And just like that…

So I should start off this blog post by telling you that I’m finally home! I flew in a couple of days ago, and one of the first things on my to do list was to completely update this blog. I went through and corrected all of those terrible spelling mistakes (so much easier on  my Dad’s laptop than it is on my tablet) and added some photos and tried to expand on some of my paragraphs a bit. Most of the time I wrote my blog when I had a rare spare hour. This should give you an indication of how busy life can be on the CRP programme. For one thing I noticed my posts became less and less frequent as the year passed, but I tried to keep them as detailed as possible so it would still be in some way helpful to anyone thinking of applying to the programme. It’s been over two months since my last update, and it has been the busiest and best part of the programme. Because so much has happened, I am splitting it into sections so not all the events run entirely chronologically, however it will make a lot more sense to read than if I listed every little thing in the order it happened.

Work

If there’s anyone wondering why I only got back a few days ago when I was due to finish my contract at the end of October, it was because I got a 4 week extension. I was incredibly happy to receive my extension as it meant that I had another four weeks to earn some money and also to finish off doing the things I wanted to do- be it my staycations, new restaurants or any day trips. It also gave me more time to spend with my friends, and was particularly lovely when it gave me the chance to better get to know people that arrived very late in my programme that I may barely have spoken to if I had left earlier.

When you are due to leave you need to send in your flight details to housing as proof that you are leaving the country to get your travel allowance. But my work location kept saying that they wasn’t sure if I was getting an extension or not, which left me in a potentially tricky situation with housing. If I didn’t get an extension, I would have missed the deadline for my travel allowance reminder. Luckily however I did get the extension, and shortly after I booked my flight home and let housing know. Although I had been unlucky with timings in regards to not getting into service until later, my date did mean that I had a good chance of getting an extension in case they needed more staff over the busy food and wine period.

For the last two months of my programme Epcot hosted the International Food and Wine Festival, where there are over 20 temporary outside cooking stations set up representing countries from all over the world. The idea is that there are cheaper ( though still comparatively expensive- it is Disney after all) small portions which enable you to try different types of food without the expense of a full sit down meal in just one country. It does create a great atmosphere in the parks and attendance soars- other than Christmas and New year it is our busiest time, which means that its generally a good time to be a server as you get lots of guests coming through, and a surprising amount still want a full meal despite the tastings they’ve had all day. There’s a big focus on alcohol, which can be good and bad. I found more guests drinking than ever, and a wider variety of drinks, all of which up your tip average. However, the downside to this is that there were lots of drunken people around the park. We’re not supposed to serve people over a certain alcohol limit, but people will always find a way to be served and we had lots of rowdy drinking groups. Very few did anything particularity bad, but even so most of the large groups were loud, chanted, swore and stumbled around, completely oblivious to the fact that they were still in a family friendly park with kids around. On the whole though it was kept under control and I was lucky in that I didn’t have any awkward situations to face- although a number of my friends had to refuse alcohol service to some which is uncomfortable for all involved!

One of this things I enjoy about work is the culture amongst ourselves with food. That sounds like such a fatty thing to say, but oh well. On a regular basis if someone was hungover, running late, or simply fancied it, we would organise a taxi that stopped off at panera bread, the local coffee shop for food. It was always a good chance to catch up with people and have a laugh, and incredibly useful if you were hungover and couldn’t face the transtar cast buses! After work on a pm there were regular meals as well. Lots of people, myself included, find it difficult to work a grocery shop into our dchedules and we found it much easier to pop to a restaurant after work for food- somewhere like TGIs, BJs or Applebees were popular choices though we occasionally varied it a bit. Before this programme I could never have imagined having a full sit down meal at 11:30 at night but some of the best nights of the programme were these meals- they were so easy to organise as you just asked around people who were working, and it meant that you had chance to socialise with people that you may not have any days off with.

As I just mentioned it was often difficult to get time off with certain people. This was compounded because for a large part of my programme we have been understaffed, and for months on end we were on permanent 6 day weeks. Quite often on our days off we were already exhausted from working 6 days and usually several mids, and then had to choose between doing useful things and socialising. I found the balance quite difficult. For the last 4 months (or even more) of my programme I didn’t do any grocery shopping as I found it much more convenient to either eat out or not eat. Being in service does give you that luxury. One thing to note though is that people were excellent with picking up or swapping shifts. It was hard to take shifts when we were already on 6 days, but if someone was desperate then someone always offered to help. As much as we could we also communicated amongst ourselves to swap shifts so that we had more mid shifts, but put us back on 5 days. This was good, but mid shifts are also tiring as they are often 10-12 hour days, depending on what time you had to start and which section you had at the end. To be fair, a mid shift would have sounded like hell to me before the programme, but I can honestly say that because the work itself is so good and so fast paced it goes pretty quickly- you just feel it afterwards!

I was also incredibly happy to be made a trainer in service. Bit of a white lie- when I got my first service training shift I was terrified. I felt like it was a lot of responsibility- more than podium or food running- and was nervous about it. But after my first shift I discovered I loved it. It gave me a lot of pride when I saw my trainees succed at their jobs- I was fortunate that everyone I trained I liked and expected them to be good from seeing them work in other areas, but I was still happy to be a part of their training experience. For anyone that is thinking about training but is nervous, I’d honestly say just go for it- you’ll probably enjoy it more than you think!

One of my shifts was livened up considerably one day when a gentleman proposed at my table! He’d told the podium at check in who in turn had informed me, and after seating he came up and gave me (yes–me!!) the ring and asked me to bring it to the table with the meal. It was so cute as he looked like he was bricking it, but she said yes!

As I mentioned before I really did enjoy my job. Although there was the occasional day when I would come into work not feeling it, usually I was cheered up the end of my shift. I loved everyone I worked with and I loved talking to my guests. The more experience I gained the better I got as a server, which meant that I was able to hold decent conversations with guests even when I was really busy. I also felt like I got lots of recognition from guests. Lots of guests would write notes on receipts or even leave me little cards in the checkpads at the end of the meal thanking me for my service. I had several people ask to speak to a manager to say good things of me, asking for me when they returned to the restaurant, I had some write four keys card for me. My proudest moment was receiving an applause-o-gram, which means they’ve gone to guest services specifically to give you recognition for outstanding guest service. These were all things that made me feel valued in the workplace, more so than my managers who I felt didn’t particularly care about us- probably because they know we are temporary workers and will be gone soon enough. But when I had a good guest interaction I didn’t care about that as it was them that made work worth it- I even had several more guests give me their email addresses and ask me to stay with them!

The most surreal thing I found at work at the end was Bonfire night (or Guy Fawkes Day as they call it over there). My very first day in the Rose and Crown was on Bonfire night last year, and they had a little celebration backstage with food and gave out pins and stuff. They did the same again this year, and looking around and seeing the set up the same, but with an entirely new cast was so strange. For the last 6 weeks of my programme I was the most senior, as there was no one else in my arrival group left and everyone that had previously been more senior had left. It got me thinking about how much has changed over the last year. Was quite emotional actually! It really hit me then that I was about to leave.

Day to Day Fun

I tried to fill every day with as much fun as possible to make the most of being here, even if they were only little things like going to the Outlets, or chilling at someone’s flat watching films. One memorable night was when we went back to hoop de do revue for food. It’s dinner and a show, and so much fun- especially as included in the price you get unlimited Sangria, which of course we took full advantage of, before an evening of car bombs in Raglan and then HOB. Such a good night, and one where I spoke to a few people who were pretty new who I became good friends with in my last month or so. Another lovely meal was when we went to the melting pot on international drive as a goodbye meal to those who arrived in September but received a programme extension. Its a really cool place, where you start with a bowl of melted cheese to start and dip things in, and then a bowl of broth on which you dip in and cook your meat, potatoes and vegetables at the table, then followed by a chocolate fondue. Would definitely recommend!

Another thing to recommend is to do a prop picture. Sammy organised one on the Tower of Terror, and the concept is basically instead of just screaming like how people usually do in ride photos, you do something comedic, usually involving props. This was our result…

 

I’m the one having a shower with a cap on. It took a fair bit of organising but we were all really pleased with the result.

Speaking of Disney rides, there was a sad sad day when they closed Maelstrom, the ride in Norway, because they were closing it down to remodel it as a Frozen themed ride in Arandelle. There was quite a lot of discontent regarding this. A lot of people feel like the World Showcase is there to act as a reasonably authentic representation of the countries that are there. So even though they can be stereotypical and commercial, they do at least endeavour to show some sort of truth regarding that country. However, they are now replacing a ride based off a real land with a fictional one, which many people dislike. Some Norwegians even told me that guest genuinely get confused, thinking Arandelle is real and not knowing that Norway is actually real. I know it sounds crazy, but from some of the guests I encountered its not wholly surprising, just a little shocking and sad that people are that uneducated. Some of the questions I got asked at work…but I wont go into that here! You could write an entirely new blog on dumb things guests say!

I had one more concert while I was in Orlando- it was Steel Panther (who I’ve seen several times at home and are amazing) and Judas Priest, who I have always wanted to see. It was again at the Hard Rock Cafe in Universal, and it was as incredible as I expected.

In the last week as well I  stayed in pop century and Port Orleans French Quarter, meaning that I had stayed in every resort on property! I was so pleased to achieve this and it’s been something that I’ve really enjoyed. I love seeing all of the different resorts and types of rooms available, and I now consider myself something of an expert at them!

One last thing was that I had the opportunity to go to an NFL game! It was something I’ve always kind of wanted to do, and Disney housing put on an event which included tickets and transportation down there. We watched the home team- Tampa Bay Buccaneers- play the Atlanta Falcons, and it was a really good game. I got far too excited and spent loads of money on merchandise but it was such a good day I think it was worth it, even if we did lose 🙂

So that’s everything worth mentioning, but of course it only just scratches the surface. The social life out here really is great. There’s always someone available to do something with-big or small- and its these moments which made me realise why I came here. It’s funny, you have an idea of what you want life to be like out here- you want it to be a shiny perfect bubble. Well it’s not perfect- there are problems, whether it’s with work, or hosuing, but on the whole the reality of actually living this life is so much sweeter than I imagines.

