A whole month!

1 month down , 11 to go! God that’s depressing. This whole experience is going too fast! I feel like I’ve only been here for 2 weeks, even though I feel settled and comfortable now. The strangest thing is that I know next week there are some new people coming, so I will no longer be the newbie! I am looking forward to some more people arriving- everyone was so great to me when I arrived that I want to do the same for someone else!

So this week I’ve been mixing it up by doing things other than working, drinking and going to one of the parks. Last Wednesday housing put on an event for thanksgiving, where they gave us a free dinner and put on some music and brought out some characters for us! It took place in some fields in one of the housing complexes and it had a great atmosphere, and the food was actually well tasty! It was nice to have a night out that was a bit different instead of drinking or gong for a sit down meal, and it gave me a chance to meet some of those working in merchandise that I haven’t seen much of yet which was very nice.

meeting Donald at Thanksgiving

 

The next day I met up with several others from the UK and we went to Animal Kingdom and Hollywood studios- my first time park-hopping! It was fab because it was so quiet- we got on the safari ride, expedition Everest, tower of terror and rock n roller coaster several times each! It rained quite heavily at one point but even so it was a fun day, especially when the Christmas lights came on. It was a shame that fantasmic got cancelled because of the weather,  but I know that there is plenty oft time to see it!

I also went to the cinema for the first time since being here to see Caching Fire. It was weird being in a cinema again as it feels like it’s been ages but the film was really good and now I can’t wait for the next one to come out.  I took advantage of having afternoon start at work to go to Cici’s for a $5 pizza buffet with Sarah and have a look around the World Showcase. It was nice being in Epcot as a guest and not a cast member- it’s something I really haven’t done enough, so will try and do it more often!

I have also now completed my final training shifts! One role was beer cart which I only trained on for an hour but is pretty simple. The final role was the one I was dreading most was stocker. In this role, you have to; make sure that all the condiments, trays, cups, cookies, etc etc in the chippie are stocked; ensure that the kegs in the kegroom are full, and change them if they are not; make sure the soda machines are well stocked; keep the fridges in the bar stocked; keep the kitchen fridge stocked; beer cart stocked. I think that’s it. So basically you do all the running around and making sure that the other cast members have everything they need to perform their job. There’s a lot of lifting and running around and up and down stairs in this job, but the good news is that because you are kept busy the shift goes very fast. I had 2training shifts which actually didn’t go bad, but the park was relatively quiet. I am slightly concerned that on busy days it’s going to be incredibly hectic, and probably very stressful as everything needs stocking more regularly and people will be barking orders down the radio left right and centre. Still, I will cross that bridge when I come to it! But the main thing is that now I have done all my training I can safely say there is no job that I dislike so I can continue to have fun at work everyday!

Went to lasses again on Monday and we ended up at  karaoke bar! I loved it but I didn’t sing haha. We played flip cup as usual, and I swear I really need more practice as I am rubbish at it! And then last night to celebrate being here for a whole month, some of our arrival group went to Applebees for some dinner and drinks. 3 of us from the UK went, but in total there must have been 25 of us from all different countries. It was a cracking night and it was lovely to see how everyone was getting on in their respective jobs.

So another fab week. I am sad that this experience is going so fast- it just keeps reminding me to make the most of being here!

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Settling in

Yesterday marked my 3 week anniversary in Florida which is so crazy! Even though in some ways I’m starting to get used to it I do often feel like this is all a dream. I sometimes feel settled, and other times I feel like a complete newbie. It’s so wonderful though- some of my favourite parts of the day are when I walk through EPCOT to work in my costume and guests smile at me just because I’m a cast member. And especially at night when the lights twinkle over the lake and the music is playing it really does feel like a magical place to work.

