Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party + Deployment

My goodness, it’s been way too long since I’ve updated! My September schedule turned out to be even crazier than my summer schedule (if that’s even possible). But that doesn’t mean I didn’t have fun in the meantime. I managed to go to Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party twice (once by myself and the second time with my mom). Before this year, I had been to the park in the past when the decorations were up, but this was the first time I had ever gone to a special holiday event. What makes this party special is that it’s the only time that adults are allowed to wear Disney costumes in the park. So naturally, I dressed up as the original Disney princess herself the first time around, Snow White!

I took Duffy in his vampire costume with me (I’ve grown so ridiculously attached to him already) and made sure to grab my Mickey pumpkin bucket for the candy that they give out! As of 2015, the earliest you can arrive at the Magic Kingdom for the party in costume is 4pm, even though the party doesn’t start until 7. You get a special wristband when you enter that shows you’re attending the party and can stay in the park past the time it closes to the public. Part of the reason I went so early in the season was because CMs can only buy discounted party tickets for September.

Once it got closer to the party, I made sure to find where the seven dwarfs meet since I HAD to see them in my costume. Unfortunately, others around me had similar plans and I ended up having to wait and hour and a half for them even though I had already lined up before the party started. I didn’t expect it to be as crowded as it was for it only being September, but I tried to make the most of the remaining time of the party. Most of the night was spent going around the park and getting candy from each of the stations. There are giant Mickey pumpkin lanterns that show where the stations are, so even if you forget to pick up a guide map when you walk in, you’ll still be able to find them easily! They give big handfuls of candy, so you won’t leave empty-handed.

I managed to get a decent spot for the Hallowishes show, which was amazing since there were perimeter fireworks and the soundtrack was super cool. By far the best part of the night was seeing the Boo to You parade. The music is super catchy and the Haunted Mansion segment is hands down one of the best in any parade at Disney.

When I went with my mom the second time around, she got a huge kick out of the Hocus Pocus Villain Spelltacular and we managed to ride Pirates of the Caribbean since it was closed the last time she was here.

The morning I went with my mom, we also had a character breakfast at 1900 Park Fare at the Grand Floridian, which was super fun! I definitely ate my fill of the buffet and I got to see some of my favorite Disney characters and get some awesome pictures with them. By the end of the night when we left, I was exhausted! I can’t wait to see the Christmas decorations put up soon. I’ve been to Disneyland at Christmastime but never down here. I’ll probably go to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party in November (yay discounts!) and give you all an update on that.

Now for the shop talk: deployment. For my non-Disney friends, deployment is that special word we use when the location you work at has too many people and they send you to a different location for a while as they’re sorting out the new people. I was deployed for a total of three weeks in September since the Seven Seas region got so many new people around my birthday that were only trained in the poolside activities (thus pushing the rest to Lilo’s Playhouse or the Pirate Adventure Cruise/Wonderland Tea Party).

The first week I was at Pop Century, which was a HUGE difference from what I was used to. Since they don’t have campfires over there, you’re at the pool from 1pm to 7pm. It’s exhausting, and I actually almost passed out the first day there since there is absolutely no shade by their pool I was at (smooth going, Paige). I liked the coordinators I worked with, but depending on the co-host I was with, it was hit or miss.

The second week I was at Animal Kingdom Lodge, which I LOVED. It was a little confusing getting around at first because of the way the resort is set up for CM entrances, but the theming and the animals were so cool to see! The campfire pits there overlook the savannas where the animals graze so that’s always a fun sight to see. Poolside activities are pretty chill over there, since some of the activities are taken over by the savanna guides in order to teach the kids about the animals.

The third week I was a Caribbean Beach. I had never visited before, but one of my old trainers is one of the coordinators over there so it was nice to see a familiar face! The guests were super nice over at that resort, and we got to do special arts and crafts like Mickey tie-dye once the poolside activities were done. The only downside to being at Caribbean Beach was that traffic always seemed to be awful whenever I went home after my shift. I guess a lot of people like to drive to Disney Springs each night since it’s so close by, but after working all day I just wanted to go home and rest.

