The Happiest Place on Earth

I have three “Happy Places”:

3. Chic-fil-A: It is delicious and wholesome (in both food and experience.)

2. Olive Garden: If it’s not O.G., it’s not O.K.

1. Walt Disney World.

Easiest way to my heart? Food and Disney. But Disney World will forever be that happiest place for me.

Now I have gotten spoiled since my days in the College Program. My fellow Space Ranger, Kaelyn, and I have been making our bi-annual pilgrimages to Star Command for the past two years. So in total, I have now gone to Disney 7 times, including the College Program extravaganza, excluding my Paris adventure, in a matter of 5 years.

I was recently asked if working for Disney and going back so often has made it a less magical experience for me. I started to evaluate my past half a decade of coming to Disney.

"We put our faith and hope on a shooting star." -Wishes.

You see, I didn’t get to experience the dress-up-like-a-princess-and-get-strollered-around-the-parks stage of Disney World. When I was 4, my sister Hannah was born and I was told I would have to wait until she could walk. I bided my time, learning every Disney song and the lines from every movie. And then when I was 8…Mariah was born. Yet, another sister to wait on. Then sports became a scheduling conflict and Disney seemed out of the picture. Until the summer of my junior year! I had just gotten word that I would sign with a school in Arkansas to play softball and since that was taken care of, a Disney trip was planned.

It was amazing. Everything I dreamed it would be. All of my years of waiting were worth it, and it didn’t matter how old I was. My favorite was Wishes, the fireworks show in Magic Kingdom. I cried as the fireworks rained down like pixie dust to the instrumental version of “I Can Go the Distance” from Hercules. Magical.

This summer, going back with my family was completely different from that first time. I was the one with all of the information. I made the decisions, knew the strategies for Fast Passes and Extra Magic Hours, and made reservations for all our meals. I was no longer on vacation, I was the tour guide. And then I had to report to Star Command to pick up some attraction shifts to keep my proficiencies, as well as work a crowd control shift on the 4th of July. On top of that, I didn’t take nearly as many pictures as I normally do on a typical Disney outing. WAS the magic gone?

Then I thought of how my family was able to visit every park, and for a discount. That’s my Dad’s kind of

My favorite space ranger/fellow American, Kaelyn, and I before our shift on the 4th of July.

 magical. Thanks to my Fast Pass and EMH experience we were able to ride our favorite roller coasters as many times as we wanted. My sisters considered that pretty magical. We had a dinner at Cinderella’s Castle and visited our friends from the Hundred Acre Woods at Crystal Palace for the first time ever. My mom actually used the word “magical” to describe those experiences.

 

During my shift in Tomorrowland, I was able to help several Space Rangers get on into their Space Cruisers or gave them high-fives as they got off and exclaimed that they were “Galactic Heroes!” When I did crowd control, I was stationed by the Tomorrowland Dance Party where I danced the night away with guests who kept complimenting my mad dance skills, challenging me to dance-offs, asking how I had so much energy, saying I was more entertaining the parks, and even being told I resembled Kate Middleton. All the while working with one of my very best friends, and making new ones.

So to answer the question, the magic that is Disney will never be lost for me. I can still go back and experience the magic with my family, but now I also get to be a part of the magic.  And even though I now know every word to Wishes: A Magical Gathering of Disney Dreams, I still tear up everytime those fireworks fill up the sky and make the most amazing backdrop behind Cinderella’s Castle…and probably always will.

All good things must come to an end…

Our last week in Ireland.

Seems like only yesterday our group was having pre-departure meetings and trying to figure out travel plans to get here, and now we are leaving. Time flies when you are having fun…

This last week has been relatively uneventful, however. We have a 5 page paper that is due tomorrow, so that has been taking priority over most things. We have also had blogs, journals, and a press release due. Who knew that we would actually do homework?!

But amidst this, by normal non-Ireland standards, light workload, we have still managed to hit up some of our “must-see” spots in Dublin that we hadn’t gotten around to. This includes the BEST MUSEUM EVER: The Leprechaun Museum. Seriously, it was awesome. We talked about Walt Disney, ancient superstitions, colored a picture, walked through a “rainbow”, AND climbed on GIANT furniture. What more could you want?!

Giant chair for all of us leprechauns in the museum.

Tonight we are going to a fancy dinner and to see “Translations”, the play that “My Fair Lady” is based on. Afterwards, we hit the town for our last night of dancing. Then it’s packing and shopping for last-minute souvenirs tomorrow, as well as a farewell dinner show that night.