Last Thursday I had to get up at 5 in the morning in order to get to a social security appointment. It was nothing major just had to show some paperwork but the early morning wasn’t great- but I passed everything so I should have a social security number come though soon! It only took a couple of hours so I then met my friends Eryl ( UK HRC) and Pierre (from my arrival group)and we spent the day in Animal Kingdom! It was so much fun, we introduced Pierre to rollercoasters via Expedition Everest, watched the Lion King which was amazing and scared ourselves silly on dinosaur. Me and Eryl also did the safari which we loved, though Pierre didn’t as he’s from South Africa and so sees those sorts of animals all the time! I love talking to people from other places and realizing that so many things that I consider ‘normal’ or ‘exotic’ are largely based on my experience of being British. Of course I’ve always known this, but actually talking to someone about it has been pretty cool.

I’ve also had a couple more nights out. Because so many people finish late at work we always head out at 11:30ish which is nice as it means everyone has the chance to come if they want. My second lasses was really fun though I woke up covered in glitter which just did not come off! I had to go to work with it all in my hair..not that any of the guests noticed (hopefully!). Speaking of work, it’s been really good! I’ve now been trained on chippy, so I can both work the register and also fill the orders. A couple of the chefs who work in chippy are really nice to talk to and I enjoy the role more than I thought, but it is pretty repetitive, especially as we have such a limited menu! Best part about the chip shop though is that we are a lot closer to the British Revolution band who play, so I get to listen to really good music! Just yesterday I was told it was time to take off my earning my ears sticker, as I’ve now done everything except beer cart and stocker. I didn’t really want to lose it but I guess it is time!

I’ve also been able to catch up with some other international cast members from my arrival group, which was great as I haven’t seen them as much as I thought because of different work schedules. We went to BJ’s again at Vista which was fab- their deserts are incredible, especially the oreo cookie dough!

Also finally got round to getting a phone. I spent quite a while looking at different plans etc, and  ended up with unlimited talk, text and web in the US for $35.For another $10 you could call UK landlines but I wanted to save the money and I’ll just use the internet to stay in touch!

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Throw in, lasses, universal, and a bit of work in between

The last few days have felt so busy, but in the best possible way!

My next day of training was on seater position again, but a late shift so that I would be around until the park closes. I was being trained by Natalie who I spoke to on facebook quite a lot before I left, so it was great getting to spend more time with her. I really enjoyed the PM shift as it was busier and had a great atmosphere when it gets dark and all the lights come on. I also got to witness the magic moment we do, where a cast member asks a kid to ‘turn on’ the fireworks which was adorable! It was a bit of a rush at the end of the night though to rush home so that we could get ready for the throw in. Whenever there’s a group of new arrivals, every UK CRP who can make it will come to the throw in, which is basically a way to meet everyone and get drunk. People had been asking me all day if I was looking forward to it, because most people get a little nervous as you have to stand up in front of everyone, introduce yourself and answer a daft/rude question. I have to admit I was a littler nervous standing up- I thought I was starting to at least recognise the faces of most people at the UK pavilion, but this was so not the case! The questions were fine- even the awful ‘would you rather’ questions were ok as there was no decent answer anyway so you just had to laugh it off and make a joke about it. I had a cracking night in the end and it was nice to get talking to some more people even though I think I made a prat out of myself at some points during the night- oh well!

Was slightly suffering the next morning, so me Sammy and Kim put our universal plans on hold for an hour so that we could go to the outlets and get some greasy hangover food. We felt much better afterwards, so we caught the I-trolly to universal. It does mean a little walk to and from the stops, but it was only 25 cents which was great! We decided to head into Islands of Adventure to do the Hulk, Spiderman and Harry Potter, though we managed to fit in more rides as well! I didn’t know what to expect from the Harry Potter, ride, but I must say it was the best ride I have ever been on! I won’t ruin it though for people who have not been on it, but honestly it was incredible, I actually believed I was in Hogwarts talking to Harry himself! We went to the restaurant by the Hulk for pizza, as I went there when I last came on holiday and me and my family think it’s the best pizza we’ve ever had, and it was definitely as good as I remember!  Such a good day, and it made me feel like I was on holiday!

