Goodbye May Seem Forever

And now the long-awaited Final Disney Post.

What did I do the the last 2 months?

NOW YOU'LL KNOW :D
I know, it's thrilling.

First off lets start with visiting friends - I met up with old friends and new friends - some will be familiar, some not so much. But first and most important - PETER PAN!! My fave character!
Now for some possibly less familiar faces. We start with Prince Naveen and Princess Tiana, on a break from their Showboat Jubilee (which I have memorized) to come meet people from all around the world.
In the spirit of Christmas, I also found a certain Mr. Scrooge himself, in the flesh!!
Then I met up with some fairy friends...
this one is Fawn. She takes care of animals
Then I met with Terence. He is not a fairy. He, being a male, is instead a "Sparrow Man."
Yep.
Terrence is special - he's got one of the most important jobs in Pixie Hollow. As pixie dust keeper, he rises each day before dawn to help hand out pixie dust to the other fairies. Fairies need a measured teacup of dust each day in order to fly and do magic, of course.
And finally into more recognizable characters. When I met with Tinkerbell, she asked me what kinds of things I built - like inventions, or pots n pans or so on. I, clever as I am, said that I build dreams. She was impressed. Then we had to lay on the sass for our pic:
Then I met up with The Boss and his sweetheart. They were really a joy haha
Chip n Dale... LOVED doing the jumping pictures! They are the bees knees.
Gawrsh its Goofy!!!
And my fave of the basic clan - D to the Donald DUCK!
And then I met the princesses.. starting with Jasmine and her dear Aladdin
... Cinderella...
.... Belle - my fave princess btw....
.... and Sleeping Beauty.
I'd already taken a picture with Ariel once before, but I hadn't had my autograph book at that time so I had to go back. I couldn't resist taking a pic of this little kid. She kept trying to peak around the corner to see Ariel. It was so funny
Then I met Alice.. this photo made me laugh
AND THEN
we met the Pixar people! Toys, heroes, dogs and men. Starting with Buzz Lightyear and Woody - I got shrunken down to toy size. They fought over me it was awesome!
... Green Army Man ...
... Elastigirl and Mr. Incredible, with my friend Dimas from Italy. He actually worked in the super-nice Italian restaurant at Epcot. Anyways it was funny because Mr. Incredible had to stamp his name in my autograph book because he was too strong to hold my pen - he'd probably break it.
And finally I met up with the stars from UP. Dug (the dog) especially is my friend and I love him.
And finally I bumped into Mickey, all dressed up all wizard-like :)
I didn't get nearly enough autographs or pictures with all the characters. I personally think its impossible to get all of them.
Alright I also did a few things aside from going to Disney parks in my free time as well. Like my friend Cameron and I went to Cirque du Soleil. The show is supposedly exclusive to here and it is called La Nouba. We saw it for FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
.. cuz Cam's mom works there in the back.

It was cool I guess. It was great for free but I'd have been mad if I'd had to pay even my discounted price to go see it. I think it was really just because I built it up too much in my mind. Cuz it was still amazing. Curse my imagination.
Also went to Sea World for free, with my friend Josh from church. We fed dolphins!


And saw mystical and beautiful animals! Those fish all kept swimming in that circle, it looked cool
And I went underseas..
.. and i saw a crazy weird performance that had talented acrobatics

I pretty sure this basically sums up the entire show.. i think?

He was very good looking and he was pretty much the only reason to watch the show hahah
Got to meet them afterward too..
We saw all but one show at all of Sea World
And I went on all the rides that didn't get you wet.
They were pretty fun - with my motion medication in any case
The main roller coasters were the 'Kraken'
... and the Manta. Which was actually really chill because you pretty much lay on your stomach for the whole ride. The freakiest part is when you go up along a waterfall and almost run into it its crazy.

Aaaaaaand then I went to Islands of Adventure & Universal with Kate and Cameron, again for free:
Also rode the rides there.. including the Dueling Dragons:Aaaand I also saw what will be "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter" It opens up this year at Universal. And its going to be AWESOME.
Here's what will be Diagon Alley.
And here's the castle.. And here's the proof I was there.....

