lauren spitler

who.what.ren

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

A Long-Overdue Update!


I know that I said that my next post would be an updated version of my bucket list with a look at which items I’ve been able to cross off, but new plan! I have not blogged in forever and would rather do a catch up! (The updated bucket list will be coming soon as a new page tab in the heading in case you wanted to see it!)

Since my last post, I moved out of my old apartment and into my new one! I now live in Patterson Court, which is next to my previous complex, Chatham Square. My friend, Nicolette, and previous roommate, Maggie, live with me now as well as Lexie, our new roommate whose role is in entertainment!

The park that I have visited the least since moving down here in January is by far, EPCOT, which is sad since the Flower & Garden Festival has been going on. Nicolette and I went one day just to hang out, and it was so much fun! I got frozen violet lemonade and we hung out in the butterfly garden. Good day? Yes, I think so!



Some exciting news is that I now have my 3 brothers living with me! If you don’t recognize who these guys are, you are missing out! Go home and watch Brave! In order (L-R), this is Hamish, Hubert, and Harris. Love them!


As a cast member at Animal Kingdom, my work hours are pretty consistently reasonable hours during the day. Maggie works at Magic Kingdom and works the complete opposite schedule! Recently, well May 3rd, DAK was the venue for the Everest Challenge, a 5K running event which takes place after park hours. A select 12 of us over at Kali were lucky enough to work the event, and therefore be at the park until 2:30am, which was SO weird for us!


In between the time the park closed and the event started, our group was able to go ride Expedition Everest and Dinosaur together! We rode Everest twice with the lights on, and Dinosaur once with all of the lights on, and then all of the lights off! Such an interesting experience and I got to do it all with some of my favorite people down here!


I'm back left next to Nicolette!
I'm front right next to Jordan!
This picture was from the time there were no lights on the ride at all, 
so we just prepped to be terrified for the picture! Only the front row of 
Crystal, me, Jordan, and Nicolette were successful! 

As a celebration for the Spring/Spring Advantage CPs, we went to Typhoon Lagoon, which I had never been to, for a night of fun, called Starlit Splash. It was a chill night with food, music, and glow-in-the-dark T-shirts, so all around, a good night, eh?



Nicolette and me! 

...and then me and Maggie :)

One sad thing for us all at DAK is that the Festival of the Lion King has been down for refurbishment for months. They have been building a new theater over in Africa in the park, which is where it has always belonged if you ask me! The DAK cast annual party was recently and it was held in the new theater! We got to go see it, eat catered food, and take home cool color-changing cups! Score! Rafiki and Timon were there to celebrate, so I made my coworker, Byron come take a picture with them and me!


Speaking of cast member events, the Asia attractions team just had an event the other night, which was incredible! After park hours, we rode Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster with the lights on, which was really fun! I seriously love my fellow cast members so much, so doing anything with them is enjoyable!

After riding Coaster, we went over to The Great Movie Ride and walked the track. We had a behind the scenes look at the entire ride and could walk up to the set pieces and look at every little detail. It was very fascinating and memorable! I will look at the ride differently when I ride it next because I can be like, hey cool, I stood there! That was a lot of fun!


I’m already excited about my next post that I will probably end up writing and posting it very soon, so look forward to that one! It won’t be over a month before my next one again! That was a crazy long time… I need to work on being a better blogger! I know I can do it!

Check back soon!
x Lauren

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Extra Magic Hours: Extending my Disney College Program!

It has certainly been awhile since my last post, but I have some good news, which should hopefully make up for the delay! My program dates were originally January 13 through May 16, but now I am going to be here through August 1st! 

With the title of this post, I am sure that my news wasn't very hard to figure out though! I applied for an extension of my program and found out about a week ago that I was approved to stay!




I planned to apply for an extension even before I came down and started the program! This sounds so dorky, but for the first time in a long time, I am genuinely happy and proud of where I am in life. I want this journey to continue for as long as possible! 

I actually applied to stay at Kali River Rapids! Clearly, I wasn't thinking because I will be working an outside attraction in the Florida summer sun and heat! The reason I wanted to stay at Kali is not because of the weather that will cause me to be beautifully gross and sweaty, but because of the people! If it were not for my Kali family, I might have applied to move locations or even roles, who knows?

It is a good thing that I have even more time down here though because there is so much more I want to accomplish! My next post will be an updated look at my DCP bucket list!

Anywho! Since I went for a bit without posting, there are a few things that I need to include in this post to keep me up to date!

First off, my sister, Christine and some of her friends came to the parks for their Spring Break and I was able to see them for a bit! 

Some sister selfies on Dumbo
Taken from Christine's Facebook.


Christine wanted to take a selfie with Mickey later,
and look at him, what a guy! He wanted to make sure 
I was included! From C's Facebook.