I took my next day off as a chance to relax and get some energy back. I went to the gym for a little while for a gentle session, took a nice long shower and relaxed by the pool. It was really wonderful to just chill put for a day, as it feels like constantly go go go here! The next day I had greeter training. In this role, a guest will come and you basically put in their details (or retrieve their details if they have a reservation) and check them in to the restaurant, and give them a pager to call them in when they are ready to be seated. For some reason I wasn’t looking forward to this position, maybe because I was nervous of taking down and misspelling names, but I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would! There was more chance to chat with the guests in this role which was nice, though because it had been the wine and dine half marathon the night before and it was one of the last days of the food and wine festival, it was incredibly busy. It was easiest to not look at the long line, but to just focus on whoever was in front of you, and then it wasn’t too daunting.

My next shift was my first one where I was not being trained, and I was on seater. It actually went fine, though at the start of the day the computer system broke which was a bit of a nightmare. Luckily someone got it fixed, so after a mad hour we was back to normal and had everyone seated. The rest of the shift was really enjoyable, with lots of chatty guests- I ended up chatting to one couple for about 20 minutes as we weren’t busy and had a great time trying to explain England to them! I finished at 7, which was great as I had chance to go home and have a quick nap before I went to my first lasses! Some people love lasses and some say it’s just not for them- possibly because it involves a lot of drinking etc, but I thought I would go to at least give it a try, and there were a couple of people going that hadn’t been before so I wouldn’t be the only newbie! We had another initiation and then played a few drinking games, but I loved that no one was forced to drink more than they wanted or made to feel uncomfortable. Then we went to a bar to met up with the Mexican lads, as apparently you go out with a different country every week. We had a good laugh playing different games and getting to know the Mexicans, though being America it closed at 2! Fantastic night though, and I got a chance to speak to more of the UK lasses. It really feels like every day there are more people around to meet!

Yesterday I had another day off so I meet Sarah and we went to Magic Kingdom. It was my first time visiting as a guest since I’ve arrived and I had an AMAZING time. I t was so much more magical than I ever could have hoped- I do wonder sometimes if being a cast member would mean that some of the magic would disappear, but it definitely didn’t. Fantasyland was absolutely beautiful, but the best part of the night was definitely the show at the end of the night called Celebrate the Magic , where they project loads of images and videos onto the castle. I don’t know how to describe it to do it justice, but it was set to music and was quite simply stunning. This was followed by wishes which was so amazing I just did not want it to end.

So it’s been a fab few days Everyone says to try and make the most of your time here as it goes so fast, so I am trying to do that even though it is exhausting! I had a good lie in this morning, and am just about to head out to work, which is another seater shift (woo). Although I am getting little pangs of homesickness, it’s a magical time so far and I just hope I continues like this!

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Working at Epcot

I swear every day just gets better and better around here. After my last post I went to the pool with a lovely Canadian girl called Chelsea who I met at the training earlier in the day, and very soon I discovered that we had loads in common, even though we had a laugh comparing Canada to the UK (I really should never complain about snow again. like, ever). After chilling in the late afternoon sun for a few hours- which was glorious- we popped back to our respective apartments to get changed and ready to meet some of the Mexicans also on our arrival date. A few I had met briefly before so it was nice to get to know them better. They took us around the Mexican pavilion and Steffani was a fantastic tour guide! Then we went to see the O Canada film which is a 360 degree film which takes you around Canada, which was a million times better than I thought and really made me want to go to Canada, so I guess it did its job! Then we gathered around the fireworks and it was really beautiful for me to see them fir the first time in so many years. I actually had a little tear, but was so happy that it didn’t turn into full-blown crying- luckily!