This will most likely be my last post from Ireland. It has been an amazing study abroad experience and I’m so blessed to have had this opportunity. I would have to say my favorite, singular moment was being Waldo all over the countryside with Lauren and Claire, and planking on the Cliffs of Moher. But this entire trip has been an awesome time with the best group of people anyone could hope to have shared this experience with. (I can’t wait for the reunions!) Ireland is a beautiful country and I will be sad to leave it all behind.

But fear not! The adventures continue NEXT MONDAY with a Holub Family Vacay to Walt Disney World!

Until then, so long Ireland! Thanks for all of the good “craic” and memories. Slainte!

Galway Girl

This past weekend was kind of our last hurrah, so we had to live it up.

Thursday night began with what was intended to be a relaxing evening of listening to Irish music in a pub, which we now frequent. Longhorns from a Spain study abroad program came down to Dublin for the weekend, including my fellow Quidditch-er, Jake Alford. After a couple of “Did you ride your Firebolt here?” and “Have you watched the Chudley Cannons?” jokes, we stopped with the Hogwarts humor and found spots together to watch the band. Our seats just happened to be adjacent to a couple of Aggies from that other school in College Station. They were on a construction science program that was taking them from Dublin, to Berlin, and another foreign destination. We put aside our rivalry and hung out all night, I even two-stepped with one of them to Galway Girl! With all the fun we were having, it was no surprise that the night ended later than planned…which meant only a couple of hours of sleep and then on the Paddywagon!

A pub divided.

 The Paddywagon is an Irish-run (and bright green) tour that takes you to several destinations within Ireland. Our destination of choice was western Ireland. The first night we headed to Galway and stopped along the way at some really beautiful, scenic areas. It’s true what they say, half the fun is getting there. The town of Galway was my favorite Irish town: quaint, picturesque, and quintessential Ireland. We went out on the town but hit-the-hay early for another crack-of-dawn start the next day.

INCONCEIVABLE! You keep saying that word, I do not think it means what you think it means.

Saturday (the day of the Waldo’s, see last post) we hit up what is probably my favorite site of this whole trip: The Cliffs of Moher. You have probably seen these cliffs before. Remember The Princess Bride? They were “the Cliffs of Insanity!” in the movie. Inconceivable, right?! It was ridiculously windy and the faint of heart bailed after ten minutes or so, but myself and the more adventurous of our group stayed and even plucked up the courage to dangle our feet and peer over the edge. The Cliffs are nominated to be one of the 7 Modern Wonders of the World, and I hope one day to be able to tell my kids that I have been there. Yep, Mommy is awesome.

We also traveled to a castle/abbey that was beautiful, of course, and then made our way to our second hostel. (Hostels. Not so bad, but never again.) These accommodations were owned by the Paddywagon, as was the pub attached to the hostel. So of course, our whole group spent the evening there and we karaoke’d the night away. Karaoke in Ireland? Yes, please!

Sunday we went to Blarney Castle and even though he played hard to get, I kissed that stone. Yes, millions of people have kissed it. Yes, you have to lean your body out over a ledge and back-bend down a stone shaft with a ten-storyish drop. And YES, I did it and I should now be endowed with the “Gift of the Gab” for seven years, which basically means I will be a good BS’er. I can hear my dad now…”Didn’t really need to kiss a stone for that, now did ya?” Ha.Ha.Ha.

Our Paddywagon driver taught us several traditional Irish songs on the ride home, and when I wasn’t singing, I was sleeping. Successful weekend.

Plank you very much, Wally!

Claire, Lauren and I (as well as pretty much everyone in our Maymester), have taken on a new hobby. Planking.

The rules of planking are simple. Find an interesting background that offers a place to lay completely straight, like a plank, with your head down and arms by your side. These spots can range in difficulty from laying flat on the ground to balancing on a post. But you must be straight and you must have your head down.

We have planked pretty much everywhere. It started on the beaches of Dalkey, followed by a tour around the UCD campus, a trip to Galway, and an epic plank on the Cliffs of Moher.

Planking on the Cliffs of Moher/Cliffs of INSANITY from Princess Bride. More details about that trip later.

 Planking is kind of a big deal. Check out the planking Facebook page. 

Claire and I, aka the Waldettes, making friends with the Guarda at the bike race.

So that is what we have been doing with our lives this past week. We decided that smiling pictures get a bit old and tiresome, so we are trying to keep it interesting. Which may also explain our Waldo costumes.

This past week in Dublin they were attempting to beat the world record of the largest, live Where’s Wally (his Irish name) gathering. We spent the 12 euros to get the costumes and then realized we would be out of town. So we wore them anyway. Being out of place actually made the costumes that much better! We were able to join in many other pictures, the best being a wedding photo shoot and newspaper coverage of a bike race in Burren.

