Welcome to Orlando!

(Here's the email I sent to my family)

Hi Everyone!

Greetings from Orlando, FL! I figured I would give everyone an update on my new life here in the Sunshine State (which is now rainy)! First off, I hope that everyone is doing well. I miss all of you and love you very much!

Last Wednesday, the 27th of January, I moved into my new apartment here in Orlando. I am living in a three bedroom, three bathroom apartment (each room has their own bathroom). It is set up just like a regular apartment with a living room, kitchen and dining room. We also have a small built in computer desk. The apartment is furnished so I didn’t need to bring any furniture. The bedrooms have 2 twin beds, 2 nightstands, and a dresser. I live with 5 other girls and they are all nice. They are from California, Michigan, Ohio, South Dakota, and Florida. Their ages are 22-24 so yes that does make me the oldest but its fine with me and something that’s even a joke between us. One of the girls’ mother even put me in charge when we moved in (parents were allowed to come help move us in but my parents stayed home so they can come visit later) which I then explained that I won’t be anyone’s mother. But these girls seem to know how to take care of themselves so I should be fine and we all get along nicely which is another good thing.

I was able to find out on my first day here where I would be working which I was very excited to find out. I am working in a retail shop called Team Mickey in the Downtown Disney shops. For those of you who have not been to Walt Disney World, Downtown Disney is not in any of the 4 parks. Downtown Disney is a separate shopping and dining area on Walt Disney World’s property. It’s a great place to shop and eat at with places like Planet Hollywood and the World of Disney store which is the biggest Disney store I’ve ever seen with pretty much every type of Disney souvenir you can imagine. I will be working at the Team Mickey store which is a sports store, we sell hats, shirts, balls (football, basketball, baseball, etc), and other sports related items. We have items from several professional and college sports teams in football, baseball, basketball, and even a little soccer. We don’t have all the sports teams but I’m happy to report we do have Pittsburgh Steelers items which I was of course happy about. We even have some ESPN items like shirts, hats, glasses, etc because I’m not sure if some of you know but the Disney Company owns ESPN. We even have a good size golf section because Walt Disney World has a pretty nice golf course on property from what I hear. I’m very excited about working here and I need to bone up on sports besides football so I know all the teams and can have better conversations with our guests (we don’t call anyone a customer at Walt Disney World, you are a guest). I’m also excited about my costume (uniform), for those who have been to Walt Disney World I’m sure you remember that the cast members (employees are called Cast Members here) can sometimes wear pretty crazy costumes (uniform). Well since I am working in a sports store I am wearing a pretty normal costume, I get to wear white sneakers, navy blue khakis, and a yellow jersey like polo shirt which I’m happy about. Right now I am still in training, I will be done with training Friday and will be working on my own. I should be working about 30-40 hours until the busy season starts and I will most likely be working a lot of nights.

Well, that’s about all from Florida. I am thinking about starting a blog so it can be easier for everyone to see what I’m up to and see pictures but I will keep you all posted about that. Talk to everyone later!

Have a magical day!
Morgan