Day 14: Monsters University and Downtown Disney!

Today started out lazy as I did not have to work today, so after sleeping in for a bit, I got up around 10am to get ready for the day. I had a few amazing cookies that Nick baked the previous day and, by no surprise to anyone in our house, they are already gone. 

There was a lot going on at work today and we had a couple of food trucks come to the 220 Celebration parking lot for all Disney employees. One was for lober rolls and another for cupcakes! I did not get any food, but they were really popular and pretty reasonably priced.

Clawdaddy's & Yum Yum cupcakes visiting us at Disney!

Since Monsters University is coming out this weekend, there has been a big marketing push, especially internally, to attend the movie. At work today, there was an event happening where employees could get their 'Student ID" made for Monsters University. While I didn't have to work today, I decided to go in during the lunch hour, have my Student ID taken, and have lunch with Staci. It was a really streamlined process surprisingly and I got my Student ID, some bumper stickers, and trading cards!

After coming home from work with my newly printed ID, I went upstairs and basically passed out until 5pm. I think this week honestly just exhausted me, so a nap was really nice. Nick came home around 5:30pm and we talked about his day and how stressful it was with him finally going through Traditions. Around 6pm Staci came home and after chatting for a bit, Nick went out with some friends and Staci and I decided to head to Downtown Disney where a couple of PIs were getting together at the House of Blues.

We ended up leaving the house around 8:30pm and arrived around 9pm. This was my first time at Downtown Disney, so it was really exciting. I imagine that a lot of families go here, as admission is free and there are a lot of things to see and do that are completely free! Sure, looking at all the merchandise gets to be overwhelming, but if you have no money, like I do, then it's not so much a problem :)

Tonight was actually really foggy, but the moon looked really cool :)

We ended up parking by Cirque Du Soleil!

Walking around Downtown Disney was an experience within itself, but then you have a lot of different shops and a lot of them are, obviously, Disney themed. There is also a ton of live music, delicious smelling food, as well as souvenir carts, where you can buy light up necklaces and stuff. 

This was the Candy Cauldron, which
is full of Disney-themed candy!

D-Street is full of "modern" Disney-themed merchandise, as well as "Vinylmations"
which are Disney shaped statues that are painted as Disney characters.

Her's an example of some Vinylmations :)

Our next stop was at the Lego store and there were Lego sculptures everywhere, especially of Woody and Buzz!

Buzz, Woody & I :)

After the Lego store, we went to World of Disney where there is a ton of Disney merchandise - it is actually the largest Disney merchandise store on property!

So many people!

This in-store advertising is amazing. "No room in your luggage? Speak to one
of our cast members to talk about shipping options!"

This giant Stitch actually shot water out of his
mouth to pedestrians below!

The Ghirardelli store was right by World of Disney and Staci wanted to go in because they always hand out free samples! I was honestly shocked that they would do such a thing, but hey, it's Disney :)

I got lucky and got my favorite kind of chocolate :)

My next stop was a store that was similar to Lush and was probably my favorite stop along the way.

This shea scrub was AMAZING. Seriously, there was washing stations in the middle and you had to wet your hands, then take a dime size amount of scrub and scrub for 30 seconds and then rinse. Seriously, my hands were SO soft! This scrub was $30 and 2 for $50, so I doubt that I will be getting this to enjoy anytime soon!

Here are some pictures that I took along the way :)

Mrs. Potatohead and I! 

Staci with Sully and Me with Mike :)

Sully & I and Staci & Mike!

Staci's reaction when she found a Simba Pillow Pet

Say what??

Mickey, Minnie & I :)

A hot air balloon that you can go in above Downtown Disney -
definitely on my Disney bucket list :)

We were planning on visting the House of Blues to meet with people who also work at Disney, but after some miscommunications, Staci and I left around 11pm.

Honestly, we were both exhausted after work and walking around Downtown Disney, so we wanted nothing more than a refreshing, cold drink. We ended up hearing about Race Trac's 69 cent slushies, so after driving for a bit, we found a Race Trac with some cheap gas and decided to stop to fill up Staci's car and to get the 69 cent slushies! Staci and I both got cherry slushies and they honestly hit the spot so well!

So much for straightening my hair...once again!

Also, here is some humorous in-store advertising that I was fan-girlling about in Race Trac:

Tomorrow Staci, Nick & I will be heading to Magic Kingdom so I can complete my scavenger hunt! I think the greatest thing is that I'm getting paid to go to the parks and go on rides. Staci & I are planning on bringing our lunches/dinners to the Magic Kingdom so we don't have to spend money. Nick and Staci keep trying to tell me that you don't have to spend money to go to the parks, but I guess there has always been this idea that you have to spend a lot of money to enjoy Disney World.

Well I think that is it! I'm pretty exhausted, so I'm going to head to bed. I can already tell that I will be very exhausted - so I probably won't blog tomorrow night about tomorrow until Sunday, but who knows, maybe I'll be so excited that I'll have to blog right away :)