Just doing our part to Keep Austin Ireland Weird.

“Pari’ holds the key to your heart, and all of Pari’ plays a part…”

When I went to Paris, I only had one goal: Baguette fight in front of the Eiffel Tower.

I wanted to be like Mary Kate and Ashley and every other teen movie I have ever seen. And I feel this shouldn’t surprise anybody, but IT HAPPENED.

I won of course. But I could not have made this dream come true without the help of my PPC, Kaelyn Lu! And the help of her cousin Louie and his girlfriend Mandy, who both had to put up with a lot from the two of us. We can sometimes, every once in a while, maybe be a little too much when Kaelyn and I get together. I believe the conversation after the baguette fight was:

Kaelyn: “Thanks for filming and not being embarrassed of us!”

Mandy: “Oh I didn’t say we weren’t embarrassed.”

But even after all that epic-ness, we still found time to hit up the Chapel of the Sacred Heart, which had the most amazing view of all of Paris, and Notre Dame, which was hauntingly beautiful.

The French are just as rude as everyone says, and I think they are snobby because they have so many beautiful buildings. I mean, Austin has some pretty cool buildings and you don’t see us getting a big head! But I digress, it is an amazing city and I am so glad I had the opportunity to visit it!

Now, back to Ireland!!

5 Down, 6 More Disney Parks to Go!!

DISNEYLAND PARIS.

So here is a sort of comparison of the rides at Disneyland Paris vs. Walt Disney World. I think this will be the most organized way to go through all the amazing things I have to say (rides have been rated on a scale from 1 to 4 happy faces):

Park 1: Walt Disney Studios

Entrance to Studios. Sorcer Mickey was there to greet us along with his little broom buddies!

Description: A French Hollywood Studios, basically. Except the entrance is like walking onto a sound stage in Hollywood and that’s where they have the shops and restaurants that you would find on Sunset Blvd in Florida.

TOY STORY PLAYLAND: (A whole land of all things Toy Story!!!)

Army Man Drop-kind of a Dr. Doom drop ride from Six Flags but waaaay better themed.

RC Racer – More of a carnival-esque ride. You know, the boats that swing you back and forth? Not too shabby.

Slinky – A kiddy roller coaster, which meant Kaelyn wanted to go on it. Cute, but not really worth it. :/

TOON STUDIO:

Cars Quatre Roues Rallye – Another carnival ride, the ones that sorta shoot you from side to side. Meh, the wait was only 5 minutes. :/

Crush’s Coaster – In spite of the ride going 101 (breaking down) the first time we were on it, the second round was totally worth it! I especially liked it because I had NO IDEA what was going to happen since this doesn’t exist in WDW. Probably best described as a slightly calmer Space Mountain.

Les Tapis Volants – Flying Carpets over Agrabah – Same ride as WDW, but the background provided cooler pictures because it was set up like a fake back-drop for a movie scene. And there was NO WAIT.

PRODUCTION COURTYARD:

Tower of Terror – Everything is scarier in French. The build-up was slightly different so I had no idea when we would be dropping. Still one of my FAVORITES.

(We didn’t get to ride the French Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster because it was being refurbished while we were there. Womp, womp, wooomp.)

Park 2: Disneyland Paris

Disneyland Paris!

Description: The French Magic Kingdom. To get to the entrance, you actually walk through the French version of the Grand Floridian. The park is set up the exact same way though, except Adventureland and Frontierland have switched places and Tomorrowland is “Discoveryland.” The castle called “Le Chateau de la Belle au dois Dormant”, which roughly translated means “Sleeping Beauty’s Crib.” Holla!

FRONTIERLAND:

Phantom Manor - Everything is scarier in French, especially the Haunted Mansion. But this one had one central story and a much spookier house. Oh! And non of those glow-in-the-dark heads popping out at you.

Big Thunder Mountain – After MUCH ado (another 101 and almost not getting re-ads and saying the phrase “that’s not how we do it in the MK…”) we finally road French BTM. Basically the same, EXCEPT you go underwater during the first part of the ride to get you to the Mountain which is on an island! And there costumes were LEGIT. I’m talking chaps, guns, holsters, dusters, hats, vests, bandanas, pocket watch, spurs…but having all of that awesomeness obviously went to their heads because the were not the best cast members.

ADVENTURELAND -

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril – Three words: INDIANA JONES COASTER.

Pirates of the Caribbean – Longer than ours, and again cooler costumes, but very similar scenes minus the Jack Sparrow element, plus a picture.