Trips

I thought I’d designate a separate paragraph for the trips- mainly because there have been so many of them!

One of the biggest trips I did was the Disney Wonder Cruise. Before I came out to America, the trips I had planned in my head were places like Las Vegas and New York. But I realised some time through that I can visit those places any time for the same sort of price, and upon other peoples recommendations I changed to wanting to do a Disney cruise and Disneyland California. So me Will and Ashleigh booked a cruise for a few days after Will’s programme ended. And we chose well- we did a six night Western Caribbean Cruise! We get amazing discounts as Disney cast members and it was too good an opportunity to pass up. The itinerary was incredible- the Cayman Islands, Mexico and Castaway Cay, Disney’s private island, with two at sea days. The ship departed from Miami and was the Wonder ship- it was so luxurious. The food was good and it was glorious to spend time relaxing and being a tourist. In Grand Caymn we got off the ship and found a tour operator at port, which was cheaper than pre booking one through Disney and was much better value. In Mexico we prebooked a caving excursion which is in one of the top five experiences of my life. We went into an underground cave that was only recently discovered, and when we sat down and turned off our headlamps you could see nothing at all- it was total darkness. Incredible. In Castaway Cay we wondered off the ship and did a 5 km run in the morning, and explored the island the rest of the day. I also had an amazing massage- they’re really expensive but Will had won a gift voucher and gave it to me as he doesn’t really like the spa. We also ate in the fine dining restaurant- all food on the cruise is included apart from this place called Palo, which is $25. It may seem like an unnecessary extra, but I can honestly say it was 100% worth it-both the food and service was the best I have ever received in my life.I was so sad when the trip was over- it had been 7 days of pure luxury and relaxation, and I think every CRP should try and do one.

On the way back from Miami I got insured on the car and drove part of the way back. I’d done this before a few times in the last few months, but never had the confidence to do it for an extended amount of time. However, Miami seemed to be the catalyst to change that as I felt fine by the end of the drive.

So much so, that soon I booked a car and drove myself and a few friends to Clearwater beach for the day. It was a very pretty beach, but the thing I enjoyed most was simply being with my friends outside of Disney! I also drove to Anna Mara Island another day, which is absolutely gorgeous. All of the houses are pastel coloured, and while it caters to tourists its not a massively touristy area which is very refreshing. Me Roisin and Roseanna also took advantage of having the same days off and organised an overnight trip to St Augustine, which is about a two hour drive away. It’s the oldest town in America, founded with the original Spanish settlers. Because of this it’s got more history than anywhere I’ve seen in America before. It was an incredibly charming and historic place- so much so that we spontaneously decided to stay an extra night! Oh Florida life…

All these trips were made possible because we were, after months and months, finally taken off six day weeks. It was great timing for me, as it coincided with my extension so I actually had the opportunity to travel while I was still working- something that had been very difficult before.

And the final trip I did was also one of the best- Disneyland California! The week before we left was scary as none of my vacation time had been approved, and I had 5 shifts that needed to be picked up. A lot of the time people would call in personal for a day or two for vacations- it was generally accepted, and fine as long as you didn’t call in sick becasue that was actually lying. However, my manager was really strict with me and hinted at serious repercussions if I called in- even though people do it at the time. It was because one shift that was getting covered for the cruise didn’t go through properly, so it looked like I just didn’t call in for my shift, even though I had spoken to someone about it to ensure it went through. It was really upsetting for me at the time, as I really had tried to make sure everything was set for me leaving, and then it turned out that it hadn’t been sorted. I know it probably could have been sorted, and would have been if I was more friendly with the manager, which left me upset. I just decided to not let it upset me, but it did make me worry for California. However, I was overwhelmed with gratitude when  different people offered to pick up my shifts, and within 12 hours it was all sorted. I couldn’t believe how helpful people were. It meant so much that they was willing to help me out and it meant that I could go on a trip that turned out to be so incredibly special. I was a bit paranoid and kept checking my email and schedule to make sure that nothing changed last minute again, but luckily everything went smoothly.

The trip itself was amazing. The first day we did LA and the Hollywood walk of fame, a few museums and the sign, and the rest of the time we spent in Disneyland. And I must say Disneyland is so much more charming than Disney world. Because it’s older, it has a lot more charm and it much less commercialised. It was weird being in a Disney that we didn’t recognise, but we all had a great time. We stayed in the Disneyland hotel which to me is everytjing a Disney resort should be- its classy but has those little touches of Disney that make it magical. I actually had an extra night there because I mistakenly booked a flight for a day later than the others, which meant I got more time to explore and got to see the night time show, World of Color, again!

Last Week

So, as to how my last week went. It was very surreal. I wasn’t looking forward to it at all, but as soon as it hit my last week I couldn’t wait to be back. It wasn’t that I wanted to leave exactly, I was just looking forward to seeing my family and friends ( and most importantly, pets) again. Another thing was that much as I like my job, and my social life and all the things that my programme offered, I knew I could never be 100% happy because I feel the work environment could be much improved. Disney as a company are great, but in my location I felt by and largely uncared for and let down at certain points, for several reasons. I could ignore it for 13 months, but I know that I could never stay in a work location for any longer unless I was truly happy with everything.

My last shift felt exceedingly ordinary actually-nothing much out of the ordinary. The only difference was that I finally received my year pin. Most CRP’s technically finish their programme a week and a half or so before their year anniversary and so don’t receive the pin. However, one thing that was fortunate about my arrival date meant that there was always a good chance of me getting an extension which meant I could get it! And it was beautiful-my managers had completely forgotten to put it through, so when I reminded them it only gave them enough time for me to get it to wear it for one day instead of a few weeks. But I was so proud to wear it and felt very lucky that I had a chance to earn it.

After my last shift I tied up a few loose ends with regards to costuming and my bank, and then met some of my friends for a final dinner in the Rose and Crown (where else) to have a magical star cocktail- mine and Sammy’s favourite. It was also my last day in Epcot so I did a few rides, and then we watched illuminations, throwing my work shoes in the lake afterwards as per tradition.

Clocking Out for the last time

 

On my last full day not working, I hit up animal kingdom, hollwood studios and magic kingdom for the last time. As soon as I left work, an entire weight had lifted off my shoulders, and the parks were magical in a way that they haven’t been for months. I got some pictures and went on all my favourite rides- Annie and Chloe even made the effort to see me for a short while before dashing off to work, an effort which I really appreciated. Later on loads of other people who weren’t working met me in the contemporary. I was staying in a deluxe studio for my last night, as a treat for being my last staycation. The room was gorgeous with a lovely view of the lake, and when everyone arrived I was so touched. We watched Christmas Wishes and Celebrate the Magic from the balcony. They were the only shows that never ever lost their magic, and to see them for the last time was very sad. But I knew it was time to be moving on, planning for my next adventure.

So to conclude this very very long essay, the flight was home and I am safely back in chilly England. It really has been the most incredible experience- I’ve learned more than I ever thought I would and had more fun than I could have imagined. I would recommend the programme to anyone. Like I mentioned before, it’s not squeaky clean, so don’t come with the expectation that everything is going to be perfect. It’s not perfect. But it is a wonderful, life changing adventure.

 

The beginning of the end

I’ve recently had an email from housing saying that I have only 6 weeks left and I need to send them my details for leaving the country. That’s insane. I can’t believe that its come around so quickly! I well and truly have the fear now. In so many respects I am ready to leave, but then I think of saying goodbye to everyone and seeing wishes fir the last time and I really start to get upset. So for now I’ll think instead about all the exciting things I have done!

The best thing that has happened since my last post was that I went home for a week. When I applied for the programme I originally decided I wouldn’t spend money on returning home when I could spend the money on another trip somewhere else. But my cousin was getting married while I was away and she asked me to be bridesmaid, and that completely changes it for me and I knew I had to be back. And actually, even without the wedding I was so glad to be back. I have recently started to miss home terribly- I think its because now I’ve been sway for so long that it’s really hit me. After being home for a week, I really appreciated what I have here in america and its helped me enjoy the last few weeks even more. But it also made me less nervous about coming home St the end of my programme. I currently have zero plans as to what I’m going to do when I return and was getting a bit worried about it, but just being at home with my family and my pets made me so happy that I know it’ll be fine and I’ll be able to figure things out when I’m ready. So I would now actually really recommend going home to people. Yes, flights are expensive but it helps change your outlook on a lot of things for the better, and helps you look on the programme with fresh eyes.

In America though I’ve also had some pretty sad times now becssue so many of my friends have now finished their programme. One of the nice traditions that we do is called last tables. Your last day is always an am shift on the Wednesday, and anyone who is not working comes in to eat at the restaurant to be served by whoever is leaving, and I’ve done that twice now where both times several people have been leaving that day. It’s so weird as these are the people theta in’ve soent most of my programme with and have been some of my closest friends, and not having them around isn’t very nice at all. I keep coming into work and expecting to see one of them. I know we’ll see each other again, but it just won’t be with the regularity of ease as it is here, but it’ll be so nice to have friends back home with whom you’ve made so many wonderful memories.

On mine and Amy’s last night together we went to magic kingdom and tried to get in at Be Our Guest, the beauty and the bests themed restaurant inside the beasts castle. Reservations run out months in advance, so the best way to get in is to keep going to the podium and seeing if there are any cancellations. We waited outside for an hour before there was room, but we finally got in! It was well worth the wait as the restaurant is beautiful and so well themed. There’s a study room, the west wing (where we ate) and the ball room, and you can meet the beast in his study as well. The food was ok-nothing special compared to other Disney restaurants, but the atmosphere was amazing and it was so special for me and Amy to be there as we’d been talking about doing it for months, and it was the last thing we did together just us two.