I also went on the Spiderman experience. Which was sweet. Although my favorite ride at Universal was Krusty the Clown's (Simpsons) ride, though I don't have a picture from it. The thing about Universal is I think they do everything right in that they really go all out with their rides/performance and actually make them awesome. That's how I know the Potter world is going to be well done!! Prob with Universal is they just don't have the attachment or storyline that Disney does. That's why the draw of HP will be really good.Aaaaaand finally, we rode the Hulk. Its muuuuch larger than the other ones.

They also have Dr.Seussland which is sweet. You literally step into the world of Seuss. And I met this guy... he is Sam. Sam he is. ... and the illustrious Cat n the Hat...
... and a WHO!!!!! They were everywhere! And they had a show!

Now lets walk down memory lane. It was really cool going through the park again and seeing everything from when I went sophomore year. Some things are different of course. But yea. SO I have some pics of things I did before and then when I did them again.
#1, Seuss carousel:
My fave area of the park is the Jurassic Park area.. I always feel like I've stepped into the movie! Well.. more or less hahaha.
#2, frightened for my life:

The Sunday comic strip toon town is interesting too - awesome if you grew up reading those comics.
#3, out of body thoughts...

Aaaaaand that concludes our little adventure. I didn't take too many pics that day

And I also visited Celebration, FL, A weird rich town with expensive food and the strangest stores with the most wack goods ever. Seriously. But I saw this cute lil car and had to take a picture of it.

Anyways. I also forgot to update on the last 2 'intense' rides at Disney. As you may be able to tell, Test track didn't impress me very much.
But Mission Space was intense. I went on it with my family 2 years ago but only on the 'less intense' side. This time, with the aide of beautiful medicine, I went on the 'more intense' side. It was cool but I think I was hoping for it to be a little bit longer. I didn't get sick from it obviously, cuz i had medicine. But I could tell that my stomach wasn't very happy and had I not had meds I would have been very sick indeed
OKAY and then I really got a treat for Thanksgiving. Most of my fam came to visit me, along with my aunt Leah and her family. It was super awesome

I was in charge of taking everyone through the parks - I wanted to make sure they got to do as much as possible. And I'm pretty impressed with how it all worked out. We had a group of TWELVE people on Thanksgiving week (one of the busiest of the year) and we still managed to see/do pretty much everything at all the parks.

But because we did rides as well, that meant I needed my medicine. And while I adore my meds for allowing me to ride rides like normal people, they have an awful side effect. They make my temper very short and I get overwhelmed extremely easily. It's hard having things wrap around in my head and I was just very awful. SO since I had "what are we doing next?", "are we going to ride ___?", "When do we get to do ___?", "Why do we have to go on this?", "Is this going to be fun?", "What is this ride about?" etc etc etc ETC in my head every 12 seconds, this is pretty much how I felt the whole time:

First reaction to the park:
2 years ago I tried to pull out the sword in the stone. It didn't work.
I tried this year too. And it didn't work.
And so then I enlisted the help of 11 other people. And it didn't work.

.. I'm starting to believe it's impossible to trick the sword. I guess I'm just not royalty and it knows that. I guess its really legit.
Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin ride!! This pic just makes me laugh..
Afterwards we were trapped in space prison with the evil Emperor Zurg!
I also finally rode Space Mountain - Mom made me wait till they came to go on it (it had been down for renovation) and I have to say I really really like that ride. It just blows my mind every time I go on it.. I'm just amazed at it ahahJungle Cruise:
Aaaand we saw the parade - so many of the characters came up to Izzy & Mikayla! And I was dancing and singing to it. I miss the parade so much..

Here is me again from sophomore year.. inside Minnie's House!Here's me with the fam 4 1/2 years later!! :) Dad, super-thrilled to be in the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse!

