Nov 06 2007

Finally Back

  • Tuesday, November 06, 2007

Well, things are finally going back to normal for me. I’ve been fine the last few weeks despite what my last posts may have lead to believe. I have been busy with work and Candlelight Rehearsal so I have been in and out a lot. I am just catching up on some e-mail, Facebook, and general computer cleaning while Adam is practicing his piano on his keyboard. Adam is a good friend of mine that is staying with me for a bit which isn’t that bad since it is nice to have someone else around the house at times.

Mom, Dad and Aunt Sue came to visit this past weekend from Minnesota. It is always nice to have visitors and Mom, Dad and Sue, I had a great time sharing my home and time with you this past weekend. I look forward to seeing you again at Christmas time but this time, in Minnesota!

Things at work are picking up a bit. I am just getting things finalized to kick off our rather large distribution for the entire Walt Disney Company Cast Member Complimentary Ticket and Main Entrance Pass Distribution. My team and I will be producing close to half a million tickets between now and mid-December. So needless to say, I will be somewhat busy with work the next few weeks. Anyways, that’s all I have for now. Look for more updates soon, I promise.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.webbyaquatics.com/archives/2007/11/finally-back/

Oct 07 2007

I am fine

  • Sunday, October 07, 2007

For those that have asked and sent me e-mails, I am fine but I do want to thank everyone for asking.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.webbyaquatics.com/archives/2007/10/i-am-ok/

Oct 06 2007

Life and Death

  • Saturday, October 06, 2007

I’ve come to the conclusion that we live in a pretty strange world. The past two days have been a real eye opener for me and how I look at life. Taking a step back a few more weeks, a friend of mine was recently admitted to the hospital with a severe case of pneumonia and has been there ever since. While he is slowly getting better, he still remains on a respirator and they don’t know how long it will be till he is fully awake again so they can take him off the respirator.

Fast-forward to this past Thursday, I had picked up a shift at Magic Kingdom with my old area, Main Street, and was doing a quick re-certification on my steam trains so I can keep picking up shifts. Shortly after leaving the train to go help with other things, I am paged out to Frontierland along with a manager for a guest who had passed out while in the que line for the train. Upon arrival, CPR and AED were in progress and once back stage, the guest was pronounced DOA. For anyone that has never first hand witnessed a sheet being pulled over someone’s head, it is pretty moving but death doesn’t end there.

Last night while picking up Adam from work, I was made aware that a fellow Cast Member from Steam Trains who had been in the hospital for a week had past away. Marie Belasthon had been working with Main Street and Trains since 1992. She could always been seen opening Frontierland Train Station every weekday. She was also a single mother of 3 with the youngest still in high school.

So as I am sitting taking in all that is going on, this week alone I have personally witnessed one death, had a co-worker pass away and still have another friend in the ICU fighting for his life. What a strange world we live in.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.webbyaquatics.com/archives/2007/10/life-and-death/

Oct 01 2007

Happy Birthday EPCOT Center

  • Monday, October 01, 2007

EPCOT


Today officially marks not only the 36th Birthday of the Walt Disney World Resort but also the 25th Birthday of something unique that is truely one of a kind, EPCOT Center. Walt Disney described EPCOT as:

But the most exciting and by far the most important part of our Florida Project…in fact, the heart of everything we’ll be doing in Disney World…will be our Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow! We call it EPCOT.

It’s like the city of tomorrow ought to be. A city that caters to the people as a service function. It will be a planned, controlled community, a showcase for American industry and research, schools, cultural and educational opportunities.

EPCOT will be an experimental prototype community of tomorrow that will take its cue from the new ideas and new technologies that are now emerging from the creative centers of American industry. It will be a community of tomorrow that will never be completed, but will always be introducing and testing and demonstrating new materials and systems. And EPCOT will always be a showcase to the world for the ingenuity and imagination of American free enterprise.

While the Epcot that is today may not be exactly what Walt had envisioned, it is still very much an international community with a focus on new discoverys and technology and a World’s Fair with International Showcase. Here’s to another 25 years!

Permanent link to this article: https://www.webbyaquatics.com/archives/2007/10/happy-birthday-epcot-center/

Sep 30 2007

Site Update

  • Sunday, September 30, 2007

Webby Aquatics has been refurbished with a brand new version of WordPress, the back-end system that powers my blog and is now fully operational again with Tag Support. Also, there is a new header for those that don’t use RSS/XML/ATOM feeds.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.webbyaquatics.com/archives/2007/09/site-update-2/

Sep 29 2007

September in a Nutshell

  • Saturday, September 29, 2007

Wow, it really has been over a month since I last updated my blog. There really has been a lot going on though that can explain my absence. As I posted in August, I have started a new role here at the Walt Disney World Resort in Walt Disney World Ticketing. After a month, I can tell you I have not been happier. I love my new role and the new opportunities that it creates. In just the short month, I have been able to do things and meet people that would never have been possible before when I was working in the Magic Kingdom.

I have also been very busy finalizing and starting the production of the Disney’s Family Holiday Celebration tickets for all Florida Site Cast Members so that has taken a bulk of my days at work plus, speaking of holiday time, I have also started going to Candlelight Cast Choir Rehearsals again. Who knew that Christmas came in September! Things are only going to get busy at work though as we go in to the next month. Notice above I said Florida Site Cast Members? Well, part of my role at Walt Disney World Ticketing is that I am responsible for the production of all Cast Member Ticket Media for the entire Walt Disney Company. We are getting ready for two large distributions that involve complimentary tickets and Main Entrance Passes for all 120,000 of my Cast Members. Can we say overtime? Busyness aside, I love the new role and couldn’t be happier.