I’ve done a few more resort strays as well- contemporary( where we stayed club level so had all the free food, and and an amazing view of magic kingdom and wishes from our balcony) Coronado springs, old key west and the treehouse villas at Saratoga springs. The treehouses were absolutely incredible, as they sleep up to 8 so we had a larger amount of people go and a living room where it was nice and easy to chill out. When I went home I booked a resort stay for the night before my flight home and the night I returned from home. A taxi to the airport is about $40 and with cast discount and splitting between us a room isn’t that much more expensive, and you get free transportation to the airport and its a much nicer experience. And it was so lovely to come from home straight to all my friends saying they’d missed me. Made me feel very loved ❤
So on to nights out- still a big part of the programme! I still go to lasses regularly, and I even now have a position which was fantastic and completely unexpected on my part. I’m songbird, which means I have to make sure everyone is singing and changing our songs- for fun when we’re in the taxi and when we’re playing the other countries to show us as one nig team working together. All very noble haha. One thing I will say is this year I have become a much better drinker- I can stomach beer now which I couldn’t before (we play with beer for the games so you have to be able to drink it) and I’m getting better at downing it when we play waterfall, so I’ve divinely achieved that this year!

There have also been quite a few more throw ins as we’ve had lots of large groups arrive-again some really great people. I do love throw ins because they’re in bars not clubs so you get a good chance to talk to people that you sometimes only see on nights out. Theres a lovely atmosphere, I think because every can’t help but think of their own throw in and how much has changed since their own throw in. I’ve also been to backbooth a few times which I love, and Ibar which is cheesy music that isn’t my thing but I have a good night with everyone anyway. The one place I haven’t been to in agesis House of Blues. Its my favourite club of all time and I’ll probably miss it more than some of the parks so I need to make sure I get back there. There was also another international party in glitz, which is basically like a big happy Mondays meet up but none of the games, just dancing and unlimited alcohol(when you can actually get to the bar). Cracking night out. Me and Sammy have also been to city walk a few times, which is universals version of downtown Disney but. uch better because its a night out for grown ups not kids. They have some really nice bars there, including a karaoke kne but where you are backed up by a live band! We’ve had some really nice nights there, and I’m glad we went even though we kind of started quite late into my programme.
In city walk as well there is the hard rock hotel, where I went to see Deep Purple play. I was so excited when I knew they were touring and made sure I had an am shift so that I would definitely be able to make it and it was well worth the effort. All of the band members are really old now nut they still put on a great performance, and they’d included some really interesting elements into their set, like when all the lights were turned off except for ones at the end of the drummers drumsticks which also lit up the back screen in time with the best which was really cool.

In the cinemas in city walk as well they also put on a live rocky horror show as they show the film, and that was really entertaining. I’d never seen the film before and I think you need to know it to get all the jokes from he film. Nevertheless it was a great laugh and I would love to do it again.

Halloween Horror Nights have also started at universal- me Sammy Jen and Annie went last night. They have a rocky horror show there which is a shortened version of the show and with universal show-ability it was amazing! They also have scare zones where people come and frighten you as you walk around, and of course the scare houses. I’ve done them before at home but was all of a sudden really scared to do it and wanted to back out, but the others helped me and and I ended up really enjoying them. I’ve nought a frequent fear pass so I’ll be able to go as many times as I want for the next month or so so I’m hoping to go again a few times. Mickey not so scary has also started. I’ve got a ticket to go in a few weeks, but I’ve already seen the fireworks as I went with Chloe to see them from the contemporary which was lovely. I saw fanstamic that night as well (taking any opportunity I get to do these things now I’m near the end) and after hallowwishes we sat on the beach for a while and I really knew I was so lucky to be here.

Ive also had a new roommate move in we had a bunked installed a few months ago but no one came, but now aya, my Japanese roommate has moved in. She is really lovely actually- she’s going to be working guest relations in animal kingdom lodge so our ours are basically going to be opposite. Only bad thing is that with three of us and all our stuff in the room it is VERY crowded and I honestly feel like I’m living ins hostel room, which I resent a little bit as after a long day at work I want to come back to a room I feel comfortable in.
Last bit of good news- I finally ticked one of the major things off my bucket list and went skydiving! We went to the skydiving space centre which is next to the Kennedy space centre, which is about an hours drive. It was me will Ashleigh and Sammy. We did the highest tandem fall in the world-18,000 feet! We were all tricking it before the jump, especially as there was so much waiting around to do. But then after all that waiting it happened really quickly and they barely gave you enough time to think. I would recommend anyone to do it- the feeling was indescribable. It was expensive, especially as for something like that you want to buy all the photos and videos you can, but it was worth every penny.

So, that’s a quick overview of the last month. I can’t even fit all of the wonderful smaller things that have happened over here into this post. Will miss it all so much when I got home
Until next time xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

where is the time going??

Another couple of crazy months have passed by. All of a sudden I’ve become one of the more senior CRPs in the pavilion, who only has 2 months left. I’m one of those that sees people in the merchandise shops and have no idea who they are, and who struggles to remember all of the new people on podium. Its so weird- I couldn’t ever imagine it happening but it has!

It’s been incredibly strange to see the pavilion completely change. Most of the people that I worked with on podium have now left, and not one person on podium currently worked with me, and its been like that now for a while. Everything looks different. Not necessarily better or worse though. In general I enjoy it, simply because I am so comfortable here now that I no longer feel shy speaking to people I don’t know, and I know where I am in the programme. I’m happy to see that there are a lot of nice people coming into the pavilion, and despite the fact that ill see them comparatively shortly on my programme id like to think we can still be friends. It’s nice to see them with their whole programme head of them, even though I don’t envy them at all as I am so happy to be where I am right now.

The last few months have been cracking. The job itself- serving- I love. I really do. Its challenging (or it feels so after podium) but yet not ridiculously hard. Theres a lot more scope to have fun with it and you generally work more independently, which I prefer as you’re not relying on other people. And it sounds cheesy but most of the time I genuinely enjoy speaking with my guests. Don’t get me wrong- some of them are dicks, but a lot of the time you meet genuinely nice people. I’ve even had about 5 separate families over the last few months give me their email addresses and say that if I ever need a place to stay when I’m in their city I’m welcome to stay with them. First time it happened I was dumbfounded. Whether I take them up on the offer or not (i’d like to think I would one day, but maybe it would be a bit weird) it is the thought behind the offers that count. And you never know, maybe one day I’ll tour America and run into all my guests again!

Sometimes at the end of the night I’ll have one table left, and want them to go so I can get home. But them I’ll begin talking to them and completely forget about wanting to go home because we get into a really interesting conversation. It sometimes still shocks me how genuinely interested people are in where I’m from, and how I’m enjoying my time over here. They ask loads of questions- if I’m quiet I’ll stand and speak all day to them. the only time this becomes a problem is when I’m really busy. The last month or so has been astoundingly quiet ( which has meant more time off-yay!). But it was busier when I first began and it was hard to find the time to talk when you have a million and one other things to do. Its strange how stressful serving seems while you’re working when its not really. The worst thing that could happen is someone sends their steak back, realistically, but catch any of us in the kitchen when its busy and we’re stressed to hell worrying that someone’s waited more than a minute for some more ketchup! Its funny actually. I certainly don’t worry in work as much as I used to, as I try and keep in mind what it is at the end of the day, serving food, nothing more serious so there is no point getting stressed. And now that I’m comfortable in the job I don’t feel weeded even when I’m busy- experience really does help you keep things under control. I’ve also had the chance to train food running now which I enjoyed, even though once I became a server I stopped enjoying food running by itself.

So, on to more exciting things that I’ve been doing. I went on my first trip outside of Florida which was pretty cool. Me Lydia and Will went to Atlanta for a few days and had a great time. We rented a car and was going to split the driving between us. Problem was I only passed my test a week before leaving here and hadn’t driven since. I spent a bit of time driving but I found it stressful and nearly went into the wrong lane. Had some practice later and got better though, so I’m hoping ill improve my confidence in time until I can drive without another driver in the car keeping me calm!

In Atlanta we went to the coca cola factory, Georgia aquarium(which is so beautiful- I could have spent days there) and the martin Luther king area. The martin lither king centre was great- there was a museum exhibit, you could see his house and also the church where he preached. The coke factory was more interesting than I expected, although its not the original plant. We also spent a day in the six flags park. I have dreamed about going to a six flags park since I played roller coaster tycoon when I was younger, and the place did not disappoint. I couldn’t believe how many amazing roller coasters there were, I think there were like 9!

We drove back really late on the night. It was a seven hour journeys each way. on the day there it didn’t feel that long at all because we had so much to talk about, but it was harder on the way back because we drove through the night and we were all pretty tired. It was non stop though- when we got home I had chance for a ten minute sleep(well, nap) before getting ready for my next adventure…

THE DIAGON ALLEY GRAND OPENEING!!! after watching it be built for months and all the excitement and anticipation, universal studios finally released a date for the opening of dragon alley. Me and Sammy are big harry potter freaks, and Kathryn and us booked time off work and swapped shifts so that we would be able to go. We arrived at city walk, the entrance to the universal studios area at 4:30am because we wanted to be as close to the front as possible. We were amongst the first, as city walk didn’t even open until 5. We waited there for half an hour before being let through, then proceeded to the gates at the universal studios park entrance to wait for another hour or so, before being let into the area just outside of dragon alley, which is modelled to look like a street in London and where the knight bus is parked. It was a fantastic atmosphere. There were massive keenos there- all of the slogan t shirts, harry potter jewellery, and even full robes (despite the heat) were not uncommon. On the whole people were also very happy and friendly. There wasn’t too much pushing in or around and everyone was happy to chat. It was nice to see everyone there for the right reason and just wanting to have a good time

Diagon alley itself opened at 8,but because we were there so early we got pretty much to the front and just waited a while. when we looked back we could see quest were forming way back across the park, and we knew it was definitely the best thing we could have done to get there so early. The actual opening ceremony was great, there were some mini speeches, fireworks and banners… and then we were let in! One of the top moments of the hear was seeing it for the first time. The detail in it is simply beautiful. Everyone was cheering and clapping and the atmosphere was indescribable the gringotts ride is a lot of fun, but for me the best part is just wandering around the shops- the detail is such that you would think you was actually there. They also have a couple of great shows – Celestine warbeck the singer and a mystery play style re-enactment of the deathly hallows story. We ate breakfast in the leaky cauldron and left about 11. We didn’t go on the Hogwarts express because we were all dead on our feet- I hadn’t slept since the morning before and Kathryn had been out to lasses so we went home and I slept for the rest of the day. I’ve been on the express a few times since each way and its fantastic and a much nice way to go between the parks.