>

Aaaaand second day was Hollywood Studios! where we went on my FAVORITE RIDE EVER. Aerosmith's Rockin Rollercoaster! One time I rode it about 7 times in a row, when lines were nonexistent. Awesome.
You're not supposed to have any loose items out, like a camera. But I'm a rebel.
The first time for the two on the left.
... they all got the hang of it by the next round haha.
Okay, also, 2 years ago I was chosen to be in Indiana Jones' Stunt Spectacular.
..... and when my family came, I was chosen again. What can I say, I can scream REALLY loud!!

Riding in the forest on a Star Wars speeder

Best part of Hollywood at Christmas time is the street of dancing lights! It snows there too
I love dad's smile in this one :)
All during the week, we would randomly burst into Happy Birthday singing celebrations to Dad. All over the place. Sometimes he didn't appreciate it hahaha. But his birthday was the next one and I was happy to celebrate it that way. We sang at Fuddruckers, and they actually brought us free yummy dessert we all shared.
Now we move to Wednesday. The one day I had to work, they returned to Magic Kingdom again for a second round. It was also the only day that it rained. What good fortune :)
They still visited me!!

We had to take a "Sound of Music" posed picture:



I got off at 5 and met up with them. Like my hat? I stole it from Dad


Beautiful:
Mom and Ryan watched fireworks with me that night in Fantasyland, my fave place to watch the fireworks. Because you're surrounded by fireworks! It's AWESOME!!!!! Ask either of them and they'll tell you they really enjoyed it a lot. Then mum fell asleep again on the way home haha
Day #4 - Animal Kingdom!

Going through awesome queue line for "It's tough to be a bug" - it's inside the tree of life!
I'm a monkey!
.. more than usual
.. and now in the show. We became honorary bugs by wearing our glasses
Mmm delicious..
Animal Kingdom has Mt.Everest as its main rollercoaster. Which was so much fun! It's my 2nd fave at Disney.

Day #5 - Final day, Epcot.

Btw Ryan has excellent posture
Dad doesn't appreciate me.
Spaceship Earth!
..aka inside the ball!

At the end.. we got to see our lives according to the future. I love dad's dude haha! Mom ducked down so they wouldn't take her picture, and that's why she's blonde instead
In line for Nemo... don't worry Matt didn't die on account of Ryan

Playing with the water babies!! I love splashing them!And then we went to the countries where we more or less stayed together.
UK:
China:
Norway:

This is how I found him in the store... :
Aaand then family began to leave me. I broke down big time. It was super embarrassing and emotional. I really really enjoyed my family time. It didn't last long enough.
The ground lit up!! Magic.
Ryan is full of anger in general.
And then there were pictures.
Mom didn't want me to take any pictures of her. So much were her passions that she got angry.
... but so great are my charms that I changed her mind



Take 1..........
Take 2..........
.... aaand SUCCESS!


... not really sure what we're doing.....




Very interesting result of a jumping picture that missed haha
Heart my bros... !!
.... again, I don't know....

We could be normal for one
.. but it doesn't last long
Goodness gracious this was an excellent week. I wish it could last longer. Or we could do it again. 2013 BABY!!! ... I'll tell yall more why 2013 later on
Now for Christmas time, select lucky custodians were chosen to be in the Christmas parade. We were basically glorified pooper scoopers. It was the best shift ever though; 5 hours of paid break. With 1 hour of really fun work. And you get to wear cool costumes with AWESOME SLEEVES!! Well.. mine had cool sleeves anyways. I loved it. Whenever I had to sweep something up it was fun to just ham it up and really be hilarious in my job. People would applaud like crazy.
Those that wear the blue outfits, which look like the guards from 'The Wizard of Oz', they follow behind Donald and Daisy and their horse, who was usually Dutch (as in, that's his name, not his nationality). One pair of the golds followed Prince Naveen and Princess Tiana and their horse, usually Ques. And then there were the ponies. I was always with the ponies. They were my favorite. Mainly because they're awesome, but another reason is because they are smaller in more ways than one :) But I followed behind the 6-pony drawn coach of Cinderella's, cuz "It's that time of year when the world falls in love, every song you hear seems to saaaaay.. Merry Christmaaaaassss...." etc, and so on. The ponies names are Gus, Jak, Jester, Baxter, Blizzard and Frosty - side note: don't the last 2 names make you want to go to McDonalds or Dairy Queen and get a delicious ice cream dessert???