I promise I will be so much better about updating in the future. Even if nothing special has happened to me lately, I’ll still try and keep people in the loop about different aspects of the actual DCP (like those lovely inspections, but more on that later).

Have a magical day!

Birthday Celebrations, Rehearsals, and Other Thoughts

Even in September I’m still such a busy bee down here at Walt Disney World (just finished up my seventh day working out of my ten day streak). But I did get to celebrate my birthday since I managed to not have work that day!

I always dreamed of going to Disney when I was a little kid, but little did I know I would be spending my 21st birthday in the place where dreams come true. I decided to spend the morning in Magic Kingdom (just to say that I had done it for my birthday) and proudly donned my birthday button. I didn’t do a ton of rides, but it was nice to just people watch and just take in the atmosphere. Being told “happy birthday” was pretty sweet, too! Before I left, I went to the Town Square to meet my pal Mickey Mouse. I always love seeing him since he makes me laugh and makes me feel like a little kid again. He had everybody sing happy birthday to me and it was super special.

When did I get too tall for Mickey????

After that I went to the Polynesian to the Tambu Lounge to enjoy all the perks of being 21 years old. I tried the Lapu Lapu and the Piña CoLava and loved them both! I went to Epcot afterwards, but it was really rainy by the time I got there and I didn’t really enjoy the atmosphere as much as I normally would’ve. The only thing I tried was the Grapefruit Beer in Germany, but it was way too heavy for my tastes.

At that point, I went to Downtown Disney to Raglan Road for a nice hearty Irish dinner (I highly recommend the Blueberry Mint Lemonade). There was a decent crowd inside so it was a nice atmosphere to be in after all the rain I had to walk through earlier. The dancers that were performing were all so talented and it was a nice way to be entertained. I’d like to say there was more that followed after the late dinner, but I was already exhausted from being up so early for Magic Kingdom so I went home afterwards.

In other news, Candlelight Processional rehearsals have started for the season! I went to my first one on Wednesday and it was nice to be able to sing with other people again. There were plenty of “veterans” but a fair amount of new people like me. Each rehearsal is an hour and a half long, and we focus on three songs in the setlist. Since I wasn’t in the show last year, I have to attend at least 10 rehearsals before the performances begin in late November. I’m glad I looked over my music ahead of time since the rehearsal time isn’t meant for learning parts — you just run through the music until the clinician of the day is satisfied. There aren’t a lot of CPs that get into the show each year, so I was one of the younger singers. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little intimidated, but everybody I talked to was so nice and friendly (though this IS Disney we’re talking about so maybe that’s a given). It’s already getting me into the Christmas spirit even though it’s only September.

With all the fun and excitement that’s been happening lately, being down here has been a little hard for me lately. Not that I don’t love my job and working where I do, but with school starting back up and seeing how much fun my friends are having on campus, it’s hard to not feel a little left out. Knowing I won’t be back until January is a little sad, but I still have work down here I need to finish. I have this weird guilt for not wanting to extend my program since it seems like so many people do it in a heartbeat. Aside from not being able to graduate on time, I think one program length is good enough for me. Even though I’m keeping busy down here, I still have things to look forward to when I go back to New York. Hopefully the “school-sick” feeling will go away soon, but I’m taking it a little harder than I thought I would initially. In the meantime I’m getting ready for the next semester by keeping in touch with my class dean to get my readmission through and I’m even considering a 5-year accelerated masters program! Nothing is set in stone of course, but I feel like missing a semester at school is forcing me to start considering my post-undergraduate life. Maybe I’m considering this all too soon (I tend to do that a lot, I’ve noticed) but it’s all in the back in my mind.

I hope to relax a little during my two days off this week and maybe even hit up Blizzard Beach since it’s going down for its annual refurbishment next month and I haven’t been there since I was around 8 or 9 years old. Magic Kingdom is already decked out with their Halloween decorations but I haven’t been able to see them in person yet. I’ll make sure to post pictures when I do.

Until next time, have a magical day!