Another cool thing was that someone took my photo when I was entering dragon and put it up on the universal studios Facebook page, and its had loads of likes haha. I think they chose it because I had the deathly hallows sign painted on my cheek…
Me and some friends also took the opportunity to go to Tampa for a night… to watch kiss and def leopard! It was an incredible concert, the stadium was an open one so you could watch the sunset over the hill as they started to play. The show itself was unlike i’d ever seen from a rock concert before. Lasers, fireworks, zipwires (fake) blood pouring from the demons moth, massive animatronic spider on stage… just amazing. I even bought a starchild costume to wear and all of us went with full on faxe paint and got loads of compliments 🙂

Some good restaurants that I’ve eaten in that I would recommend are chefs de France, crystal palace, chef mickeys and hoop de doo revue (the last one for the atmosphere more than the food). Ive stayed in a few more resorts also, and I now have 8 left before I’ve stayed in them all. 8 resorts in 8 weeks. Lets do this!
My friend from home visited for 17 days. I unfortunately didn’t bet as much time off work as I would have liked but we still had a great time together catching up and I saw her as much as I could around work. She did the college programme last summer, and we had bonded over Disney when she had her placement arranged and I was applying for the crp. She worked for 3 months on the j-1 visa in the haunted mansion, and on our day in magic kingdom she was telling me loads of interesting stuff. A friend of hers also visited with her, but we had a couple of unfortunate nights were both of them, on separate days, became ill and had to go to hospital for some medicine. Luckily it was nothing major but I have to say it was kinda cool getting to go in an ambulance and seeing an American hospital. One of the drivers used to work as a pyrotechnic wxpert in Disney and helped design loads of shows- like illuminations which I see every night! So he was telling me loads of interesting facts… goes to show you never know where you are going to meet people!

I also celebrated forth of July! I was scheduled a pm but wanted to work an am so I could enjoy the evening off, luckily loads of people wanted to work it so it was easy to swap. I had a few drinks from the world with people from work and ate in the rose and crown before the fireworks began. and the were spectacular- might have guessed how much effort the Americans would out into them!
Other stuff that’s been happening… we discovered a new club downtown. On a Friday night a club called backbooth plays 80s music. Me will and drew went one night hoping for a rock night out. It was nothing like what we expected but the bartender suggested the 80s night so we came back to that and now its one of the regular nights out for some of the pavilion was proud to have started that.
So, more things have happened. more meals out, film nights in and everything in between its crazy to think of now busy life is out here. But its great. Just trying to focus on fitting as much in as possible in the next two months!
Love xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

its been a while…

Wow it has been a LONG time since I’ve posted  sorry about that. So much has happened in the last few weeks (months) that its been hard to find tome to write it all down. I’ll try and cover as much as I can in this post, but will probably skim quite a lot of stuff…

One of the coolest outings on this programme has to be when I went to a baseball game, to see the New York Yankees play the Tampa Bay Rays! Going to an american sports match was something I was really interested in and it was loads of fun to watch and experience- especially such a well know team! Although I obviously supported the home team!

I also went to an awesome concert- one of my favourite bands- Sabaton( who usually headline in Europe) were supporting a Floridian Rock band called Iced Earth and were playing in the House of Blues. I always enjoy seeing Sabaton, but I mega enjoyed Iced Earth as well. I had not heard of them before but by the end of the set was a converted fan- I eve caught a guitar pick that they threw into the crowd, and got the guitarist’s autograph and photo afterwards!

The most important thing to have probably happened since my last post is to become a server! It was a long time coming- my first day was on my sixth month anniversary of being in America, which was later than the three months in I was lead to believe in when I applied for the job. Being on podium for longer than a lot of people wasn’t a problem for the first five months, but by the last month on podium I was getting very bored with the repetitiveness of the job and I couldn’t wait to move on.

So-training. the first day you have is culinary, where you don chef whites and spend a day in the different stations in the kitchen learning how it works. It gives you a chance to see how the food is prepared and how long things take in the kitchen, for example to make fish and chips or a shepherds it takes a fraction of the time compared to say a well done steak.It’s important to know these things so that you can pace the meal effectively for your guests, and make sure that things are fresh when they go out, and don’t get to the table to quickly or too slowly. At lunch time you also get mini portions of most of the food. It was nice to actually taste what I would be selling, although we were scheduled a menu change 3 days later and some of the items on there I still haven’t tried. Another training day is bar day, where you go into the service bar and make all the alcoholic drinks, which was loads of fun. Then you have 2 days of food running, which is in essence taking food from the kitchen to the table, with a few other bits of sidework  I liked food running more than expected, though they are very long days and exhausting because you are constantly carrying heavy plates and trays back and forth.

 

After that first week you have your first tipped week of food running. After 6 months on podium wages it felt incredible to be earning tips- theres a pretty big difference in pay I will say that. Although you definitely work for that money! The third week of training is then the actual service training  its only three days which is less than I thought it would be, considering now vastly different the job is. and you literally get thrown straight into it. I’m not even going to lie, I was terrified. But I had really good trainers that kept me calm even when I made mistakes. I dropped a drink on a guest on my fist day which threw me off and I thought the whole thing was going to be a disaster, but over the next few days things got better and better. You do an AM shift, a mid shift (am and pm), and then a final PM shift as well as a few classes on the different wines and alcohol that we sell. It was all really interesting, and I was super excited to do my test

On test day you have your own section as normal, but its a smaller section with only three tables (most sections have 4) so it feels pretty easy when you’ve been pushed to do 4,5 or even 6 tables during your training. One of the tables is a manager who you have to pretend is a normal guest which is kind of weird. They make sure you bring out everything on time, in the right order, do enough spieling and are generally a good server. The thing I struggle with most is spieling- I don’t want to sell people stuff they don’t want or make them feel uncomfortable. I think its the British in me though- whenever I do it to Americans they love it! Passed my test no bother, and became a full on server! So proud!

So I passed in late may, had a few days serving, then my family came. I was nervous to be going back after 10 days off, but I got back into the swing of things pretty quickly. And I have to say, I love love love serving. I actually feel like I’m using my brain in work, it varies from shift to shift, and it can be a lot of fun depending on what shifts you get.

So yeah, that was the other big thing that happened- my family visited! I told them I would have to book the hotel and everything to get the discounts, and I told them I was going to book us into port Orleans, but I surprised them and booked them into a club level at animal kingdom lodge. I wrote them a letter to open on the plane which told them this so they didn’t now until they were already in the air. I had to hope and pray the plan worked out as otherwise there would be a lot of confusion when they checked onto the magical express! It all worked out fine- they got to the hotel just a couple of hours before I finished work. I was super lucky as well that I had nearly all the timer off approved, and the shifts that didn’t I managed to swap ( bar one short am shift) so  I am super grateful for everyone at work that helped me out there.

The holiday was amazing- I think it was really ready for the time with my family. I’m really close to them but also quite independent, so generally it hasn’t been super hard being away from them. But after 7 months I was really starting to miss just hanging out with the, so the time I had with them was really special. We’d been on amazing holidays in Disney when I was younger. Being in Disney world has kind of lost its shine after being here for so long, but being with them in general was just magical. The other good thing was that I kind of dropped off the radar while they were here and didn’t see any of my friends as I wanted to spend all my time with dad and lee, and after a few days I started to really miss my friends and my life out here with them. So dad and lee coming out also helped me appreciate how amazing my life and my friends in Orlando are, so the holiday was super medicinal. Of course I was sad to see them go, but I know I’ll see them again in a few months and I was excited to continue my life in Orlando which is only a temporary.

I also finally finished my classes. I did my final presentation as I did most of my classes- hangover after lasses. Still got a 95% pass grade in it though! I enjoyed the class but I’m so glad its over- I did sign up for another onewhich sounded interesting but decided not to go so I could spend my time off doing other fun things. I would consider maybe doing one next semester, but for now I definitely need a break from them.

Housing put on an amazing event recently as well. It only happens once a year, and its called starlit splash. They basically rent out the typhoon lagoon water park for the night for Disney cast members! This was definitely a highlight of my programme- nearly everyone from work was there and we all had so much fun! It was kind of a surreal moment to be in typhoon lagoon at 12 at night, watching fireworks from the wave pool. A moment to remember.

Done quite a few more resort stays as well with different people- still hoping to stay in as many as possible by the time the year is out! I’ve stayed now in boardwalk, beach club, all star sports and another stay at Caribbean beach. The staycations are nice as we usually go out to dinner somewhere nice as well and its so nice to get to chill out together without worrying about housing (as your not allowed in other housing complexes after a certain time).

The saddest thing that’s happened recently though that Tom from my arrival group decided to leave. He had a job opportunity at home that was too good to pass up- it was definitely the best thing for him to go but he was one of my best friends here so I was sad to see him go. We went to the rose and crown for dinner and to watch the fireworks. It was strange that that was my first time in there as a guest, and I have to say I really enjoyed it, and it was pretty special getting to see the fireworks from our table. Sad as it was to say goodbye to Tom, I know that at least ill see him again for sure when I get back to England.

I also took part in the expedition Everest run Disney challenge. It was a 5km run around animal kingdom park at night followed by a scavenger hunt. it wasn’t so much a race as you stopped on the way to meet characters and go on rides and stuff- going on expedition Everest in the dark is incredible. there was a group of us who did it so it was loads of fun, though it was very expensive for what it was. It was something on my bucket list though to do a run Disney event so I’m so glad I got to do it!

