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
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Emma's Disney Blog 