This is going to be long but here is the story.
For those of you who don't know, I went on QUITE the adventure this past weekend. It all began a few weeks ago when I saw on DisneyAuditions.com that there was to be an audition for Ariel in Voyage of the Little Mermaid (full-time and part-time). And after much conversation and ticket searching, Stephen insisted that I head down to Florida (ON MY OWN!) to do this audition. We are in no way ready or even wanting to move there quite yet, but we figured if God wanted us to, then this would be a very fruitful audition. I had to at least give it a shot. It helped that we found a super cheap ticket down there.
So I devoted most of my life for the past few weeks to preparing for this audition. I spent part of most days at my brother-in-law, Phil's house, using his piano and singin away. THANKS SO MUCH PHIL POOP! I am so grateful to have been able to do that because it absolutely gave me the confidence to walk into that audition and sing my best.
Fast forward to this past Wednesday. I headed to the parents house because they were going to take me to the airport the next day. We were hearing rumors of the big storm that was coming, so I was very grateful to be leaving right away on Thursday morning. Liz and Jay ended up taking me early in the morning because they had a meeting somewhere down 275. THANKS LIL and JUAN! I was a nervous wreck that morning. Most people know, I am just not a great flyer, and this time I was doing it ALONE. This was a very big deal to me. I got through security just fine(sorry to the lady behind me who got chosen for the annoying scan) and went on my way to wait for my plane.
I feel the need to take this opportunity to tell you not to fly Spirit airlines. Yes, they sell you cheap tickets. No, your carry-on is not free. No, your checked baggage is not free. No, you do not get free drinks or pretzels. Yes, they will over-sell their flights often. Yes, they will have mega delay's and not update it ever on the internet.
Needless to say, the lady at the gate was so frazzled that she didn't end up charging me for my bag on the way down and our flight that morning was more or less on-time. I managed to sleep on the flight, which is a first, and I didn't have anyone annoying next to or behind me. Woot. We arrived in Orlando to about 50 degree weather, so that was a slight improvement. Luckily, I had done the whole "Magical Express" experience before so I knew right where to go and how to get on. I was beginning to relax just a little bit. Though, the idea of auditioning the next morning was starting to come back to the forefront of my mind. I got to Coronado Springs and checked right in. I had quite the adventure getting to my room as the complex was ENORMOUS and the map doesn't quite represent certain paths and places correctly. Luckily it was sunny and I didn't mind the walk too much:-) The room was adorable! I was expecting it to be a little less cute and a little less fancy since Old Key West tends to give me a skewed vision of what hotel rooms should look like, but it was lovely. AND QUIET! I hadn't eaten yet so I was off to find some grub and maybe go on an adventure. Hey! I was alone and had the whole "World" to myself! I discovered my new favorite little quick take-out place in the resort called Cafe Rix and took my food outside to eat my first alone meal:-). It was wonderful. I read my book, enjoyed the sun, and enjoyed just being there.
I spent the rest of the day exploring the Boardwalk area and after a pretty cold and long trip home (stinkin Disney Transit denying me a bus ride), I got back to my room and really needed some time to relax and focus on the audition again. I did my best to relax and sing it through a few times and got to sleep pretty smoothly.
The next morning I woke up right around 6am because I really wanted to be able to warm up slowly, take a long shower, and relax. I had scheduled a cab for me the night before, and true to form, they were waiting for me right at 8:45 when I was to head over there. He didn't speak very much English so I had a small freak out that we weren't going to find the place very easily. But he got me there and I was one of the first twenty to arrive so I knew I wouldn't have to wait TOO long to sing, which I was very grateful for. I made a few friends while waiting; a couple of them were totally new to the audition world and one was a "veteran" so there was lots to talk about between the four of us. They took us back in groups of ten to wait outside the rehearsal room door. I heard probably the ten girls before me and around 8 of the 10 were absolutely fabulous and out of those, only one got a callback sheet. I was pretty confident that I wasn't going to get a callback, just because the girls they had picked were probably 15 pounds lighter than me or more. I am pretty confident that they want MEGA-petite girls for Ariel. I believe I sang well and did it with confidence so I am in no way disappointed with myself and I really did learn a lot about what they are looking for and how I need to present myself and such. I called my taxi man back and began to truly relax.