So these are the main things that have happened, though it only just scratches the surface of what the last few months have been like. The programme so far has been far from easy with one thing and another, but it really is turning into everything and more I hoped it would be. Ive been lucky enough to have some amazing experiences, and have met some wonderful people who I am now lucky enough to count as friends. I hope the programme continues to be just as amazing! Will try and not leave it this long until my next post

Lots of love xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Moving onwards and upwards

So, I just have to say the lastfew weeks have been fantastic! So many good things have happened, both in and outside of work, that I can honestly say this experience is turning into everything I hoped it would be and more!

So, work stuff first. I’ve had lots of training shifts now, so many so that doing them feels pretty regular now instead of a special occasion.  I have to say I really really have enjoyed training, especially as I’ve been lucky enough to train on several different positions. After being here 5 months some of the jobs can start to feel a little tedious at times, especially with all the long hours we were doing, but getting the chance to be a trainer completely re energised me and made me think about podium more like I did when I first arrived here, when it was all new and exciting.

I also had a service class scheduled. I thought this was odd, as at the time I hadn’t even done my pre-service test, let alone been scheduled for any server training. It was held at Disney university, and the first half of the day we went through different service standards, and the had a wine class for the rest of the day. I actually learned more than I thought I would, and I found the wine class particularly useful  so it helped me with revision for my test. It finished at 5pm which is early for us, so those of us who had been in class and a few others who happened to be free went into Magic Kingdom for the evening to eat at the Liberty Tree Tavern and watch wishes. The food in liberty tree was amazing- its food which is very similar to Sunday roast food and you can have as much as you want, and it was sooo tasty! It was really nice to be in Magic Kingdom again as well 🙂

So not long after my service class I decided it was time to start revising properly and actually do my test. You have to pass this test before you can be scheduled your training, and you can do the test after being on podium for 3 months, which is when most people do it. So I should have taken it a long while ago, but because the transition from podium to service had completely slowed down I haven’t been able to do it until now. I’d been doing bits of revision for about a month before I actually took it, and the last few days was when I properly crammed everything in. I had been told I was doing the same test as those who did it before me, but two days before I was due to take it I was told that I was doing a new test, which included new menu items. I was a bit angry that I had been told so late that I should have been revising a different menu, but I just got on with it and took my test as I originally planned… and passed! With 97%! It was so nice to get it completed finally, and shortly afterwards my manager presented me with my service training schedule! After all this time on podium it feels like its all moving really fast now- I go in on the 27th which means I only have a few podium shifts left. Now that I can see the end, I know that in some ways I am going to miss podium, but overall I am super excited to be going into service. Everyone says that its a lot more fun than podium, and a hell of a lot more interesting, but a lot harder also. To be honest I’m quite looking forward to the challenge. Will certainly be keeping you posted!

So I mentioned that I went to see wishes again, which I hadn’t done for ages. Well, that was true, but that week I ended up seeing it four times in total! I just seemed to have an unusual amount of days or evenings off which mean I could go and do something really special that reminded me of why I came to work for Disney in the first place.

Again, in this location you generally start on pms, and then gradually move onto ams before you go into service. However, because everything had slowed down I’ve been on pms he entire time that I’e been here. I don”t mind the pm shifts themselves, it just means that I’ve had less opportunity than others to do evening things, like going to watch the fireworks. Work had been getting a bit quieter and less stressful anyway, but I was lucky to have a few extra days off. I basically tried to book four days for a holiday, but only got two of hem approved so it fell through. Well, I forgot to cancel the two days I had approved, but in the end I am SO glad I kept them as I had a really lovely few extra days off with people I don’t usually have time off with. I went on a fantastic day trip to cocoa beach. I put a tonne of suncream on and still got burned, nut it was so worth it as it was just a lovely relaxing days and it was fab seeing a beach again after being away from it for so long. The beach is actually really near the space centre, and there was an incredibly surreal moment when we saw a rocket being launched whilst lounging on the beach the next days I also went to animal kingdom, which is somewhere I haven’t been in a while which was great. I absolute love the safari ride and expedition Everest so it was great to be back. On both days I headed up to magic kingdom on the evening to watch celebrate the magic, which is my favourite Disney show ever, and wishes.

 

Another lovely activity I did recently was to go horse riding in wilderness lodge with Eleanor and Llauren.  wilderness lodge is another one of those resorts where you feel like you are completely outside of Orlando, so it was a nice but of escapism. We got a really good cast discount on it, and had a great 45 minutes walking down a trail on horses. after we went to Whispering Canyon café which also does amazing cast discount and I had an incredible burger. They have this weird thing where if you want ketchup with your meal you ask your server and they shout it across the restaurant, and any table that has ketchup has to run over with their bottle and give it to you, which is kind of fun, if a little embarrassing!

On another note, Annie and Katherine arrived this last week, which means now that everyone who went to Manchester is now here! I didn’t think I’d love having new people constantly arriving as I thought it would be awkward getting to know so many new people, but honestly I’m finding it to be one of the coolest parts about my programme. Even though we all have something in common, wanting to work for Disney, there are still so many different personality types here and I find it fascinating. It also means that there aren’t really any set friendship groups as people are always coming, going, and working at different times, which is great as no one is ever excluded in anyway as everyone pretty much gets along with everyone.

I’ve also now been inducted into lasses as I’ve been going so much now, and when I do go I make an effort to get involved in the games. This means that next week I should receive my shirt… and my lasses name! The name is basically a nickname somehow related to what people know you for, particularly in lasses. Most of the names are hilarious and have great stories behind them, and its a lovely way to show how close you’ve got within your team, so I’m looking forward to receiving my name. Mondays are pretty brutal now though, as Sunday nights at HOB are now basically a constant thing, and I have to recover from HOB during the day and then get ready for lasses all over again by monday night! However, me and Kim both agree that universal studios is a great hangover cure- it worked this week and I’m sure we’ll try it again…

So yeah life is pretty sweet right now. I get occasional pangs of homesickness for my family, but other than that at the moment I wouldn’t change my life for the world. And my family are coming out at the end of may anyway to visit which is going to be amazing, so that’ll keep me going. Hopefully by my next blog post ill be just as happy!

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ALL of the work

So work has been pretty hectic the last few weeks. Nearly everyone is working between 40-50 hour weeks over 6 days, because on podium we are short staffed as quite a few people have moved into service but we’ve had people come into podium at a slower rate. However, the exciting news of this post is that a bunch more of the girls from my interview groups have come! Its quite strange to think that we all applied together, and I’ve been here so long while they’re only just starting. Because I’ve been working so many hours and still had class on my days off, I found it difficult to give them the welcome I wanted which was a shame, but now within just a few weeks it feels like they could have been here longer. We had another throw in for them which was a load of fun, especially seeing the difference between how I felt at my own throw in just a few months ago and now how comfortable I feel now. It surprising how much can change in just a few months.

So because of all the hours at work its been a bit of a struggle to find time to do day things. It feels like ages since I’ve been to a Disney Park, but because I didn’t need early nights in order to get up and go to a park I’ve finally started going out at night again which has been a lot of fun. Sammy had her friends from home round, so we decided to take them out to our favourite places and show them a good time, so we of course chose Cowboys, House of Blues, and happy Mondays. House of Blues has definitely become my favourite place, the only downside being that I go on a Sunday so I’m always knackered for my 8:30 am class the next day! Although yesterday was my last exploring session so I won’t have that problem anymore. I’m very pleased to say that for getting through the 8 week course I earned my “Mouseters Degree” in Exploring Cast Engagement and Human Resources! Overall I would definitely recommend doing one of these courses, as I felt that for the small amount of time it requires you get a lot from it. In fact, I’ve signed up to do another one in the summer semester, which is about Exploring Disney heritage and history which I think will be fun. A couple of the girls from work have also signed up to this one so I’m really looking forward to it.

There is still a few weeks left of my collegiate course, and I have to say I’m hesitant to consider doing another one. I am learning from it, but it is quite time consuming, with the reading and assignments, and I already feel like there isn’t enough time here! I have a group presentation coming up, which my be hard as the girls I grouped with all work different shifts which menus it may be herd to meet up. However, they’re all lovely girls who I’m now very friendly with, and I think hat we’ll work well together on this final project! One really worthwhile thing from the classes is that it’ given me a great insight into the differences between the UK and America. My workplace is, obviously, staffed almost entirely with UK CRPs, besides the managers, but the class is full mainly with American Collage Programme participants.  It’s been really cool getting to know Americans and it’s given me chance to see what how diverse the opportunities are in Disney, as Collage Programme participants get the chance to work in a wider variety of jobs then CRPs do. Also, in class today we were studying safety in the workplace, and one of the things we covered was what to do if someone entered the workplace with a gun. As a British person I found it shocking that Americans felt that this is a legitimate issue to prep for. Also the whole healthcare thing is real eye opener when we discussed the options Americans have, and made me really appreciate the UK. So yeah, very educational.

I’ve now also had my trainer training class, so I am now an official Disney trainer! I had actually conducted several training sessions prior to my class, but the class is important as it makes you official and you also get the trainer pin. I was so happy to be made trainer as It’s something that really interests me, and I’ve now done quite a few training shifts, which I’ve really enjoyed.  It gives me the chance to get to talk to the new people, which can actually be quite difficult when there are so many of them.

Talking of which, SO MANY new people recently. For the first few months of candlelight so few people arrived, I guess because they didn’t want to much training over such a busy period.  But we’ve had several large arrival groups recently, as well as lots of people finally moving into service, an some people finishing their programmes altogether. I get the feeling that this consent fluidity is going to be a constant from now on, but I will find it weird as it was so different when I arrived. It’s starting to get harder  as well, as people leaving now are those I’ve had more of a chance to get to know, so it’s much sadder than those that left when I’d only just arrived, and there are some people I will be really sorry to see go. We did a last circle last night where everyone gets into a circle and sings with the people leaving in the middle. I’ve been to a few before, but they really mean so much more once you’ve been here a while, and it reminded me that one day baht will be me. Although it is a sad thought, it reminded me to make the most out of every second that I am here!

