Living, Learning, and Earning

Well. I have decided that so far, I love my job. I know it's still shiny and new, so my feelings may change, but right now, I love it. I've been working in Pirates the last two days, and it's been fantastic. The Pirates Bazaar is really busy, because the Pirates of the Caribbean ride empties into the shop, so there's usually lots of guests(except for an hour today when the ride was closed).  Here's my pirate costume:

The pose is odd, because LOOK AT THOSE SOCKS! And yes, the pants are highwaters. Stylish, I know. There's a vest that goes with the costume, but it's optional right now because it's hot. I'm sure it will be required in a month or so, but for now, I refuse to check one out from costuming. Also, I'm technically not 100% in costume here, even with the optional no-vest. My nametag is off, and when I'm working registers, I have to wear a lanyard for pin trading.

So that's the "Earning" update. Now for the "Learning" update. I wasn't originally going to be taking any of the classes here, but they're piloting a seminar that just seems too good to miss. It's on environmentality and sustainability in a Disney context, and that is right up my alley! See, I love working here so much that I'm starting to wonder if it would be worth pursuing a future job with Disney. This class involves learning about animal care and the greenhouses at Walt Disney World, which is probably where I would be looking for a job in the future. So I'm excited to (maybe) be taking that seminar! I have yet to hear back from the people in charge, but hopefully I got in.

Now for the "Living" segment.

See this empty space? That's off to the side of our living room. We have NO IDEA what to do with it. Suggestions are most welcome, but please bear in mind that we are broke college students. Also, we cannot stick anything on the walls. We already have a whiteboard calendar there where we all write our schedules and important dates.

So that's the update for now! Have a magical day!

Merchantainment!

Disney likes to make up words. Utilidor, Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, Zippity Do Da, aaaaaand Merchantainment! Basically, it means that even the stores at Disneyworld should be entertaining! I love merchantaining. It's everything I love about guest service. When I'm merchantaining in the Pirate's Bazaar, for example, my job is to walk around the store with a hat or a sword or some other combination of props, and interact with guests. My favorite is to wait at the ride exit and swordfight with little kids. The parents love it, too. I've actually been asked to pose in pictures with little kids who have bested me in swordfights, and I've been in a lot of videos. I keep waiting to show up on Youtube.

Anyways, what I'm trying to lead up to is this:

This is my Adventureland costume! Since guests were taking pictures of me, I asked around, and it's 100% okay for me to take a picture of myself in costume as long as it isn't backstage. This picture was taken in my bedroom. This is the costume that I can wear anywhere in Adventureland. My bangs look funny because there was a TON of rain today, and I forgot my rain gear. So I got soaked. But this costume dries REALLY quickly.

I'll post pics of my Pirate costume as soon as I remember to bring that costume home. It's currently in my work locker. I'll try to remember it tomorrow.

Anyhoo, that's all for now! I just wanted to get this picture up because people have been asking about my costume. Have a magical day!

I earned my ears! And other miscellaneous happenings.

So yesterday was my first official non-training day! I worked the Pirate's Bazaar, which is the shop that guests enter as the exit the Pirates of the Caribbean Ride. That meant I got to wear my Pirates costume. Since it was my first day alone, I decided to leave my red ribbon on. When you're training with the Mouse, you get a little red ribbon that you stick to the bottom of your nametag that says "Earning My Ears." Nobody gets it except for other cast members, but hey- at least they cut you some slack, even if guests don't. And you know what? It's totally the guest's right not to cut newbies any slack. Guests are not always right, but they are still our guests.

And guests are usually incredibly nice. I've only seen a couple who weren't nice. Most people are so incredibly thrilled to be in the park that they can't imagine being less than nice. Even the people who have annual passes are nice- the park is their playground, and when they find out that you're training, they feel like they've been let in on a little secret, and they get the awesome feeling of having more park experience than an actual cast member.

Speaking of the park as a personal playground... I love being a cast member! I went to the Animal Kingdom and Epcot today. I didn't see or do everything, but since I have (mostly) unlimited access to the parks for the next few months, I didn't feel guilty for deciding to skip the fireworks show at Epcot and go home instead.

