A Compilation of Audition Adventures and Awesome Guest Stars!-Updated 9/29x2!

[DisneyKid4Life]

Wow, I just really love learning about this process so again, THANK YOU for sharing. 6 of 160. Wow. I find the whole thing fascinating and it's so great to have an "Inside Look". It really is a shame there's not more feedback though.

Awesome After Party indeed!!

Ha, I always enjoy your interactions with Naveen.

Um Wishes... Just...

And I will never turn down a meeting with a certain mermaid.

Well, despite Part 1 not giving the desired results, there sure was a lot of great moments nonetheless.

Ugh, customs. Amazing that we're welcomed with open arms into the U.S. of A. but hassled coming home. It makes me so apprehensive to do another solo trip.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Another great set of updates - thanks so much for sharing about the audition process. I find it all very interesting and also commend you on continuing to try again and again after going through situations where they only ask 6 of 160 to stay.

and clearly that customs agent was only doing the smart thing ... you just can trust us Americans so clearly you must have been up to no good if you met up with one of us

 

[JessM]

I love your updates about the audition process, its very eye opening! I hope something perfect comes along at one soon!

All of your interactions with Tiana and Naveen have made me put them on my must meet list next trip!

I hate customs, my company is a Canadian company even though I live in the US, going back and forth across the border for work is so intimidating!

 

[emmysmommy]

Ahhh those suspicious Americans that you were fraternizing with! How rude of them.... I know customs was doing their job but come on.

You have such a great attitude about the auditions. Wow! less than 4% go to the next level?? At least you came prepared. Ingenuity at its best with technology in whipping out that resume while in line for the princesses.

I only found 3 Pascals in the Tangled rest area. I need to google that to find the others. I obviously don't have an eagle eye.

Ariel needs to pull up her ahem shells in that close up photo! My DH might want to start meeting princesses if they look like that!

I wish you all the best on your next trip.... it is this week right?

 

[katt789]

So glad you were able to get a copy of your head shot & resume! Boo though that you got cut again! Although if you went to Hong Cong, I don't think I could have come and cheered you from the sidelines. That's a bit too far of a trip for me!

Too funny that Naveen recognized you again! That made me

Ah Wishes!! I will be seeing that beautiful sight in 39 days!

I'm going to have to keep an eye out for that Partners Statue you were talking about. I would love to have that for my desk at work!

Yuck on customs being a PITA! One time while traveling between PA & GA, I had a cast on (broken ankle) and I got pulled aside and searched twice! What did they think, I had a bomb hidden in my cast?

It was pretty awesome to be able to do that I'm glad Disney has the resources! Bahah, yeah, I dont think I'd get very many visitors over there!!

Lol, I think it's a sad day if he doesn't know who I am lol

Yes!! It's in the art shop on Main Street! They had them in the little display in the first room on the left yesterday, but they might move them?

Yeah, not too cool sometimes!

Wow, I just really love learning about this process so again, THANK YOU for sharing. 6 of 160. Wow. I find the whole thing fascinating and it's so great to have an "Inside Look". It really is a shame there's not more feedback though.

Awesome After Party indeed!!

Ha, I always enjoy your interactions with Naveen.

Um Wishes... Just...

And I will never turn down a meeting with a certain mermaid.

Well, despite Part 1 not giving the desired results, there sure was a lot of great moments nonetheless.

Ugh, customs. Amazing that we're welcomed with open arms into the U.S. of A. but hassled coming home. It makes me so apprehensive to do another solo trip.

No problem!! I wish I could share more, but hey, it's the internet! Lol

Thanks!

Always wishes! Always awesome!!

And mermaids!!

Lol, sure was! Now stay tuned for part two!

Yeah, it's odd, they're always so awesome coming in and a pain coming "home" like, I'll stay there if you'd like me to!

 

[katt789]

Hey friends! Sorry it's been so long since I've posted on here, but as some of you may know, I'm in DISNEY WORLD!!! Currently sitting in French Quarter about to start getting ready to head out to my second MNSSHP!! The trip has been amazing so far and I've met tons of new friends and definitely seen some familiar and good looking, faces, bahaha BUT, more on that later!!