The next day I was in Epcot with Tom where we got shown around the UK pavilion and backstage of Epcot so we knew how to get where we needed to be. And then we went to get our costumes! I love mine, its a full skirt, with puffy sleeves and  tighter fitting top, all of which are pretty comfortable, and as far as work clothes go quite flattering and comfortable. Then for the rest of the afternoon we had MORE computer training. It was really dull and I couldn’t wait for it to be over. I had had several early starts, and with getting ready, the journey to work and taking into account I’m getting everywhere early because I’m a newbie keeno means that I’ve been getting up very early in the morning. It ha really caught up with me and I nearly fell asleep when I got home sometime in the mid-afternoon, but I tried not to as I didn’t want to mess my sleeping pattern up. So I took advantage of the cooler weather and went for a run and popped into the gym. I started to do a lot of running this summer, and even though I only did about 20 minutes it felt good just to be exercising again. By the time I got home my Kim was back from her training. Although she works in the same pavilion after traditions she received different training because she is in Merchandise and I am Food and Beverage, and we had a good catch up and an early night.

Another early start was needed, but this as for Discovery day, so no complaints! We had a talk in the morning, and the speakers were again absolutely amazing, and really made everything fun even though they were giving important and valuable information. Then we had a detailed walk around the park. We were still in professional attire, and the only smart black shoes I own are heels. I’ve just been dealing with all the walking round over the last few days, but this day the long walk was starting to get to me as my feet started to hurt! Tried to suck it up and get on with it though, and ended up having a great day- we all got to ride spaceship earth and realy get to see the layout of Epcot. We were then told we were being taken on a tour of world showcase- I nearly cried when he said it was 1.2 miles long, but he meant on a boat  which was great! Then we headed backstage for some more presentations before being taken to the UK again to meet some of the managers and coordinators. One of them- Karen- sat us down and talked through stuff, all of which was much more specific to our role which was incredibly helpful. I had been getting nervous about my job again- until that point it had been more general tips on how to be a good Disney cast member, but it was nice to have an idea of the day tasks. When this was over me and Tom met Kim and Anne-Marie, our lovely little arrival group, to have another round of Epcot and do some more rides! So we did test track, soaring and the finding nemo area before heading home because again we were quite tired.

And today was my first day in costume! It felt incredibly strange to leave my apartment wearing my outfit, but around the complexes there is such a wide variety of costumes it doesn’t really get noticed!  This was my first day entering training on my own, as it was Tom’s day off as he is getting trained later in the week when I have a break. I was training with Rob today, who I met briefly in the interviews but has already been here 3 months. I was being trained on seater position, which basically means taking a guest from the podium to wherever they will be sitting, welcoming them and chatting to them on the way. It’s pretty simple, but you have to learn all the table numbers- this isn’t a hard thing by itself but when you are new its easy to get flustered. You also have to check the ticket for any allergies or dining plans so that you can highlight them for the server. I got through the day without too many major mistakes. I sat one table in the wrong position and was obviously much slower than the others, but I don’t think I did too bad and I was enjoying it after the initial hour! Some guests were quiet, some wanted to chat loads, and there were some that would ask to change seats and I’d have to go and sort that out with the assigner, so there was a real mix of guests. I also did some bussing in the evening, so basically helping to clean and reset the table.

One thing that struck me today was how friendly and helpful all the other staff was. I mean, all Disney staff encountered so far have been great, but I’ve seen them in situations where they are there specifically  to train me. Today, when I met the staff I was the new, slow slightly clumsy girl in their everyday work situation, And since new people come in all the time I guess I expected a quick hi or half smile- just another new girl. But actually every body greeted me properly, introduced themselves and asked how I was doing which I thought was just lovely. When you are nervously scanning for a table it’s nice to see a more experienced person give you an encouraging smile! Same goes for the managers also, who asked if I was ok and if I was enjoying it. I think once I get the hang of things I’ll be very comfortable, even though there are several more jobs I need to be trained on! There were some people which I recognised vaguely from facebook or their blogs that I have read, so it was weird them introducing themselves when I already kind of knew their name haha.

After work i was exhausted but me and Kim popped to publix anyway as we needed food. I am truly tired even after only one day of this, but I enjoyed it more than I thought so I feel very positively about it.