The Animal Kingdom was pretty cool. The first ride I went on was Dinosaur. There wasn't any wait, so we were able to get right on. This ride is NOT FOR CHILDREN. Let me repeat: NOT FOR CHILDREN. It's a really intense ride, and probably one of the scariest I've been on. I went with a girl who I met briefly last week. We've talked for maybe 30 minutes prior to today. So basically strangers. I spent that ride hugging her, that's how crazy it was. And I am not a stranger-hugger. It was terrifying. I'm totally going to go on it again, but still... terrifying. There's a shop at the end of the ride, and as we left, I looked back and saw some little kids in tears as they exited the ride. And they were not crying because the ride was over. Older kids should be fine, but little kids do not belong on the ride. This ride is outside of the Magic Kingdom for a reason, folks.

After Dinosaur, we went on Expedition Everest, which is now probably one of my favorite roller coasters. Just... you have to go on it. It's worth a 30-40 minute wait, less if you don't actually enjoy roller coasters. But the queue is pretty interesting, and fans are placed somewhat strategically throughout.

The ride we went on after that was Kali River Rapids. We had heard good things about it, and it was a hot day, and you pretty much get soaked on that ride. The fast-pass wasn't available for the ride, but we still wanted to go. It had a 40-minute wait, but we decided to stick it out with the promise of a fun water ride.

Wait for it.

It stank. It was so not worth the wait that it isn't even funny. It's short, only has one proper drop, and you only get soaked once. The queue isn't that entertaining, and it's hot. Most of it is outdoors with no fans. And the ride itself was pretty boring. We spent most of the time anticipating a plunge or a splash of water, and nothing happened. Seriously, if the wait time is anything longer than 15 minutes next time I'm there, I won't even bother. If you want to get wet, there's a nearby fountain area for kids to play in that would do a better job in less time and with less disappointment.

The next ride we went on was Kilimanjaro Safaris. It's a 20-minute safari. There are actual animals, and it's pretty cool. Not much to say about this one, except it's different every time, and you should definitely go on it.

After those four rides, and general irritation still left over from Kali River Rapids, we decided to head over to Epcot, where there are more indoor rides. We went on Spaceship Earth, Ellen's Energy Adventure, Living With the Land, walked through the World Showcase, got food at the Werther's store, went on Maelstrom, and then, last but certainly not least, Soarin'. Spaceship Earth is definitely a must-do. Ellen's Energy Adventure was pretty fun, but I love Ellen Degeneres, so I may be biased. Living With the Land was a pretty interesting ride. It takes you through the greenhouses at Epcot, where they actually do agricultural research. The World Showcase is pretty cool, especially if you come with the intent to shop or eat. We didn't, but it was still fun to see. The Karamell-Küche, which is the Werther's shop, smells like happiness. I got a caramel apple oatmeal cookie, and it was amaaaazing. Plus, cast members get a discount, so it was win-win. It's in the Germany section, and it's right on the corner, so you can't miss it. Then we went on Maelstrom, which is in Norway. It's sort of like the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, but on a Viking ship and with trolls and two drops instead of one. I liked it a lot. After we finished walking through the World Showcase, it was time for us to go to Soarin'(we had Fastpasses). Let me tell you- Soarin' is AWESOME. It's probably one of my favorite rides in Disney World. It really did feel like I was flying over California.

And that's pretty much all there is to report. The water is still as nasty as ever. There's no way to accurately convey the misery of showering in water that actually SMELLS disgusting. Otherwise, Central Florida isn't bad. The humidity... meh... but they say it should be cooling down here soon, so that will help. Adios!

Yo ho, yo ho!

I've been REALLY busy since I last posted. Holy cow have I been busy. But it's a good kind of busy! Here's a quick review of what's happened since I last posted:

On Friday I went to my Disney Traditions class. Traditions is a class that every single employee takes. It covers a little bit of Disney's history, and they cover the Disney Basics. The Traditions class at Walt Disney World also includes a short walk in the Magic Kingdom. You also get to go through the utilidors, which are the tunnel system that is under the Magic Kingdom. Fun fact: The park is actually the second story. The utilidors were all built on the ground floor, because you can't dig in Central Florida. If you do, apparently you just get water.