*********************
The June sega begins!! This first update is going to have a LOT of wordy-ness, and a few random thrown in Instagrammed pictures as I don’t have a lot of pictures from this time of year.

So, we all know, I had attended a WDW audition, and a Hong Kong Disneyland audition in May, and had gotten cut from both. They were both for look a like roles (Ie, princesses, fairies, Alice, etc). I’m a dancer/gymnast, have been one my entire life;

and half the time, think I would much rather get to dance down Main Street in Move It Shake It than be a princess any day. Also, Festival of the lion King, my one true love. Disney had not posted show/parade “movers” as they call them, auditions in AGES. When did they post them…when I was in Disney, for auditions, and was broke….

After coming home, I realized just how badly I wanted to go to them, I needed to be there, this was my dream, and there was nothing that should have been able to stand in my way! Well…in this day and age, there is always something in the way, and that something is green….well… actually…up here it’s pretty multi coloured… Money! See, currently, I am a ballroom dancer…

It has been a huge love of mine since started a little over two years ago, especially since finding a fantastic studio! The thing is, it’s so expensive, and me working a minimum wage job with not great tips, well, I can’t pay for the lessons in the “packages” they sell them in, thankfully, they let me pay by the class, even then, it’s still $84 a class, and upwards of $1000 for competition fees…plus dresses, new make up, hair stuff, tanning, it works out that I usually spend what I would spend for a week in Disney, on three days of competition. :shocked:

Naturally, with the decision to go ahead and having to pursue my dream of Disney, I went into class after coming back from May’s trip, and said that I would have to take some time off. I needed to save for this upcoming audition. My instructor/partner was very understanding, and said he would miss me a lot, and knew I would miss it (I won’t lie, I cried a bit that class…) I made plans to come back on my birthday for a lesson, and then booked a lesson for the week that I got back from June’s trip…. And we said see ya real soon to each other.

With that one expense finished with, I then talked to my Mom a bit, and we settled that I could have as many air miles as she had to help with the flight, and that ended up covering the flight down TO Florida. I paid the taxes, and for the flight on the way back, so that saved about another three hundred.

I also posted on twitter about off site hotels, as I knew they’d be way cheaper. I spent some time talking with Shelly, about which areas would be safe to stay in, and some times on google maps, seeing how close they were to the audition facility.

Throughout the month I also talked with Amanda, as she didn’t know if she was going to be able to go yet, and eventually, I got the message, she was coming!! Yay!! It was as if it was my birthday!!

I warned you….random Instagrammed photos….

I’d have an audition buddy! And hotel buddy! YAY! I managed to narrow down the hotel, and found one that was a mere 60 dollars a night! HECK YES! I ended up picking the “Quality Inn and Suites Kissimee on Port Entry Boulevard” it was like, a five minute drive from the auditions, and nice and close to everything. There were apparently restaurants near by, a grocery store a bus ride away, and it had free hot breakfast! Yay!

With all the details ironed out, I spent the next few weeks preparing! When my roommates weren’t home you could find me prancing through the house practicing the old parade audition routine I had learnt, along with the princess audition routine. I was stretching every day trying to make sure my flexibility was still there, and simply STALKING the internet trying to find any information I could about PARADE auditions. It was tough, there’s SO MANY blogs/vlogs/videos on character performer, especially college program, auditions. There’s so much on youtube that’s WRONG too, or from people that only made it to the first round. I wanted stuff from people who had made it, or gotten the job, or ANYTHING.

Eventually, it was nearing that day, travel day. I decided I was only taking a back pack, it had like, two changes of clothes, my audition outfit, jazz shoes, lap top, and the necessities in it. I would not be checking luggage to be saving money! I also had decided that I was not going to go into the parks. A hard decision, especially since I had a red eye flight that would arrive at 1pm the day before the audition… Man was I kicking myself for not getting that AP back in May! I did however manage to get an Ohana reservation for the night of the audition, and made it for four people so we could bring some friends! And then…the day had come…it was time to go!