More Training + Visitors

The summer rush at Disney is finally dying down a little, but that doesn’t mean I’m not keeping busy down here!

First of all, I found out last week that I got into the 2015 Candlelight Processional, which is pretty exciting! Tomorrow morning I get to select my rehearsal schedule, and I can’t wait to perform during the holidays.

Also, this week I was finally signed off of my training at Lilo’s Playhouse and for the Pirate Adventure Cruise and the Wonderland Tea Party!

It’s a bit different from being outside since there’s a LOT more paperwork involved. Since people come in and pay money and fill out waivers for these additional activities, there’s just more to keep track of in general. My Playhouse training covered cashier responsibilities (such as checking kids in and out and ordering dinners) and general supervision of the children.

The Pirate Adventure training was really fun. Each cruise has its own story (since there are some other resorts that have their own besides the Grand Floridian), but I’m lucky enough to be in such a spacious region where we get to take the kids to the Polynesian, the Contemporary, Wilderness Lodge, and Fort Wilderness. Oh, and did I mention I get to dress like a pirate? Yeah, it’s pretty sweet.

After the shadowing, I got to practice handling the pontoon. Lucky for me (in typical Michigander fashion) I have a cottage “up north” and had previous experience driving boats along our lake that the cottage is on. The boat we use is a little bigger and more sensitive than the ones I was used to driving, but my trainer said I did a great job anyway! It’s so much fun being out on the water, and especially because between Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake, there’s so much open space to navigate through. The only downside is that there are a LOT of ferry boats in the region since we’re by the Magic Kingdom so it gets tricky to navigate in that area at times.

The Wonderland Tea Party (like the Pirate Adventure Cruise) is at the Grand Floridian inside 1900 Park Fare. This experience is really cool since Alice and the Mad Hatter come in and interact with the kids for the first half while we take over the second half and have them play games and do crafts before sending them back to their parents. I’ve always enjoyed watching kids experience Disney magic, so I get a huge kick out of watching the character interactions. Alice and Hatter always make me laugh with their shenanigans, so I can’t even imagine how the kids feel!

On the note of visitors, I had my first friend come down to Walt Disney World while I’m here. Even before I started working here, I never had a lot of opportunities to go to the parks with friends, so it was nice to be with someone I knew! My friend James graduated from Fordham in May so I hadn’t seen him for a few months. He and I went to Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom together, which was a blast. Especially since it’s really starting to hit me that I won’t be back at school for the fall semester, it was really nice to see a friendly face after being down here for a while.

At Magic Kingdom, I got to experience a first thanks to James. I finally got to eat at Be Our Guest! There were some cancellations for lunch so he and I managed to eat in the ballroom.

The ballroom at Be Our Guest

I ate a croque monsieur and some French onion soup, which was pretty delicious (though I still prefer the real thing in France). James also made a point to show me the other two dining rooms in the restaurant, the west wing and the portrait room. The west wing was really cool because it has the rose from the film and when the lightning strikes, the portrait of the prince changes into the beast.

Seeing James was fun, but I’m also really looking forward to having my mom come and visit this weekend for a short trip. Since she can’t come on my actual birthday (which is a week from today, but who’s counting?) she’s making a quick weekend visit. Thanks to my discount, I booked her a room at Port Orleans French Quarter since she’d never stayed there before. The only solid plan we have so far is that we’re having dinner on Saturday night at Yachtsman Steakhouse at the Yacht Club Resort. The nice thing about traveling to Disney with my mom is that she’s super flexible. I’m thinking in the morning I’ll show her around the Polynesian and the Grand Floridian, since she’s never been to either resort before. What we’ll end up doing in between then and going to Epcot before dinner is up in the air, but we’ve been down her on vacation enough times we can just go with the flow.

Definitely expect another post next week about the adventures she and I get up to in addition to me talking about my birthday adventures. Somehow I managed to get both my birthday and the day after off (I have no idea how or why, but I’m not going to question it). I know it’s been a while since the last post, but I wanted to talk about all the training at once and going through everything took a little longer than expected.

Until next time, have a magical day!