A word on water: All of the tap water here is gross. Seriously. It tastes like gross new plastic times eleven. It even tastes gross from the fountains at the Magic Kingdom, which totally kills the fantasy. Crystal Lite and bottled water are my new best friends. I ran out of Crystal Lite the other day, and I was chugging milk and grape juice just to stay hydrated. The water here seriously makes me gag. Even ice tastes gross.

Saturday, I began my training. I learned how the register works. It was strange, because I was the only College Program(CP) in my class, and everyone else had already had a couple of other training days besides Traditions.

On Sunday, I had some location-specific training. The first thing I did that morning was get my costume! I was already excited about it, because people had been telling me that they were like pajamas. They weren't lying! The general Adventureland Merch costume really does look and feel like pajamas. The pants even have a mesh panel up the side, which is great for the hot and humid weather here. I can wear that costume in any of the shops in Adventureland, but I also have a pirate costume that I can wear when I'm working in the Pirates of the Caribbean shop. There's a third costume that I'll wear when I'm working the Glow Carts, but I won't have that training until the end of September, so I'm not even going to worry about it.

Costuming was a huge pain. Those of you who read Alyssa's post already know- costuming is no place for vanity. The important thing to remember is that the sizes for the costumes are meaningless. They act as a general guide- for example a Large Long pair of pants should be longer than a Large Regular pair of pants. But I had to try on every single pair of Large Long pajama pants before I found two pairs that were long enough. So for future interns: Don't get too worked up over costuming! And make sure to try on a whole bunch of everything! Something will fit you.

After we did costuming, we did some e-training and then walked around Adventureland for a while. Our facilitator showed us a few things and had us interact with the guests pretty frequently. We had lanyards for pin trading, which was so much fun! I love pin trading with the little kids, especially. The grown-ups are sometimes kind of rude about pin trading, but apparently it's pretty competitive, so that sort of makes sense. I'm going to try to stay out of it on a personal level, since it looks like an expensive hobby.

When I got home from work, I got changed for church. They have a late sacrament meeting for the LDS kids who have to work at the parks during the morning session, but it was canceled for a CES fireside. We went anyways- it's good to go to some church. After that, we headed BACK to the magic kingdom for... the cast preview of Mickey's Boo to You Halloween Parade! We waited at the cast bus stop forEVER, until they finally let us into the park. We went through the utilidors and came up in Liberty Square, where they had all of us stay in a big quick-service restaurant while they got all of the guests out of the park. After they let us out of the restaurant(at midnightish), we were herded into... the Haunted Mansion! I was totally geeking out at this point, because it was my first time in the Magic Kingdom outside of work, and going on the Haunted Mansion ride at midnight just felt so epic! As we got off the ride, we were directed to the parade route, and at 1, the Headless Horseman rode! IT WAS SO AWESOME. The rest of the parade was fun, too. I've still got the song stuck in my head, but I don't mind, because THAT is how good it is.

I had Monday off. Woohoo sleeping in! I went to the Magic Kingdom and played in Adventureland and Frontierland and Liberty Square for a few hours, and then headed back home because I was out of milk and had to go to the store. Woohoo grocery shopping!

On Tuesday I had my Magic Kingdom Orientation. Yeah... most people have the BEFORE they actually start working in the Magic Kingdom. Woopsies. :) The orientation was FANTASTIC. Yes, I said fantastic. The Magic Kingdom is all about fantasy. Our facilitators for the orientation were super, and I could really tell how much they loved working at the Magic Kingdom.

Today, I had my first day of register training. I got to work in every single shop in Adventureland and interacted a lot with the guests. I didn't mess up too much, and my facilitator was nice/seemed to like me. I'm getting more familiar with the utilidors and all the backrooms. I'm still a little confused when it comes to figuring out where the shops are in relation to the utilidors, but hopefully I'll have it down tomorrow.

WDW does a really good job of training employees. I have gotten such fantastic training. I'm getting one-on-one training for sixteen hours, and that is so incredibly helpful. The correct onstage behavior is constantly modeled for me, and the facilitator is able to answer any questions I have right there on the spot. It's a very effective way to train new employees, and it seems to be working well. I've only heard of one person who wasn't fully prepared for work on their first official day alone.