 

[wiigirl]

Cute pics

 

[Pluto0809]

I really applaud you for following your dreams! Life is short (how the heck did I just turn 40 . I swear I was 19 yesterday) so you have to grab every minute you can! I wish I had tried harder to get a job at Disney when I graduated college. I did submit a resume on the web site but never followed through. So now I'm just living through you.

 

[emmysmommy]

And... and... cliff hanger... I wish you all the best while at WDW!!!!

 

[katt789]

Cute pics

Thank you!!

I really applaud you for following your dreams! Life is short (how the heck did I just turn 40 . I swear I was 19 yesterday) so you have to grab every minute you can! I wish I had tried harder to get a job at Disney when I graduated college. I did submit a resume on the web site but never followed through. So now I'm just living through you.

Thanks!! Man, I know, I wish I had been super into Disney entertainment even earlier, I mean, you can only pretend to pass for 16 for so long! Bahaha

And... and... cliff hanger... I wish you all the best while at WDW!!!!

Hahaha, yeah, i had to leave something exciting! Also I didn't have a whole lot of time to update, I will again when I get home!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

I totally forgot to mention it from the previous update, but the second photo with Ariel, the one where it's just you and her. I don't know if it's the angle or the lighting, but she almost has an "animated" look about her. It's almost perfect. So awesome.

Anyway, June Saga. Still can't believe you're posting from Disney (or were posting from Disney, something like that, I'm confused).

So cool that you had an audition buddy AND were able to share a room. What a money saver. But it also much make the process so much less stressful too.

Looking forward to the rest of this mini adventure.

 

[katt789]

I totally forgot to mention it from the previous update, but the second photo with Ariel, the one where it's just you and her. I don't know if it's the angle or the lighting, but she almost has an "animated" look about her. It's almost perfect. So awesome.

Anyway, June Saga. Still can't believe you're posting from Disney (or were posting from Disney, something like that, I'm confused).

So cool that you had an audition buddy AND were able to share a room. What a money saver. But it also much make the process so much less stressful too.

Looking forward to the rest of this mini adventure.

Ahaha, totally fair!!

Yay!! I was, I'm home now, but hey, since it's just copy and paste it doesn't take too long to post for me!!

I know right!? It helped a heck of a lot for the june trip!!

Yay!

 

[katt789]

Hey team! I'm officially back from vacation in Disney and ready to wrap up this TR as quickly as I can. I definitely want to get moving on this Sept's TR, but of course have to wait for the pp to get here, eck. Hopefully it won't take too long. It was a wonderful trip and I truly love it there and cannot wait to get back! Thanks for checking in!

*****

Ahhhhh!!!! Getting picked up for the airport in an hour, GONNA BE GOOOOOODDDD​

I hope you read that last part in Mama Odine’s voice! Lawl. Since I was flying on the red eye, I had a good friend picking me up from my place around 9pm to take me to the airport. The ride was quick, minimal traffic, and she wished be good luck and dropped me departures.

Well, as it turns out, I REALLY like flying the red eye flights…

Quickest airport process ever! No lines ANYWHERE!!​

[\I]

Seriously, I was in love with that fact! Usually my flights are super early in the morning, but customs is still at least a solid 5-10 minute wait, and secuirity is even longer, but there wasn’t even anyone else AROUND today, I walked right on through and had no problems! It also helped that I wasn’t clearing customs quite yet, zoomed on through and found my gate, then wandered back to the only restaurant that was open at the time, Chili’s!

I ended up ordered a steak sandwich with sweet potato fries and secretly hoped that it would keep me full until 1pm tomorrow, when I landed, bahaha! I also texted with Shelly for a bit! We had plans to meet up the next day, we talked for a bit about the parks, and resorts and such. She asked if I had seen Art of Animation yet, and I told her we had stayed there last Sept, and then she asked if I had ever been to Celebration? Well, since I’d never been off property, that was a no! Shelly proclaimed then that she knew what we would be doing the next day! Yay!