So other fun, less emotional things that have happened… well I am eating loads of food because there are so many good, cheap restaurants around and there’s always an occasion, even if its just catching up with someone that you haven’t seen much of because of work. Me and a few girls from work also took part in a towel folding class for a laugh, where you learn how to make towel animals! Got to love the opportunities in Disney… I also had a lovely night staying at the Art of Animation resort with. group from work. We’d all been working a lot so it was nice to hang out outside of work, and the resort itself is beautiful. We stayed in the Cars suite, but now I want to stay in all of them!

Another fun thing was the international party, where all the countries from happy Mondays got together for a massive party. It was so much fun and it was lovely to see so many of my international friends in one place.

So yeah, that’s this month! Writing it all down has made me realise how much has actually happened this month, as I felt like I did nothing but work at one point! Much love, will update soon

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4 months in

So I am now one third of the way into my programme…. wow that really is terrifying! As I write this now I am absolutely exhausted from a busy week, and every week I feel the same by the time my day off comes around, but I still feel there is loads more left to do!

I’ve done a few more lovely things recently though. One night after class I met up with Natalie, Kim, Will and Sarah and we headed up to the Polynesian resort for a quiet night out. The resort itself is really stunning, and I’d definitely love to stay there at some point. We got some food from the quick serve- I had a delicious salad- and then headed straight to the beach, where they were showing Tangled! Tangled is possibly one of my favourite films ever, and I always seem to watch it whenever something important is happening- the week I finally felt settled in Vietnam, with the other interviewees in Manchester, and now here!

After the film we moved our chairs around and watched the electric light show that plays on the lake that separates the Polynesian, Grand Floridian and Contemporary Resorts. The show itself is cute but kind of random, and then after that we watched wishes. it was so beautiful, and really quite strange watching the fireworks from so far away. It was such a beautiful night, and I want to try and repeat it again. I remember looking at the Grand Flo and really wanting to stay there… so the next week I did. Me Lydia Chloe and Sarah fancied having a resort night, so we decided to check into the Grand Flo! It is an expensive resort but between 4 of us it didn’t work out too bad. It is a beautiful resort, we spent the day having a wander around, relaxing in the pool, and then later on watched another film on the beach (The Little Mermaid this time) and then wishes. The area just outside of our hotel from had a fantastic view of the castle and wishes, and you could even hear the music that played along with the fireworks.

I’ve also managed to make it to another housing event again. I went to the first few events and really enjoyed them, but the last two or three I always seem to have been working. The last one that was on though I was free for-it was called CuriosiTEA and was an event themed around Alice in Wonderland  it was so pretty, we got to meet the Mad Hatter and the white rabbit (I see Alice every day in work so wasn’t too bothered about meeting her) and the free food didn’t go unappreciated either. I arrived with Sarah and Eryl, but we soon met up with a bunch of others and played some games with them which was fun. I’m really going to try and go to as many as these as I can because I always really enjoy them.

I’ve also finally managed to meet up with Nat, another German from my arrive group who I love but dont see too often. We went to Teppan Edo which is the restaurant in the Japanese pavilion for lunch. Its an amazing restaurant, as you sit at a long table and the chef cooks everything right in front of you, and puts on a show while doing so! I tired the scallops and Nat had the swordfish- both of which I would recommend. We’ve been trying really hard to organise a trip together somewhere, but her place of work seems much tougher than mine for getting  vacation off, so we’re going to keep our fingers crossed and keep trying. I do want to try and get out of Orlando at some point. It’s not even to see certain places, as I plan to travel back to America anyway, but it would be nice to go on a little break and spend time with friends outside of Disney.

The last few weeks I haven’t  really had chance to go on many nights out. I didn’t go to lasses for weeks, and was really craving a good night out… so I went on three in a row, right before my crazy 53 hour week started! Probably not the best idea but I don’t regret it at all. We went to Cowboys, which is a properly American bar where everyone wears cowboy blots and denim, and has free beer until 1am on Saturdays. On Sunday I went back to HOB, which was incredible. Over here there are more bars than clubs, but this is a proper club that plays dance music and is free on Sunday nights for Cast Members. Then on Monday I returned to lasses for the first time in ages, and again it was so much fun I wondered why I’d had such a long break from it. I only went to the apartment bit because I hadn’t done my assignment due in the next day (whoopsie) but it was quite a long session there as it was a last so it still kinda felt like a night out as it went on so late.

So, my classes for anyone that is interested. The career development ones continue to be excellent, as does the exploring cast engagement one. The collegiate course isn’t quite as good as I expected- I don’t find it particularly challenging and yet with all the reading and classes and assignments it takes up quite a bit of time. But at least I should get a decent grade out of it- I’ve already had a few assignments marked and they’ve all gone great so far. Although the last assignment I had to do the morning it was due in on very little sleep; I felt like I was back in university again.

The other bit of good news is that a few girls who went to the Manchester meet up have now arrived! It was just me and Sammy for like 3 months, but now Jenna and Rebecca are here and the others are going to be coming within the next month which is SO exciting. I’ve also been made a trainer(something I’m well chuffed about) so hopefully i’ll even get to train one or two of them which will be weird!

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Living and Learning in Disney

Apologies for taking so long to update this. Quite a lot has happened in the last few weeks which is why I’ve been rubbish at taking the time to write it all down, but it has been yet another fantastic month!

I finally got around to posting my family’s Christmas presents home. I felt terrible for not sending them back in December but there was just no time before. I got on the bus to the post office, and let me tell you it is a bit of a trek. Early in the morning there is only one of these buses an hour, which means that once you get off you have to wait there for an hour before you can get picked up. This didn’t work too badly for me as I had loads to sort out, but it does mean that with a long journey there and a long journey back its a good few hours of your day. It felt so nice to be sending packages home, but its certainly not something i’ll be making a habit of as it was really expensive! As a one off though I didn’t mind. I tied the trip into my grocery shop as well, as the bus also goes past Publix and getting the bus means I could buy heavier stuff without having to walk home.

This last month has also seen the start of me getting back into academia, which the geek in me has found pretty exciting. A lot of people who live in the housing complexes are domestic students who are here on college programmes, and Disney offer courses on different topics which they can use towards collage credit. Being a graduate and a CRP, I don’t need to take any courses, but I wanted to take advantage of learning as much as I can from Disney, so I signed up anyway. It was $9.99 for an 11 week course which I thought was great value, and its 4 hours teaching time a week, plus we had to buy a textbook (I paid $60 for a kindle version) to read and we are expected to do assignments and quizzes most weeks.  I’m studying Human Resource Management, which is a topic I’ve always been interested in but never explored properly, and I thought this would be a good introduction course. I’ve had two weeks of classes and it seems very good so far. I like the instructor and a lot of the people in my class are nice, though at the moment everything covered has actually been quite basic.  I’m hoping it will get a bit more challenging so that I feel like I’m using my time effectively, as having to be in available and in Orlando every class day makes future travel harder, and also swapping shifts is harder as I now can’t swap my Tuesday like I could before because of class. But I am hoping it will be worth it. I believe these new courses are offered 3-4 times a year, so if they are good I would do another one to expand my knowledge base, as there are quite a few topics to choose from.

Disney also offer an exploration series, which is an 8 week seminar course where you learn how Disney specifically handles different areas of business. These courses are only 2 hours a week and require no homework, so instead of a proper certificate you get a certificate of attendance. I’m doing Cast engagement, which is pretty similar to my other course so I thought they would complement each other well. The two sessions I’ve attended in this course have been excellent, even though it’s a 8:30 on a Monday morning! Both classes require business casual dress, which is doable for me but because I had limited room in my suitcase I only bought a few dresses as I didn’t expect to have to dress smartly all that much, and I don’t want to spend money on more clothes that I’ll only need a few hours a week- so if you’re coming out and want to do a course that may be something to consider.

Disney education resources are pretty great to be fair. In each housing there is a computer labs where you can use computers for free, and in vista way there is the learning centre, where they have people available to help if you are struggling signing up to something online or if you need any more information.  They actually helped me to sign up to another series of seminars on generic business skills like speaking in public and interview skills. I’ve been to the one on resume writing, which was probably the best class of its kind that I’ve been to- full of useful and practical knowledge and delivered by a great speaker, so these are definitely going to be worth going to. The learning centre also has a writing lab, where you can get your work checked over for free if you make an appointment. I got my first assignment checked over, as I know that Americans have different rules for grammar and spelling, and the referencing system is also different so I wanted a bit of help with that, and again the girl who helped me was fantastic, so i’ll probably use the service again.  It’s so nice, as I do miss the university environment and I feel like I’m getting that back, without it being over whelming like my last few months at university were!

I did go to a talk on Professional Internships, mainly out of curiosity. Even though after this year I know I’m not going to be ready to settle down into a career, I did start to think that in a few years time if I do want to settle down Disney would be the place I could see myself, as I love the work culture here. However, Disney very very rarely will take anyone into management if they are not a domestic because it involves sponsoring visas, which means my chances of me getting a career in the Walt Disney World are pretty slim.  I was a bit sad at first, but I guess its a good thing I know what my options really are this early on, and I can concentrate on the options that are open- apparently good steps for internationals to take are in the Cruise Line and in Adventures by Disney, so maybe in a few years time I may look at those options. It’s really great to have so much information readily available, which is why I really do love working for Disney.

So other fun things that have happened recently…. I saw Disclosure at the House of Blues, who were AMAZING. I usually see rock bands live, so I wasn’t sure how this sort of music was going to translate to an in concert experience, but they put on an amazing show and I had so much fun! HOB is a great concert venue, so from now on I’m going to keep my eye on upcoming events and try and go again.