My next day of Pirate Adventure training is on Wednesday, and I’m a little nervous since I have to host it only after seeing it done once! I’ll still have my trainer with me, but I’m hoping I don’t goof the story and ruin the magic for the kids.

Candlelight Processional Auditions!

This past Saturday was my audition date for the 2015 Candlelight Processional. For any of you who don’t know what exactly that is, it’s basically an annual holiday tradition over at Epcot. Between November and December, celebrity narrators come and tell the story of the birth of Christ while the cast choir (being joined by various high school choirs who audition separately), the Voices of Liberty, and a 50-piece choir perform choral pieces that supplement the story. They’ve already posted some of the narrators and their dates here, but there are still some dates that are TBD.

My friend Ashleigh performed in it last year, and she LOVED it! It was at least worth trying out for, even if I didn’t make it in. Even though I’m not in entertainment, I thought it was pretty cool how the audition was open to anybody working in any department within the WDW property. The only sucky part is that since auditions happen so far in advance throughout the month of July, only Fall Advantage CPs are able to audition since the regular Fall CPs don’t arrive until after the cast choir is selected. If this is something you really want to do on your college program, I would definitely take this into account before selecting which term you select in your application.

I signed up for a 9am slot on the 15th, since anything later than that would’ve conflicted with my work schedule. There were audition days/times scattered throughout the month of July, with the last audition day being August 1. The website to sign up for dates opened at the beginning of the month, and they fill up FAST. I actually signed up for my date without even knowing if I was working that day since the schedule for that week hadn’t come out by then.

There were four music excerpts that were available to look at for the audition. We each had to select one to audition with, but it was possible that they could have us sing more than one if they wanted to get a better sense of our sound and range. I ended up singing the mezzo soprano part since I wanted them to see that I could read the music well and show off my best range.

The audition was held at the Disney Event Group near the costuming area for Port Orleans (an area I know well considering that they’re the ONLY costuming place on property where I can get my yellow shirts for work). From what I’ve heard, this is a pretty new thing. It apparently used to be held near Animal Kingdom, but I wasn’t going to complain that this new location was much closer to the housing complexes.

I arrived about 15 minutes early and they had me fill out a form with my name and contact information in case they needed to reach out to me if I get in. They provided the music in case you didn’t bring your own, but I printed mine ahead of time just in case. I was really nervous since my voice doesn’t sound the best in the morning and not everything was coming out the way I wanted it to, but in the end I was happy with how I did overall.

Before the one-on-one auditions, we got to meet some of the creative team for this year’s Candlelight Processional. The atmosphere was so ridiculously relaxed, I almost forgot that I was auditioning for Disney! Don’t get me wrong — this process is competitive, especially if you’re a lady. From a sheer numbers perspective, not everybody who is good necessarily makes the cut. They explained in the beginning that they give you a number of where you fall on a scale, depending on how well you do. Then once everybody has auditioned, they compare the numbers to determine overall how everybody did and then they establish cutoff scores of who does and doesn’t make it. It’s a pretty intimidating process, since you have no idea how everybody else does!

One of the leaders from Epcot’s Voices of Liberty (Krista, a darling woman if you ever get to meet her in person) was the one who I had to sing for. She started by having me talk a bit about myself, and in the middle she had me stop and I was so worried! But it turned out she was interested in how low my speaking voice was despite auditioning for a mezzo soprano part. So she had me scale down until I couldn’t hit any more notes. She seemed pretty impressed with my range, which made me feel so much better. I sang my piece for her, and she had me do it two more times after (which I was so thankful for since I didn’t feel like the first one was the best) and gave me notes to try and change my sound. I was able to do what she said, and she seemed pleased that I could take direction in the way I sing. Before I was done, she asked me if I would be okay with being potentially placed as an alto instead of a mezzo soprano (which of course I said “yes” to) and that was the end of it! They gave us a little flyer that gave us more information about when we’d hear back from them (mid-August) and the rehearsal times that are in place, since I would have to attend at least 10 before the performances begin.