I finished up eating, and it was good! Chili’s is always afavorite of mine, their fajitas are just the best, but I don’t think they had them at the airport location, bahaha! Since it was still early, I ended up stopping at the little shop in the terminal and picked up a couple of the “gossip” magazines, and a book I had been eyeing at Chapters for a while. Super messed up, now that I’ve finished reading it, lol. It’s called “Various Positions” and it’s about ballet, a young teenage girl gets accepted into this prestigious academy and then she kinda starts to go crazy, thinks her teacher is in love with her, weird, but good!

It at least kept me occupied over the next little bit! As did the magazines I had bought, and of course, tweeting!

This week’s horoscope, audition day is the twentieth, I’ll take that as a good sign!​

Yay!

I feel like no one in this airport knows what earphones are… #ssssshhh​

Plane number one boarded! See ya later YYC!​

Yay!! I slept a lot on the first plane, or at least tried too, and before I knew it, we were landed! Since we had used air miles, I had been booked through Air Canada, instead of my usual American carrier of planes, so I had to clear customs in Toronto instead of Calgary! It ended up being supremely smooth, and not that bad, even though it was first thing in the morning!

Clearing customs is a whole lot quicker when you don’t have checked baggage #bored #tired​

All I wanted to do was sleep at this point, but I had like, two hours before the next plane, and I just don’t like sleeping in airports when I’m traveling solo… I spent some more time on the internet and reading and just attempting to occupy myself with happy thoughts

I just have this feeling that this is gonna be the one, I just know it!​

Once time had finally dragged on long enough, it was time to board, and to fly HOOOOMMMEEEE!!! Super smooth landing and I was off to side B, I automatically went down there since that’s the side that the DME is on, so I figured all the ground transportation was over there too, makes sense, right? I started messaging with Amanda when I got to the Mears counter and discovered that she was down on the OTHER side, but would come over to B to meet up with me!

We hadn’t seen each other in a month and it was pretty exciting that we were back in Florida and back near Disney for another audition! We checked in with Mears, I printed off my “boarding passes” if you will, and Amanda picked up her tickets and before we knew, we were off to Kissimee!

So, here’s a quick review on Mears:

-It’s 30 dollars for a round trip ticket on Mears, from the airport, and it was nice to have a cheap option to get to the hotel, even if there was no Magical Express
-It was a little crammed in the van, but that’s just how it works with those type of shuttles
-I would recommend it for smaller parties, or those without children! It worked out well for adults and solo travelers
-If you had kids, and were staying off property, I’d say see about Mear’s other options of getting a full car to yourself, especially if you have lots of luggage.

 

[katt789]

After a quick few stops, we were pulling into our new home for the week!

Yay! These hotel pictures are stolen from another site, I didn’t take any pictures bahah! Check in was pretty seamless and they were able to split up the charges so that we each paid one night split evenly!

The staff was friendly enough, and directed us the route to follow to our room and after heading up the elevator and around like, four corners, we found our home for the next few days!

Verdict: It was awesome!! I honestly think that the room was bigger than a Value resort, and it was like, a quarter of the price. I was really liking this whole off property thing. The room didn’t smell like smoke, was more than spacious, and nice and clean! Yay.

Now, as much as I wanted to fall into that bed and just pass out, I had been texting with Shelly, and she was on her way to pick us up to go on a grand adventure! Yay! We changed into some warm weather clothes, slathered on some sunscreen and headed down to the lobby to wait for Shelly!

She picked us up pretty quickly once we were ready to go, and said she was going to take us on an adventure over to Celebration! It’s a nice little awesome town right near Disney!

That’s from Google images that picture right there lol. Celebration, is just an awesome little place, it reminded me of Saratoga Springs, the resort that is. It was all cute and awesome and I just absolutely loved it, and would totally live there if the real estate was cheaper ahaha!

We parked and kind of explored the streets a little bit before ending up at The Celebration Town Tavern around the corner where we decided to have lunch! It was a seafood specialty place I’m pretty sure, and it was great! I ended up ordering an apple juice, and apparently that’s a pretty weird thing to do? I don’t know, I drink apple juice all the time! I like my orange juice, but am picky with pulp, and I don’t drink pop, and wanted something that wasn’t water, so I chose apple juice! Shelly said it was weird, or at least, something for kids to do, not adults, so I justified it by saying that I really am only six years old...bahaha.