This is a random picture from Hollywood Studios! One of my classes, Exploring Disney Heritage, which sadly is now over, met at the park for a scavenger hunt one week! This is a picture of the group I was a member of taken in front of the park's dedication plaque as one of the challenges we needed to accomplish

Is it a great photo? No! What is so great about it then? Our team, which was given the name Simba, won the scavenger hunt! That is awesome! We got a small pin and card from our teacher, but man, was I pumped! Speaking of that class, below is a picture of me with my Mousters Degree from finishing that class! Not to brag, but I also got a perfect attendance certificate that was signed by my boss, Mickey Mouse! :)


From my Instagram.

When I was first accepted for the Spring DCP, I was excited because I was already anticipating the Senior class trip from my High School to be visiting over Spring Break! Now, I worked both days they were all in the parks, but I was able to meet up with some people very briefly before they left Magic Kingdom at night! (Yay, Animal Kingdom for having earlier closing hours than all of the other parks!)


Nicolette, me, Mickey, and two of my Senior friends,
Will and David! From my Instagram.

I am very aware that this post has turned into a mess of topics, but I'm on a roll! Don't stop me now! My other sister, Hayley, just came down recently for a day while going on college visits and I was able to see her for dinner! 


From my Instagram.

And then just for the heck of it, here are quite a few pictures I've taken lately that make me happy! 









I love my friends, Nicolette and Ean!


My newest Vinylmations...lucky me!

Have a great week, or however long the increment of time is until I post again! :)
x Lauren

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

#100happydays

Recently I began the 100 Happy Days Challenge. Have you heard of it? It's pretty simple. For 100 days in a row, you post a picture of something that made you happy that day. It can be anything! Go check it out at www.100happydays.com :)

Considering that I live in Orlando and work at my favorite place in the world, being happy has been incredibly easy for me lately! I have been so genuinely happy since starting my journey with Disney in January that I want to stay down here and make this my life going forward. If you want to see my first week of the #100happydays challenge, go check out my Instagram which is where I am documenting the happy moments! 

I could have posted so many pictures yesterday because the whole day was a happy one! I joined my coworkers and friends, Nicolette and Jordan, and we made our way over to EPCOT! The plan was to get there at the opening of the park, run over to Norway, and wait in an incredibly long line so that we could meet Anna and Elsa from Frozen. That was the mission of the day, and one that after 3 hours of waiting, was accomplished! 

After all of that waiting, I was very excited and nervous to meet the girls, and it shows in the awkward photo that was captured! I don't care though because WE MET THEM!! I bought a Frozen book and had the girls sign it!




The Japan pavilion was our next destination because Nicolette and I really wanted to go buy these little tension reliever things for our backs. They look weird, and the concept is that you basically just hit yourself with it, but it feels amazing. 

Morocco was next, and we met Aladdin and Jasmine! Nicolette and Jordan had both never met them, so we figured a quick stop to say hello was necessary!



We then went back to Norway, and because someone cancelled their reservation and Jordan asked with his southern charm, we were able to eat at Akershus. (yeah, I have no idea how to say it either!) It is a character dining restaurant with the Disney princesses! They usually do not accommodate walk-ins, so we were very lucky, which is ironic because it was St. Patrick's Day (which is why Jordan is wearing those green pants, just so you know).



After lunch, we left and went our own ways, but then Nicolette and I joined back up and went to Magic Kingdom for a few hours. It was late, and we experienced a few very random and scattered rain showers, but it was great, and we had basically no wait for everything which is always a plus!

What has been making you happy lately? Take a moment to acknowledge the little things that may be adding joy to your life! I am in such a better place now personally, and I encourage you all to seek out the positives! 

Have a great week! We'll chat again soon!

x Lauren




Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Disney's Festival of Fantasy Parade

Today was, as Rapunzel would put it, the Best. Day. Ever! It was so much fun because I was able to see the new "Disney Festival of Fantasy Parade" at Magic Kingdom! I loved the "Celebrate A Dream Come True" parade and was sad when I first learned that it would be coming to an end, but I have to say... this new parade does not disappoint! It was AMAZING! I sat on Main Street with my roommate, Maggie, and looked on in amazement at the spectacle of color that passed by me! It was seriously fantastic and I could go on forever, raving about it, but instead here are a few pictures I captured from it. I got a new app on my phone that can put watermarks on your pictures, and I got a little watermark crazy, so now even my most mediocre shots are protected! :)

My camera decided it had sensory overload and stopped working during the Maleficent section, with Prince Phillip, which was very cool because it was a whole sequence straight out of the film! It conveniently started working again right after that float went by, haha! I already have plans to go back and see it again though, so don't you worry, I'll get some shots of it in the near future!














This is just a little taste of the parade that made me so incredibly happy! I hope you all have the chance to see it sometime! Have a great week, folks! 

x Lauren
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