I feel really good about the whole audition experience; I am pretty sure Stephen was more disappointed than I was. I went in there with confidence. I sang my heart out. I looked professional. And I will absolutely do it again as soon as we can afford to send me:-) And so, my vacation truly began. I had worked nine days in a row leading up to this, so it was a much needed break. The rest of Friday was spent riding the monorails around the Magic Kingdom area resorts and EPCOT. It was so fun seeing all of the lobby's decorated for Christmas! The Grand Floridian has a full size Gingerbread house! It was amazing! Every single lobby has a giant tree in it that is decorated for the theme of the hotel:-) I could catch glimpses of the different parks, which I have never seen in person. It was a totally new Disney experience, which is hard to come by for me. I headed to Sarasota Springs since I had never seen the inside of that (too confusing of a layout to be pretty), took the boat to Downtown Disney so that I could catch my bus back home. I caught dinner at Cafe Rix for the millionth time (The individual pizza's are SO good!).
The next day I got to spend a couple hours at the pool! It was probably right around 70ish and perfectly sunny, which I believe is the absolute best laying out weather because you don't sweat up a storm. After another quick bite, I headed out to explore Animal Kingdom Lodge and Wilderness Lodge. I had never been to Animal Kingdom Lodge and I refused to believe that they actually have animals right outside the guest rooms but THEY DID! They were right there! It was so fun just because I was not expecting it! The Jambo House lobby is also BEAUTIFUL! Its just a beautiful resort in general. I apparently missed out because I didn't go check out the pool, but I have to leave something for my next solo trip right? Then I headed to Magic Kingdom and caught the boat to Wilderness Lodge. I hadn't been back there since I was a little tyke and I was so IMPRESSED with that lobby. It is MASSIVE and everything in it is massive. Just gorgeous construction. Yes, this is the epitome of the nerdiness of Laura, but I was just in awe. Headed back to my room for the night and watched all three of the Tim Allen "Santa Claus" movies, which was thouroughly delightful!
On Sunday, I hit the pool early because I knew the cold front was coming and I actually ended up watching the line of clouds and cold come accross our lake so I was very ready for it. It got cold and windy very very fast so I got some hot food and ate it inside this time. My final resort goal was to go see the Port Orleans resorts so I headed to Downtown Disney and caught the boat... mostly because I love that boat ride, although it was not quite as nice as it is when it is closer to 100 degrees....I stopped at the French Quarter first. Unimpressive. Then off to Riverside, which is forever Dixie Landings to me. This is a much more beautiful grouping of buildings. The lobby is fine, the pool is super fun, and it has a stinkin water wheel. It was much more beautiful than I remembered even though I was seeing it through the rain. I boated back to Downtown and got to whitness a pretty hysterical angry lady that said the boat captain leaving some pregnant lady back at the dock , because, his boat was full, was like leaving her in a concentration camp...... ridiculous? I think so. Got back to my room and had to get a little pretty before meeting up with Tangie and Jim for dinner! We eventually found each other and headed to Celebration to eat at a place called Columbia that Jim knew about. It was so fun to hang out with them and the food was so incredible! It was just nice to hang out with people and especially someone that I miss a lot like Miss Tangie!
I was stuffed and sleepy so bedtime was easy. Monday morning, I woke up unusually early and putzed around because I knew I would have to check out around 11 and then I would be stuck out in the cold the rest of the day. I had some lunch, went over to Downtown to waste some time but it was just too chilly so I headed back to try and find some place warm to wait for my 2:45 magical express. At this point, I was very ready to be home. I sort of shifted from place to place reading my book and trying to stay warm. I actually found a place outside that was sheltered from the wind and was in the sun so I was fairly warm. Eventually I got on my bus and got to the airport only to be told that the flight would be delayed an hour. This turned into 2 hours... two verrry long hours as the magical express takes your three hours before your scheduled flight to ensure you making it on-time. ! So I went to Ruby Tuesdays and walked and sat and read and walked and got some coffee and called people and sat and read... you get the idea. It was decided that I would not be going to work the next day and would not be driving home that night... :-( I just wanted to see my hubby! I got back to Detroit around 10:30 and to the parents around 11:30 and the roads really were terrible. I spent the night and finally made it back home to Bay City around 1:30pm yesterday.
Stephen had taken the day off of work because we had a pipe burst next door and he had a few fire calls the night before so we got to hang out alllll day! It is nice to be home, though I do miss the palm trees. Pictures will be coming soon! I am so excited to edit! Next up on the docket... Baking and Bonding!
