This is just me being weird and not knowing exactly when the ride would take the picture. 

I have been able to go to some awesome events that I sadly cannot take pictures of, but some of them include haunted mazes in the ride queues, going on rides with the lights on, and tonight I will be going to a backstage tour of the Haunted Mansion. I am very excited!  

Arrival

Hi friends! It has been a wonderful three weeks! I have moved into my new apartment with my roommates Megan, Irma, Sarah and Lizzie! I am happy to announce that I will be working in Disneyland park as a global cast member! This means that I am not locked in one land, such as Critter Country, but rather I change locations daily.  I feel that this will help me grow by learning about other parts of Disney and being a part of many more stories.


I have gone to the parks with my friends as well as alone, which is always fun! One awesome thing that the College Program does for its participants is special events.  On top of the housing events they plan, which is where they have music and food at our housing location, they have park events.  I attended a special backstage tour of the Indiana Jones ride! I learned a lot of cool stuff!  I am looking forward to the next event, which will be riding Space Mountain with the lights on!

My roommates and I attending our housing meeting

I learned my lesson: Don't go on Splash Mountain at night when there is no sunlight to dry your soaked clothes.

Some of the attractions here at Disneyland are currently closed for refurbishment, the most notable one is Haunted Mansion.  I have never been to a Disney park during the holidays, so I am beyond  stoked to see the Haunted Mansion as well as the entire park be decked out for Halloween and Christmas.  I signed up to be trained to give out candy for the Halloween parties that they throw at Disneyland.   

I reunited with my Custodian friend from WDW back in 2014!

My work has been going well, other than getting hurt by running into a rock.  I banged up my knee but I am slowly getting better.  I have lots to share about the differences in Custodial between the two parks, but I will save that for another post.  As for now, I am just enjoying my time here and meeting new people every day!  

Chapter 3 begins August 2017!

Hello friends!
I am pleased to announce that I recently accepted a position for the Disneyland College Program. My previous adventures have been as a Custodian at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom.  I will have the amazing opportunity to be a Custodian at the Happiest Place on Earth, DISNEYLAND.  This is the original park that Walt envisioned and even lived on Main Street, USA.  Walt knew his theme park would stand out against the rest through his storytelling, creativity, interactive experiences, and of course the cleanliness of the park.  As a Cast Member in Custodial Guest Services, I will have the honor of continuing Walt's dream!  Unlike the program at WDW, the Disneyland program is much smaller with exciting new cast member experiences.  I am excited to continue my Disney adventures at this new location.

Before I do so I will be spending another summer at Mt. Cross Ministries, which is the Lutheran Outdoor summer camp that I have been attending since elementary school! I will be in a Leadership position this summer, helping out with Ropes (elements and rock wall), and leading High School students in training and ministry!

Currently I am taking some music classes and working at the candy store!

I'll keep ya'll updated!