Aaaaand that's it! Life is going good. I'm definitely getting more used to the humidity. I haven't been seeing as many little lizards around... it must be getting cooler? The bus system has become my friend. The bus drivers, not so much. I've got the whole laundry thing figured out, too. No quarters necessary, thank goodness. We use little moneycard things. It works pretty well. The washers lock while they're doing a load, so you had better be certain about the wash settings before you start the load! But the locking is great, because you don't have to stay in the laundry room while your clothes are getting washed.

Adios!

The Adventures

So... I know it's been a while since I posted, but that's because my life was really dull. Not in a bad way. I worked and spent time with my family, which I really enjoyed. But nothing particularly unusual or epic or Disney-related. And then... my life became nothing BUT adventures, so it's been difficult to get computer time. Etcetera.

This next bit has nothing to do with Disney, but people have been asking me what I've been up to, so here's the summary of my last week: Last Wednesday, I said farewell to my family(which was a tearful moment), and my dad and I drove to Seattle. I checked my two heavy bags and went through security. The TSA people at the Sea-Tac airport are nice, but not particularly efficient. I got to the gate and checked in with the flight agent. You see, instead of having a seat number on my boarding pass, it merely said "check in at gate." It turned out that the flight was oversold by 16 people, and NOBODY was volunteering to get off. Nobody. People who checked in first got their seats. I guess I was behind? Anyways, thanks for that, HURRICANE IRENE.

 So I didn't get on my flight. I did, however, get a hotel voucher, a first class ticket for the next day, and a voucher I can use on a future ticket. And they told my that my baggage would be put in a locked room(remember that). So that was nice. And then I got to spend the rest of the day in Seattle with my dad. We went to REI and the Woodland Park Zoo(which is, by the way, my favorite zoo in the history of ever). The next morning, I got up EARLY and went to the airport. I didn't have to check any bags(since they were already in New Jersey), and I already had my boarding pass WITH A SEAT NUMBER on it. No problems in security, and I got to the gate in plenty of time. Other people got bumped from the flight... but not me! I felt bad for the people who didn't get on, of course, but not bad enough to give up my seat and say goodbye to my dad all over again.

 I got into Newark, NJ at around 3ish Eastern time. THERE ARE NO BATHROOMS IN THAT AIRPORT. It took me forever to find a restroom. I was in literal pain by the time I did find one. But I did find one, so all was well. I called my aunt to find out how close she was(ten minutes), and then went to find my poor bags. First I talked to your stereotypical NJ lady, accent and all, who informed me that I was in the wrong line, and to go "ovah theah" to get my bags. She waggled her fingers in the general direction of "theah," and I headed off to find my bags. As I was heading to the correct window, I saw my bags... just standing against the wall... in the open. I assumed that a security person would jump me if I tried to get my bags, so I waited in line. At the end, an angry Jamaican lady informed me that if I could see my bags, I could just take them. That... bugged me. My luggage didn't appear to have been tampered with in any way, but I hate being lied to. Either the airline employee in Seattle had blatantly lied, or didn't know what he was talking about, which is still a lie. I've seen this a lot in airports and with airlines. I'm not sure what the deal is there.

 Anyhoo, my wonderful aunt Nancy picked me up from the airport! I was in pain from the long flight, and it was a looong drive back to her place because some key roads were still closed from the flooding, but she still made me enjoy my ride! New Jersey is very flat and very green. Almost like Seattle green, but a lighter green. We made it back to her apartment safe and sound. I got somewhat settled, and played with my cousin and a little girl that my aunt babysits. I enjoyed it. It was nice and peaceful and quiet... quite the opposite of the last two days.

 The next day we went to the Turtleback Zoo, which was fantastic, but I won't bore you with all my zoofangirliness. But zoos=awesome in my book. Then... we went to New York City! The first stop was the Central Park Zoo(like I said... zoos are my thing), which is an extremely well done zoo. It gets really crowded, and it doesn't have the large exhibits that seem to really wow people at big zoos, but it's a zoo that knows its limitations and does extremely well within them. We walked down 5th Avenue... went to FAO Schwarz(coolest toy store EVER)... walked down to the GE building... ate street food... had Mister Softee ice cream... it was a good day. Hot, but good.