I’ve also tried to continue going to the parks before work to make the most of my days when I’m not working until the afternoon. I’ve been to Hollywood Studios quite a few times with my friend Amy, because we both really love the animation classes, there, where animators teach you how to draw characters. Over the rest of my programme I’m going to try and draw as many of the characters as possible- I’ve heard that there are well over 50 so I won’t be able to do them all, but i’ll do what I can! It’s a really wonderful free activity to do before work and it’s nice knowing someone that is as into it as I am! And the drawings are going to be nice to take home, because they’ll be something I’ve spent time on doing and collecting, so it’s a bit more special than stuff I’ve just bought.

I still feel like I haven’t seen enough resorts, which is something I need to change. I did briefly visit the Grand Floridian last week with my German friend Michelle, who I love but don’t get to see all that much because of different work schedules. We went for lunch in one of the cafés which was quite simply stunning- beautifully decorated, wonderfully friendly staff and fantastic food- I tried the French onion soup to start and then had a steak and lobster burger which was incredible. Best part of the meal was that because we were cast members they had a special offer where we got 40% off, so even with tax and tip it didn’t work out too expensive at all. I had to go to work after lunch so I didn’t get to explore the resort as much as I’d like, but just seeing the little area that I did made me fall in love with the place, and I can’t wait to go back properly!

I also spent a few hours in Fort Wilderness, another of the deluxe resorts. It was Connors birthday, so he rented a cabin for a night and a bunch of us went to visit and have a few drinks. Me and Kim went up together early in the evening and spent  good few hours there having a good laugh-we did nearly get lost though because that resort is humongous, but it’s really cool and the theming makes you feel like you are somewhere else entirely. I’d certainly love to rent a cabin again, but probably with fewer people and a lot less alcohol as I think it got a little rowdier after we left early in the morning, and you have to be careful with how much noise you make, as it is a family resort after all!

I also took a mini trip out of Orlando- there was a groupon voucher online to swim with manatees in crystal river, which is a few hours North West of Orlando, so I went with. Few friends who live downtown. It was so much fun, even though it was pretty cold, it was worth it once you got into the water, and you completely forgot about the temperature. Manatees are more common at this time of year where the come to rest in the springs, so we were promised a good experience, which turned out to be entirely true! As we left the boat and started snorkelling up river, I looked down… and saw 3 manatees almost directly beneath me! And It carried on from there: there must have been dozens in the spring that we visited, including really large ones and a few smaller ones. You’re not allowed to swim directly above them and I tried to adhere to that rule as much as I could, but there would be so many moving around that sometimes you felt like you had nowhere else to go! They were real beautiful and gentle creatures, and not fazed at all by us lot swimming around them, in fact some were quite curious. I’d recommend anyone to do it if they get the chance, especially as it’s a way to interact with wild creatures that doesn’t cause any harm: they’re very strict on how you interact with the manatees to protect them, and once you’ve swam out of the spring there’s no mark that you were there as you don’t leave any litter behind.

After that we drive back to Orlando and had a quick nap because we’d been up so early in the morning, before heading out to a craft beer festival. This was where you bought a ticket that allowed you to go to around a dozen bars and sample different types of beer. We met up with a bunch more people I’d never met, and it was strange hanging around with people who lived in Orlando but who had nothing to do with Disney- quite refreshing actually, even though I’m a Disney geek myself. We walked through downtown for a few hours going to all the different bars, though it was probably more stumbling towards the end of the evening. It was so great to do something a bit different, and it made me like downtown Orlando more than I had previously.

Final exciting thing is that my Dad has booked his flights to come see me! He’s going to here for 10 days over Whitson week, which is fantastic as that’s where my birthday falls. I’m in charge of booking hotels and sorting out a vague plan for when he comes which will be very exciting. I can’t bloody wait til he comes out here- I feel as close to him as I always have despite living so far away, but its still hard not being with him as often as I would like so I’m really pleased that he’s able to come visit.

So that’s what’s been happening recently, quite a lot I know! Accounts for why I’m so tired right now anyway! Will update soon…

Lots of love xxxxxxxxxx

Cracking start to the new year!

This programme just continues to be amazing. The longer I’m here the more things I can see there are to do, so I’m trying my best to do as many things as possible. I went to the cinema to see Saving Mr banks with a few of the girls from work which was great, and really nice to do a casual outing out rather than a full day or a night out. We saw it in the morning as I had work in the afternoon, so I got a bus to the boardwalk resort and then was going to walk straight over to Epcot, but it turned out that I had more time than I thought to spare, so when I got to boardwalk I had a slow walk along the front and then continued round to beach club, where I sat to eat my lunch. It was a bit cooler and cloudier, which was lovely as combined with the theme of the resort I felt like I was out of Orlando entirely, maybe on a seaside resort in England or the north of America. It was at that moment which I started to get a few pangs of homesickness, just because it brought to my attention how different things are now to my life before. I love every second of my time here, but it doesn’t mean I don’t miss the things from home that are familiar. It was great though to just sit on my own in the peace for a nit, and I resolved to try and find time to do it again, especially now its the quieter season and the resorts and parks aren’t as busy.

I went to House of Blues for the first time as well recently. On Sundays cast members get in free so its almost like a big cast member party, and they play house music which is great as in general the music in clubs over here is a bit too pop-y for my tastes. It was so much fun and I really want to go again, even though with it being on a Sunday it means its the night before lasses, so being hangover on a Monday doesn’t really set you up to go out again. Another first was that I went to Panera  for the first time, and I think it’s my favourite coffee shop out here that I’ve been to so far. The food is really good, as is the coffee, and it feels kind of less American than places like Starbucks which is quite refreshing.

Some other nice nights out have happened recently, though I’ve also had a few nice nights at peoples apartments which has been just as fun but also a lot cheaper, and also some meals out. I love some of the big nights put I’ve been on, but they do happen very regularly and I don’t want drunken nights out all the time. I think it’s because I did that throughout university, and I want this experience to be more than just drinking, which I could do at home. It has meant that I’ve said no to more nights out in the last few weeks than yes, but I’ve been able to do the other nice things that I’ve mentioned instead. It’s so hard out here because you want to feel involved in everything and do every night out, every meal, every day out, but you can’t do everything as you don’t have unlimited time, and you still need to find time to sleep!

I’ve tried to make better use of my maingate pass and go to the parks more frequently. Hollywood studios is good because its only half an hour walk from Epcot, so I have been able to pop there a couple of times before work. Sometimes I get into Epcot early as well to explore in more detail the world showcase and future world. It’s nice to feel like I’m getting to know the parks so well, as I can answer guests questions better, and I have to admit the place really is starting to feel a lot more like home now! I’ve also got to magic Kingdom a few times more which is great, as I love love love it! The night time show Celebrate the Magic is probably my favourite one is Disney, and its followed by the wishes fireworks which are beautiful. Another reason I want to get to Magic Kingdom regularly is because I’ve discovered this new card game, where you have to use trading cards at different points in the park to defeat villains. Its a mix between a treasure hunt game as you have to track down the locations and a card game as you decide which cards to use, and every time you go to the park and defeat a villain you can get another set of cards, and then try to collect them all. I.ve done 2 villains now, so I’m going to try and collect as many as I can in the year that I’m here. Although I can’t believe I’m almost 3 months into the experience already! Lets not think about that…

Another wonderful thing that I have done recently is that I went to stay in Caribbean beach resort in Disney with Sarah for 2 nights. It was so good to get away again, and we upgraded to a waterfront room so we could see the beach and the lake from our window which was fabulous. Staying there for 2 nights was a great idea as it meant we could wake up and go to bed in a resort so it felt like a proper little holiday. On the first day we had a good look around the resort and then popped to MK as its much quicker to get there on a guest bus than the cast one, and as we were walking around the beach after MK we heard the music from illuminations-and then saw the fireworks! I hadn’t realised how close Caribbean beach was to Epcot, and it was so strange seeing the fireworks I see very night as a guest and outside of the park!

The next day I met up with a big group of people from the UK to go to iHOP and the universal studios. I think there had been a bit of a change in scheduling that week because a few people were there who I don’t think usually have that day off, so it was nice to get to see them outside of work when I usually don’t have chance. It was also only my second day in universal since arriving here- I’d bought an annual pass and was starting to think that I needed to start using it more to get my moneys worth, so I was glad I got to use it again. We managed to get on so many rides because it was quiet in the park which was fantastic, so we did a lot in the day. And it was great to return to the hotel for a good nights sleep after so much walking.

Work has still been really good. The only thing I’m quite annoyed about is that it seems like it’s going to be longer than I expected to get into service. They don’t train new people over candlelight because its so busy, and its created a backlog of people that need to go through before it gets to us. It seems that how long you spend on podium depends on when you come out-many of those that come out earlier in the year can get in within 3\4 months from my understand, but those later in the year may be waiting between 5-8 months, which I think is a little unfair as there is such a big difference it what you earn, and it gives some people the chance to earn a lot more money over the year than others. It also isn’t something that’s decided based upon attainment or hard work- it goes purly onyour avvival date. So it means that it doesn’t matter if you work super hard, or if someone else barely lifts a finger as it doens’t impact your progression within the company.What does work in my favour is that people who came on my date the year before got extensions because they need more people over food and wine and the Christmas period, which means they not only get a longer Disney experience in general but they get to make up their earning time. So there are pros and cons for any time of the year that you come out I guess. I do really like podium, but knowing that service pays so much better is an incentive to want to move forward, and all the servers have told me that the work in service is a lot more fun and you have more room to work independently.

Sometimes work is still a bit surreal. Being on chippe reg at night always reminds me how crazy my working life is-i’ll be chatting to the guests, while watching Alice in Wonderland interact with people with the British Revolution (a band we have that plays British Rock in the pavilion) playing in the back ground. And visiting the parks as a guest always perks me up and reminds me that work isn’t like normal work, and reminds me to try my hardest to make guests feel as welcome in the park as I do when I’m a guest in a park.