FANTASYLAND -

Pinocchio’s Fantastic Journey – Just a journey through the story like Winnie the Pooh or Snow White’s in WDW. I just did it because we don’t have it in Orlando. :/

Alice’s Curious Labryinth – A walk through maze that you can’t get lost in (it’s Disney after all). Really awesome picture spots, but the French kids were out of control and always getting in the way.

Mad Hatter’s Tea Cups – Same teacups but the pavilion the were housed in was so much cuter!

Star Command, Orlando Chapter. Requesting permission to battle the Evil Emperor Zurg.

DISCOVERYLAND-

Space Mountain: Mission 2 – AWESOME. Starts off like the Hulk at Universal and then sends you into outerspace where it becomes more of a Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster kind of ride. This is the only ride we rode twice, and it was AMAZING.

Star Tours – The same version that was at Hollywood Studios BEFORE they updated it.

Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast – Detachable guns, more rooms, targets that light up when you hit them, a better que. Sad to say, but it was so much better!!! Except for the space rangers…the Space Rangers from Star Command, Quadrant 4, stationed out of Orlando has the finest space rangers to ever come out of the academy!

Overall, I would have to admit that some of the rides were better than ours, probably due to the fact that it opened in 1992 instead of the 70′s. But the lack of fireworks, cast members and customer service really made me miss my home away from home…good ol’ Walt Disney World. But this experience was one of the best adventures and magical moments I have ever had in my life!!! I can’t wait to hit up California, Hong Kong, and Tokyo next…

I-N-D-E-P-E-N-D-E-N-T, do you know what that means?!

I do not like doing things by myself. I like for my mom and dad to take me to doctor’s appointments or the bank, my friends to accompany me to any kind of class related function, and my sisters to ride with me as I drive through McDonald’s.

But this weekend, I went to Paris and back to Dublin ON MY OWN.  I guess if you want something bad enough, you are willing to do anything.

I would like to regail you with my epic tale of transportation. I warn you, it gets a bit scary…

I wake up at 4:00 a.m., running on 3 hours of sleep I might add, and pack. One of the students who conducted our orientation to UCD is coming to pick me up (Kenny Ho is the nicest guy EVER). I get down to the front gate with my backpack, just my backpack (this may be the first time I have ever NOT overpacked), and find out that I need my room key to get out of the 10 foot fence. I check my pockets…alas! I left in my room. I throw my backpack over and scale the gate. It is now 4:45 a.m.

I get to the airport, go to security since I don’t have bags to check, find out I have to go through the check-in because I need a passport verification, wait in that line, go BACK to security run to my gate aaaaannnnd…make it in plenty of time. Apparently when Ryanair says they “close the gate” at a certain time, it really means they may open it ten minutes after that. The plane ride goes smoothly. Until we land at the Beauvais Airport.

It is quite literally a shack. I can’t even begin to describe how sketch this place is.

This was my gate. You will notice a couple things: 1. The gates are lettered and not numbered. There was only A-E. 2. Yes that is a sheet of paper letting you know that this is also gate "E".

I seek out the Disney shuttle, hoping that there will be a friendly French, but Disney-like, driver to help me get to where I need to be. And inspite of plenty of rude French airport workers along the way, the bus driver is indeed pleasant. Not Magic Kingdom Disney-like, but still Animal Kingdom level. After 2 hours, I get to a train station where all the stops are in French. I manage to find the one I need and arrive safely at the hotel 10 minutes later, at around 1 p.m. Not too shabby.

The way back I had a lot of help from Kaelyn’s cousin, Louie, and his girlfriend Mandy with finding a train to take me to Beauvais’ city center. A legit train. Like with a platform and everything! I take the train and get off an hour later and have to find a cab. Now this is where I start getting a little too confident in my international traveler-ness. A man is looking for a taxi to the airport as well and offers to share, I said yes. Probably not the smartest thing I ever did, but I thought Hey! That is half as many euros! We were then approached by a guy who came out of no where and asked if we needed a ride…since he wasn’t offering me any candy I decided it was on the up-and-up. He takes me and my taxi partner to a van (this is where I started to have my doubts). It didn’t have a taxi sign or a meter on the inside, he just negotiated the price with the man I was riding with. Luckily, an older lady hopped in with us so I felt a little safer…I could definately outrun her if need be. JK! LOL…But seriously.

Thankfully, and I was praying a LOT, we arrived at the airport safely and for only 10 euros. I then walked through the shack like a pro, got on my plane, flew to Dublin, found the Air Coach, and made it back to UCD campus safe and sound.

Pretty impressive, right?!