Amanda got fish and chips I’m pretty sure, I couldn’t tell ya what Shelly ordered, and I ended up ordering a starter of bruscetta and a starter size of clam strips! Yum! Seriously two of my favorite things, all at once, yay! I did also explain that I hadn’t eaten since like, 9pm the night before, when I had been texting with Shelly when I left Calgary. Hence the huge amount of food…lol!

The food was delicious, and very much appreciated after no food and a long plane ride! The bruscetta was nice and fresh and had balsamic on the plate which made it even tastier! And the clam strips were super tasty as well!

When we had finished up, the server was nice enough to split our bills and was able to apply Shelly’s cast member discount to all of them! We also noticed that he had given us WDW pens top sign our credit card slips with, bahaha! Classy.

After lunch we wandered slowly back to the car chatting about stuff, and then Shelly said that she would be able to drop us off at Downtown Disney so we could do some shopping!

 

[ZehnJahren]

Ok, officially joining in now! I'll be lurking around reading!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

WOW, that horoscope is seriously kind of eerie.

Haha, so funny that you went to the "B" side. Not surprising of course, just funny.

I remember a trip years ago when I was off sight but didn't have a car. Looking to save money, we opted for the Lynx (essentially city bus). Only $1.25... But... It took FOREVER!! And we got to see some pretty shady places.

Glad you liked the hotel. It's definitely true that you do get "more" for "less" in most respects. Granted it's not Disney, but on a budget it really is a good choice.

So cool that you visited Celebration. I've always wanted to. From the little I know about it, I think it kinda started from Epcot was originally designed to be. A city of tomorrow if you will. It sure does look pretty. So cool!!!

 

[ronnmel]

I'm caught up! Too bad you were not picked for the auditions, but at least you had a great time at Disney.

 

[WildernessExplorer04]

Celebration is just the cutest town! Definitely on my bucket list of places to visit.

 

[katt789]

Ok, officially joining in now! I'll be lurking around reading!

Yay!! welcome! Glad you're here!

WOW, that horoscope is seriously kind of eerie.

Haha, so funny that you went to the "B" side. Not surprising of course, just funny.

I remember a trip years ago when I was off sight but didn't have a car. Looking to save money, we opted for the Lynx (essentially city bus). Only $1.25... But... It took FOREVER!! And we got to see some pretty shady places.

Glad you liked the hotel. It's definitely true that you do get "more" for "less" in most respects. Granted it's not Disney, but on a budget it really is a good choice.

So cool that you visited Celebration. I've always wanted to. From the little I know about it, I think it kinda started from Epcot was originally designed to be. A city of tomorrow if you will. It sure does look pretty. So cool!!!

I know right?! Weird and great horoscope to get that day!

Ahahaha, I would totally take that kind of bus! I find those adventures to be the best, and then you really get to see the city/area and what it really is all about!!

It's a super good choice, I'd only do it with a family/real vacation if I had a car though, the shuttles to the parks from those hotels are nowhere near as good and it's too awkward to get around

Celebration was awesome!! And yes!! Epcot was supposed to be so different from what it actually turned out to be, so I'm glad walt got hhis epcot through celebration!

I'm caught up! Too bad you were not picked for the auditions, but at least you had a great time at Disney.

Thank you!!

Celebration is just the cutest town! Definitely on my bucket list of places to visit.

Definitely!! It's adorable!!

 

[Pluto0809]

Ok, you do not want to know what went through my head when I first read the title " Various Positions".

We used Mears in 2012 when we went to Universal for a weekend. I totally agree with your assessment of them. Definitely not DME! The trip to our hotel took forever because there were three stops before us.

My dream is to live in Celebration someday......

I think the whole juice thing for lunch is only weird in America. We are just too much into our Soda! We have friends that visit from overseas and they always order juice at lunch and dinner.