 Sunday, we had to go back to the city to pick up my aunt Molly. We had a pretty low-key Sunday, which was good. On Monday, we went back to NYC. This time, we went to Washington Square and I met up with Colby, an old friend of mine from Alaska. We walked around some of the NYU campus-ish area and got falafel sandwiches. Later, I met up with my aunts and cousin again for some more NYC fun. Molly and I went shopping and got awesome fruit smoothies from one of the street vendors. At the end of the day, we took the subway back to where we had parked the car(for the record, Nancy is a parallel-parking goddess), and then drove home.

 Tuesday was low-key, which was a good thing, because it rained. Hard. We went to Kohl's, and half of the parking lot was flooded, that's how hard it was raining. On Wednesday... I got up super early, and my wonderful aunt Nancy took me to the airport, with my also-wonderful aunt Molly coming along to help me inside the airport. I got everything together, went through security(it's never crowded for the super early flights), and I was on my way! My plane was NOT oversold, and I got on my seat just fine! I finished Pride & Prejudice, and got to Orlando without any major hitches.

 I used Mears for my travel from the airport to the program check-in. The counter was really far from my baggage claim, and I felt like a ridiculous camel with all my bags. I had to wait a bit for a van, but it wasn't bad. There were three other CP people in the van with me. The shuttle person dropped off two other people at their hotels first. I wondered about that a little, because our location was closer, and there were more of us. When we got dropped off, though, I found out why.. none of the college interns tip! People: It is polite to tip your transportation from the airport, whether taxi or shuttle. They have to help you with your luggage, but it's up to them whether or not to be nice to your luggage and whether or not to take you to your location first. Tipping your shuttle driver will make life easier on future interns.

 The check-in process was crazy, but everything went smoothly. There are people who will tell you exactly where to go, what to do, how to act, and where to sign. No question is ever too dumb to ask. Most of the people helping you did the college program themselves, so they understand your confusion and possible nervousness.

 My apartment is in the Chatham building! I wasn't super thrilled about that at first, but I've gotten to like it. I was given my apartment number and key, and about 30 minutes to get my bags in and get back to the bus stop to go to Casting. None of my roommates were in, but there was a note saying hi and a bag full of cookies. I ran out as quickly as I had come in, because I didn't want to miss that bus. Casting was... interesting. They whipped me right through the hiring process that took me a week at the grocery store I worked at back home. I got my assignment: Adventureland Merchandise! I am SO EXCITED ABOUT THAT. Seriously, that's one of three locations where I wanted to work. the other two were Tower of Terror or somewhere in the Animal Kingdom, and after being here, I've found out that the costumes there tend to be more comfortable. That's fantastic, because while I'm getting used to the humidity, I'm not used to it to the point where I could wear some of the costumes I've seen.

 After casting, I made a Wal-Mart run with a couple of my new friends. We got lost getting there and back, but figured it out in the end. I think I'm going to stick with taking the bus from now on- it will take longer, but there will be less chance of getting lost. When I got back, I met my roommate, B(I'mma  use letters for my roommates until I get the okay on using their names)! We share a bedroom, so I was glad to meet her right off. I spent the rest of the night unpacking and getting settled and meeting my other two roommates. Nothing too interesting happened.

On Thursday(today), I slept in a little, and then made another Wal-Mart run for some laundry supplies. When I got back, I had some lunch, and then I went to the Welcome session, where they covered housing. I made some more friends while I was there. Everybody here is so nice! It's so easy to start conversations with people, which is great, because there's a lot of waiting. We're all in the same boat, and we all came here for the same reason: we want to work for Disney. Some people want to work for Disney for different reasons, and that's what makes the conversations more than just running through a checklist.

 Later today, I went to Grocery Bingo. This is a Very Big Deal here. Basically, if you win, you get free groceries. I read about the crowds online, and let me tell you, none of the other bloggers are exaggerating. There were hundreds of people there tonight. I'm glad I got there an hour early. I didn't win any groceries, but I still had fun. They ended up sending my group back outside so the next set of hundreds of people could get in. I had the option of waiting in line again, but I decided to just go home. I'm getting the hang of the bus system... I think. Anyways, that's all for now! Thanks for reading, and hopefully I'll be able post soon. :)