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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