On another note, I have also learned this week about the importance of going to the doctor when you are sick. A friend of mine hates going to the doctor and put off going till he finally went after being sick for close to 6 weeks and is now sitting in a hospital bed recovering from a severe case of pneumonia. He’s going to be alright but the recovery will take a while.

That’s my last month in a nutshell. Really not much else going on in my life like it was a few years ago when I started Webby Aquatics as a blog. I hope to start getting back in to blogging more now that I have stable hours and time.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.webbyaquatics.com/archives/2007/09/september-in-a-nutshell/

Aug 28 2007

Goodbye Magic Kingdom Update

  • Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Ok, I finally have a free moment that I can update everyone on what has been going on since I got back from France. First off, I have been working non-stop since I got back. Due to me moving a few days off for the trip, I ended up having to work almost two full weeks before my day off. It was ok though. I got some great shifts and even had the opportunity to award a night in the Cinderella Castle Suite.

This past Saturday though marked the end though to my time at the Magic Kingdom. As some of you know, I had interviewed for a position with Walt Disney World Ticketing earlier this summer. I had taken the amazing role with the Dream Squad for a hold over but still was looking forward at My Disney Career. After three years, I will no longer be working in a theme park. This week, I officially moved over to Walt Disney World Ticketing as the Ticket Fulfillment Coordinator and will be based out of an office in Celebration, FL.

After the first two days, I am really excited about the direction my career is going. I am moving to an area that seems very good on cast retention and one that will offer me lots of ways to grow and develop myself more with the company. My exact role is pretty flexible but the basics are that I will be the coordinator for all the production of tickets from physically producing them to designing them at the Walt Disney World Resort and will also help support some of the production for Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland. Like I said, I am really excited.

That’s the update in a nutshell folks. Hope to see updates more often.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.webbyaquatics.com/archives/2007/08/goodbye-magic-kingdom-update/

Aug 19 2007

Disneyland Resort Paris Pictures

  • Sunday, August 19, 2007

Pictures from my the Disneyland Resort Paris part of my trip are now posted online at my .Mac Web Gallery. The address is http://gallery.mac.com/twebster#100014

Permanent link to this article: https://www.webbyaquatics.com/archives/2007/08/disneyland-resort-paris-pictures/

Aug 08 2007

Back in Florida

  • Wednesday, August 08, 2007

So I am now officially back in Orlando after a great trip to Paris and a much needed vacation. I have a busy next few weeks at work since I took my days of early this week so I’m posting this on the run. Several pictures from part of my trip are posted and available on my Photos page. I hope to post some other news later this week once I finalize some more details.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.webbyaquatics.com/archives/2007/08/back-in-florida-2/

Aug 03 2007

Paris So Far

  • Friday, August 03, 2007

So I officially have one more full day in Paris. Mom, Dad and Tim are leaving tomorrow and I leave on Sunday. So far, the trip has been great. I was in much need for this vacation and it has been nice to get back to Europe. Sorry to Anna about missing her wedding. I only had a limited amount of available time off.

In Paris, we have been very busy with museums. The first day, Tuesday, we hit Notre Dame and Sainte Chapelle before walking through the Tuilerie Gardens up through Champ Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe. It was a long day for me having been up for more than 24 hours by the time I got in but it was exciting to explore a new city.

Wednesday was the first real day for museums. We started our day at the Louvre and spent a good amount of time seeing the “classics”, Wings of Victory, Madonna of the Rocks, the Mona Lisa, and Venus de Milo. All the art is interesting but I tend to like more modern art since most of the classical is very centered around Christ and the Crucifixion. After a quick snack in the Louvre, we walked over to the the Pompidou for the modern art. I really enjoyed this one and wish I had explored it more but I needed to run to an internet cafe to get signed up for Candlelight Cast Choir. After the Pompidou and internet, we hiked over to Victor Hugo’s house at the recommendation of one of Tim’s professors. It was neat but at this point, I had hit the saturation point in the brain.

Thursday was just as full of a day. Early morning trip to the d’Orsay Museum to see all the art from the late 1800s on till just before the modern. This covers the impressionism movement and has works from Degas, Van Goo, Monet, etc. I personally enjoyed this more than the Louvre but not as much as the Pompidou. From the d’Orsay, we took a bus to the Eiffel Tower and climbed the stairs up. Yes, you can take an elevator but the lines were crazy and it was only 300 something stairs but the view is amazing. A little breezy but we had a nice lunch up there looking out. After lunch, we took a nice boat ride down the Seine and back up to the Louvre for a little more before walking to L’orangerie to see Monet’s famous Water Lilies and some more works by Picasso and more impressionists. I enjoyed this little museum a lot. This brings us to today.

This morning, Mom and I left the hotel early and caught the Metro to the RER and headed off to Disneyland Paris. I could go on and on about it but I will save that for another post as the train ride is almost over. Simple and short, I loved it. So much more to just enjoy and relax. Not as many rides but more details and more places just to just hide and enjoy the sights.

Off now to Sainte Sulpice and the Luxembourg Gardens. More updates later tonight. Train ride is over.

This message was sent from my T-Mobile BlackBerry wireless handheld. Kindly excuse any brevity, abbreviations or typos.

Permanent link to this article: https://www.webbyaquatics.com/archives/2007/08/paris-so-far/