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Traditions, training and four loko

Another busy few days, so I thought I would update before I start forgetting things!

After my last post I skyped my Dad for the first time since arriving which was really nice, and then I caught the bus from commons over to Vista Way where we had some more immigration work to take care of. For some reason none of my hire documentation was online, but the staff were great and said they would take care of all of it and I was not to worry. While waiting in the que I sat next to a girl who recognised me from the facebook group which was nice, so I got the bus home with her and we had a nice chat. On the way to Vista I had bumped into my friend Sammy who I had met at both the interviews and Manchester, so I was well excited to see her, She invited me round to her flat on the night for pre drinks before going out to Downtown Orlando, which I of course accepted!

In the afternoon Alex met me Kim and Anne Marie to show us the outlets that are near by and some of the supermarkets that are in walking distance. One thing that really struck me was how friendly everyone was- even in the small stores the cashiers greeted us really warmly which I was SO not expecting! It was useful to have chance to go to another supermarket and I came away with a fair bit of stuff (including nandos sauce).

I was pretty tired when I got back, as I think the jet lag had caught up with me, so I went back home after Vista to do a bit of tidying and to have a nap. It was so hard to get up as I honestly felt like I could have slept through the night, but I managed to get up and cobble together a Halloween outfit. To be honest it was basically a big football shirt but I used some eye shadow to try and look like I had bruises- not the best but pretty good for my limited resources! I went round to Sammy’s place as she lives in the same complex as me and bless her she had bought me a can of four loko to celebrate my arrival! I got to meet quite a few more of the Disney CRPs and they were again really lovely, so it was great to get to meet them, Then we went clubbing in downtown Orlando! I had so much fun and I found downtown…interesting haha. Was definitely feeling it in the morning though, so I took advantage of the day off to have a decent lie in. Then Kim’s friend Josh came to see her- they had met in their own interviews, which took place before mine, so us three went out for a little wonder round the shops and explored the local area. Then me and Kim chilled in our room for a bit before deciding to go out to Downtown Disney again to have another wonder which again was great- the atmosphere was brilliant as there were so many people and types of music. I still can’t wrap my head round the fact that I’ll be here for a year!

Next morning was the day that I had been waiting for…Traditions! We got up really early to get ready into our first day of business attire and then get the bus up to the Disney University (yes, such a thing exists).  The day was to basically introduce us to the company- its past, present and future. Me Kim and Anne-Marie sat at a table with a lovely Canadian called Carolyn who we became fast friends with. The room itself was beautiful with a massive mural on eiother side of the room of Disney characters. I answered the first question correctly and got rewarded with a critter, which is a little figurine that you can only get in a traditions class. I got 2 more throughout the day, one fore being voted team other because me and my team won a round where we had to list as many Disney animated characters as possible. I was so happy to get  my little critters- I got Pluto, Donald and Daisy. The presenters were fantastic and gave us loads of useful and interesting stuff but gave it in a way that felt entertaining to listen to. We also got a tour around Magic Kingdom where the demonstrated different features which made the park as great an experience as possible, Even though it was raining really heavily I had a great time. As team leader I had to keep an eye on my team to make sure they didn’t get lost, but it was pretty easy as we all stuck together anyway.

I couldn’t believe when traditions was over, but I was excited to know what I would be doing next. On the way out Anne-Marie saw a friend also finishing her traditions, who had a car and took us to Mall at Millenia which is BEAUTIFUL to look at phone options, and to a supermarket so we could get some heavy stuff which was so kind of her.

And the today after I was back at Disney University for food training. It was mainly basic computer stuff so it was really boring but I got chatting to some nice people and went to the costume building after to get my GORGEOUS (lol, jokes) non-slip shoes for work. I get to finally go to EPCOT for work tomorrow which I am so so excited for as I’ll get to see where I’ll be working!

A lot can happen in a few days it seems! Will keep things posted as long as I am busy

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