Writing this has reminded me that this exact time last year, I was in my university library revising for an exam which was 2 days away. I couldn’t stop thinking about writing my Disney application, but was trying to force myself to get through my exam first before doing my application. And now I’m here, just a few months into my programme and already so much has happened. Can’t believe how much has changed in a year! Here’s hoping things continue to go as well as they have been so far

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Miami, Christmas and the New Year!

Wow, what a time it had been recently! I feel like so much has happened since I last updated this blog!

The first big thing that happened is that I took my first trip outside of Orlando- to Miami no less! I was chatting to Tom about travelling saying that there were so many places I wanted to go that I didn’t even really know where to start, and he asked if I wanted to go with him and Ashleigh, a lovely south African girl from our arrival group to Miami for a few days. We all had the Wednesday off, and him and Ashleigh had Thursday off also- I had the Tuesday off instead, but luckily Sammy wanted to swap so we did that and it meant I could go!

On the Wednesday we got up super early and got the bus into the dolphin resort, where we picked up our car, as Tom drives. We took the toll road down as it was the quickest way, even though it cost us like an extra $20, but it did mean that we got there in just over 4 hours. Tom and Ashleigh had found a backpackers hostel right on South Beach which was just over $22 a night which I thought was pretty sweet- there was a big parking lot nearby for us to use ans it was only a few minutes walk from the beach-and what a beach! It was absolutely beautiful, and even though it was December it was still wonderfully hot and pretty busy. We had a walk up and down the beach and the over the front and had a little explore. The area has a lot of art deco buildings as it was that period that Miami seemed to get its big boom, and it was incredibly beautiful. It looked just like what I imagined it to look like but more so- the art deco buildings, neon lights and palm trees. That night we headed to a sushi restaurant and had another wander through town.

The next day we agreed we didn’t want to spend only at the beach, so we got the bus downtown, and then walked for ages in search of an area called Wynnewood. We must have walked for about an hour and a half and went through some really dodgy areas that made me glad that it was the daytime- at one point we had to walk over train tracks and I honestly wondered if it would be worth it…but it so was. So Wynnewood was this really poor area in Miami (hence the scary outskirts) and all of these graffiti artists suddenly started to decorate the area. But not just a few graffiti tags-the covered entire walls and streets with massive art works that all try to make some sort of statement. Some of them were really breathtaking, and in fact there was a little gallery and bar set up for tourists like us. So we got to chat to someone about the history of the place and then have a drink and a bite to eat. It was definitely worth seeing and would tell everyone to see it if they get the chance.

 

After we went back downtown and got a bus into an area know as little Havana  this is where lots of Cuban immigrants came in the 60s after all the troubles in Cuba to settle and make a new home, and the area is indeed its own little community.  there were loads of cigar she, coffee shops and everything seemed to be in Spanish  we stopped and had a cup of coffee in this little corner shop which was actually a gorgeous cup of coffee, and just as we decided to have a mojito we were joined by a fellow traveller also having a wander around, who turned out to be in the wine business, so we had a good chat with him. The whole experience of being in a hostel, travelling and good conversations with strangers kind of reminded me of being a backpacker, and made me miss it so much! Just before it got dark we headed back and then had a great Mexican dinner on the historic Spanish street in south beach.  The whole trip was different to how I imagined a weekend in Miami would be-I guess I imagined more partying and shopping etc, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way as I had such a fantastic time.

We got up early again on the Friday as I had a safety training class  1:45. The journey was fine but the closer it got the more nervous I was that I would be late- Tom dropped me off in the guest car park and I ran through backstage and just about clocked in right on the dot! Best timing ever for sure.

On the 23rd I was sitting in the break room on lunch when Sarah came in for hers as well, and had the bright idea that we book a hotel for Christmas eve night, so that night we booked into all star movies. We both had Christmas eve off, so we checked into our hotel and then had a lovely afternoon in Epcot. I wasn’t feeling too well unfortunately as I was coming down with a cough that a few people at work had, so we didn’t stay too late, but instead headed back to the room and ate pizza and watched films! It was just what I needed actually, as the beds were so big and so comfy and as I don’t have a television it was a real treat to get to see a film.

The next morning, after a cracking nights sleep, we opened our presents, I had a secret Santa gift filled with chocolate and green tea (they chose well!) and a box of gifts from my dad. He’d chosen really thoughtful presents and they all meant a lot to me, as it just shows he knows me so well. It was more emotional than I was expecting it to be, but I just had to not let if get to me as I was working that day. I was actually scheduled to have Christmas day off, but I really wanted the experience of working Christmas so I took Maireads shift as she had flown home to surprise her family. Work itself was strange, as a lot of guests were actually in a bit of a bad mood and I think quite a few staff members were withdrawn because they missed home. But overall it was worth it, especially a few families who were so grateful we were working so that they could enjoy their Christmas! Another lovely present I had was from Anna- she had written me something called a four keys card.  In Disney there are four ‘keys’ to being a good cast member- safety, courtesy, show and efficiency, and these cards are written when you are recognised as doing one or more of these well.  I was so grateful for it, as merchandise people seem to hand them out quiet regularly, but they don’t seem so common in food and beverage, and it was sweet to feel like someone had taken the time to write one for me and it was nice to be recognised for working hard. After that I resolved to start handing them out myself to anyone that I saw being a good cast member. I also got one on Christmas day from a random member of staff after I fixed a rope that was a potential trip hazard, which was nice but pretty random.

A few days after Christmas I was randomly talking to a guest while stocking the condiment bar in chippie, and she said that her mother had fallen over on her way to Epcot and was in hospital for surgery, but had made her daughter and grandkids go into Epcot so as to not spoil their day. Poor thing seemed pretty stunned, so I told her to wait at her table for a few minutes and rushed into the Toy Soldier shop, and asked Danielle and Alex for some help to help her feel better. so we gave her a Winnie the pooh plush toy to give to her mother in hospital and wrapped its arm in a bandage, telling her that it wasn’t to be removed until her mothers arm was better. She was so happy and grateful, and I felt like I had really made a difference to her day. It was exactly this sort of thing that made me want to work for Disney, and I even got recognised yet again with a four keys card!

So in terms of me giving them out myself, I gave one to a girl who worked on Mission: Space, because she was wonderful with this young girl who was crying because she was so scared, and really took time to comfort her and make her feel better. Then on NYE (more on NYE in a moment) I had ordered a chocolate milkshake with my drink, but when I got to the counter they had ran out, and the girl who served me was so helpful about it, offering me any alternative (even more expensive things) and a desert to make up for it so I gave her one as well, and she was so happy for it I was glad I had taken 2 minutes to write one for her.

In other news, I had my first solo stocker shift on the 30th. I was nervous about it but Tom and Natalie gave me some help with it which was really appreciated, and overall it went pretty well-generally I managed to keep on top of things even though I obviously was nowhere near as good as Connor or Mark, who nearly always do it, but now that I’ve done a shift on my own hopefully I can start getting better at doing it. Overall I’ve been working more than previously, as I’ve been asked or have asked myself to come in early a few times and for Christmas week and new years week I have worked 6 days, and several shifts have been between 8-12 hours, when before I often worked only 6. I’m pleased to have more hours, even though it can be tiring!

New years eve I worked from 9 in the morning until 9 at night which was crazy. It meant that me and will, one of the newbies, had to open chippie, even though neither of us had opened since training, which seemed like a flaw in the scheduling. It was easy to be honest though as it’s basically opposite to closing chippie which we do every night, even though there were a few changes because they were expecting it to be so busy, one example being that we weren’t to sell any hot drinks because comparatively they take too much time to make. We also had to create a que line that extended much, much further than usual, and we had to pre bag many more cookies than usual because we would sell so many. For the first 45 minutes after opening, I thought everyone had been over reacting… and then the crowds came. And came. And came. An hour after opening, we had a que for chippie 4 times longer than I had ever seen it before, and it stayed like that ALL THE TIME. Most of us were working today, but we needed it. I was chippie filling for 2 hours, but we had 5 people inside rather than the usual two, and even with all the extra man power we just kept everything running on time. I had my first break at 12 and then took position on chippie register, but I’m pretty sure that inside they had at least 5/6 people working, plus 3 instead of 2 chefs. There were also 2 chippie stockers all day, which is a position that usually only exists for one person for a few hours, and there were 2 people doing the rest of the stocking.  Instead of the usual one, there were up to 4 people on beer cart. Everyone had to work so hard all time  and within a few hours I’m pretty sure many people were starting to get tired, but I have to say I’m pretty proud of everyone because we managed to get through the day well without any major mishaps. There was a terrible moment when on register we were told not to sell any fizzy fountain drinks because the machine had broken, but it was soon fixed and then things carried on as before. And what really impressed me was that all the managers and coordinators got stuck right in, even doing stocking and chippie filling when needed. So even though I was bloody knackered by thru time my shift finished, I left happy. I bumped into Sarah from HRC on the way out, and we got some food at the American Adventure (where I gave out the aforementioned four keys card) and then got a space to watch the fireworks. It was incredible actually, as Epcot had had a showing of illuminations at about half 6, for those with young families that needed to get home early on.  They then showed illuminations again at half 11, finishing with the Christmas section for the last time. For the final 5 or so minutes before the next year was about to start, they listed in turn which countries had celebrated their new years at one time, listing them in order. So china and Japan had celebrated theirs first, so they had a mini firework display set of in turn behind each of their pavilions set to themed music. They did this for all the countries around the world showcase, and the fireworks for the UK was set to Rule Britannia, and was had red white and blue fireworks.  it was way more emotional that I thought it would be, especially because at 7 in the evening everyone had cheered for the UK and I had had to not let myself think about it too much because I didn’t want to get upset while I was working thinking about everyone back home. But watching the UK fireworks was incredible, and it made me so incredibly proud to be working in Disney. And the fireworks that went off at 00:00 were literally the best I have ever experienced, especially with the atmosphere of everyone there cheering and singing and hugging each other. I just couldn’t believe that I was ending one year and opening another in such a wonderful place with so many wonderful people, and it’s made me excited all over again for the time I have left on the programme.

So, happy new year everyone! I hope you all get what you dream for in the new year

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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