My friend Bruce! He waltzed behind Prince Naveen & the princess
I loved chillin with Donald and Daisy! They're so great :)

In an unrelated place, I figured in the spirit of Christmas I should get a picture with Mr. St. Nick as well... LOOK AT ALL THE STUFF
Courtney, how did you spend your Christmas?
Well..................... :I actually worked on Christmas for 14 hours and forgot it actually was The Day. I celebrated MY christmas on Christmas Eve, in the morning/afternoon before I went to work. My Christmas really wasn't too awful, it just stank being alone in a sea of people away from my family. I didn't have money for a tree, so all I could get to decorate was a wreath. But it looked way gorgeous at night:On an AWESOME note, I really adore Downtown Disney. It's the bomb.com! And it was even better because of the great deal I'd get. I always got a single scoop choc chip cookie dough waffle cone. Yea.. in the picture here? THAT is a single scoop. An adult single scoop at like Baskin Robbins is like the tip of what I got. And mine was GHIRARDELLI! And what's the cherry on top of this whole deal?? IT WAS ONLY 3.29 DOLLARS. I mean its only like 4 or 5 something regular so that's not even that bad (it's the same price at the other places, but for a lot more). YAY life!
oh, I forgot. I also met a Dalmatian. Kind of.
The GOLDEN ARCHES of cheap satisfaction
I grew to really adore Hollywood Studios and I'm sad I didn't spend more time there. I slap myself sometimes too cuz for being there 5 months, I only saw Fantasmic twice. Ugh. I'm so disgusted with myself.
LOOKIT MY RICE KRISPIE!!
IT'S AS BIG AS MY HEAD!!!
.. I ended up eating about 2 1/2 while I was there..
Ahhh.. as I said.. how I'll miss the parade :/


If I could be any character at the Kingdom, it'd be a "misunderstood" step sister. They were def my FAVE part of the parade:



And then... it was time.

I graduated. All of this has happened before. And all of this will happen again.

But this time it happened for me.


Me & my home for 5 months...
Goodbye may seem forever
Farewell is like the end
But in my heart's a memory
And there, you'll always be






And what have I done since? Well.. I feasted on this delicious meal at Gma's which I HAD to take a picture of. I loved her home cooking though oh my goodness it felt so delicious to eat
I saw my sister!! Which was amazing and I hope I can do it again soon


... and then I returned to The Burg.
Inga (who cut her hair and it looks amazing) and Dan helped me move in to my place. Here is Inga just wearing random things she couldn't find a place for
Would you like to see my room? Okay! As of right now, I do not have a roommate. Again, on accident. The reason is cuz Erica was supposed to room with me, but she went and got herself married (side note, they've had me over a few times and I adore them sooo much), and therefore my room is mine, for now.

Okay from the door, you come in and you look left, this is what you see.
.. and then you're looking around to the right....



This is right in front of you when you come in.
My bathroom (yup, my own!) is just past the sink in the right corner.
Close-up of the head of my bed..
Close up of my desk... Mom btw that statue of Christ is the bridesmaid present I was telling you about from IngaAaaaaaaaand if you look up from my desk, you see -- MY DISNEY CORNER :D
isn't it glorious?? Make sure you look at my cork board where my pins are
And then we look at the shelving, starting above the head of my bed then going right...

... and yes, those ARE alllll of the expansions for Killer Bunnies :) SOOOOOOOOoooooooooo now you can see where I spend a majority of my time

It feels like it should be nearing midterms now but it's only been almost 3 weeks. Ugh. What a drag. On a positive note, I am preparing to work on my papers. Although Idk if I'm really ready for all of that. Prolly just jitters. It was great going to the temple again. I went for about 5 hours on Thursday, it was glorious

Well until next time, here's what you were looking forward to from my last post :D
Enjoy!