All in all, I think I did pretty well. Krista seemed to like what I was doing, and I felt that it was a good sign that she asked about other part placements. Of course, I still need to wait since others haven’t auditioned yet and I don’t know how well they’re going to do. Will I be bummed if I don’t make it in? Yes. Would it still have been worth auditioning? Absolutely.

Fourth of July Celebrations and More

I know this post is about a week late, but my work schedule has been crazy busy with the summer rush coming in. But I finally got to work my first big holiday down here! It was my first time ever being down here for Independence Day, and the UV index is pretty nasty. Even with sunscreen I’m finding that my face is getting redder and redder each day (and don’t even get me started on the awful tan lines from my costume).

Tuesday, June 30

This was one of my days off, and I did a LOT that day. I hopped on the bus and went to Team Disney (the HQ of Walt Disney World) and did my first shopping visit at Company D, which is a special store that sells CM-exclusive items. I think there are five or six different Company D locations around the property, but the one at Team Disney was the closest. I went in there looking specifically for an ID holder since my one from school broke and I wanted something to hold my employee ID and my housing ID. I managed to find one that could hold two cards at once, but I also managed to walk away with a new sunshade for my car! I’d been meaning to buy one for a while and with my CM discount at the store there was no way I couldn’t get it.

After my shopping was done at Company D, I walked across the street and explored Downtown Disney for a little while since I hadn’t had much of an opportunity to spend time there yet. It’s a bit tricky to navigate now since they’re going under so much construction for what will be known as Disney Springs. After that, I walked over to Saratoga Springs and hopped on a bus to Animal Kingdom since I hadn’t been there since I got down here! I did what I mostly tend to do at Animal Kingdom, which is go in the single riders line at Expedition Everest over and over again. But I also saw something I’d never seen before – The Festival of the Lion King! I don’t know why I hadn’t seen it until then, but it was nice to see something new at Disney. I ended my time at Animal Kingdom with a ride on the Kilimanjaro Safaris (a must-do for any Animal Kingdom visit) since the park closed at 7pm. I wasn’t quite ready to go back to my place yet, so I went to the Magic Kingdom for a few hours.

Even though I’ve been to Magic Kingdom more times than I can count, I did have some notable experiences that day! First, I finally had the Dole Whip!

I didn’t buy it expecting to like it too much; I’m not a huge fan of pineapples so I thought the whip was a little too sweet for me. I’m not sure if I’d eat another one straight up plain, but the idea of getting a swirl with vanilla sounds good. But it was a good experience since I always wanted to try one.

I also saw something I’d never seen before — Space Mountain with the lights on! I completely stumbled on this by accident since I wanted a bit of a rest and got on the PeopleMover and by the time I got into Space Mountain, this is what I saw:

This happens on the ride when it goes down for maintenance, but I’m glad I managed to come across it. It’s cool to look at, but also a little intimidating since they fit so much track into such a relatively small amount of space.

I also got to watch Wishes from Fantasyland since I was wandering around that area. It was really cool to see since the fireworks were so much closer but they were also so much louder, too! Sadly I didn’t get any pictures since my phone battery was dying and I knew it was my time to get home since I had work the next day.

Friday + Saturday, July 3/4

Walt Disney World takes two days to celebrate Independence Day, so these two days were very busy! Instead of the normal two people working at the pools, we had at least five people at each resort being overseen by a coordinator to make sure our games and activities ran smoothly. I was at the Polynesian on the 3rd and the Grand Floridian on the 4th. It was a little more hectic at the Polynesian because not only did we have our poolside games near the shallow end of the Lava Pool, but we also had our contests and other games near our party cart, so it felt a little crowded and disorganized at times. Working at the Grand Floridian was a much calmer experience on the 4th, and I was super thankful for it. There were some of us working at the pool, but by the time I was supposed to come in, I was just at the courtyard handing out goodies to the families since we set up different activities for them to enjoy on their own time, like badminton and croquet.

I wish I could’ve taken pictures to show you guys, but I couldn’t have my phone out while I was working. Unfortunately, with hurricane season and the unpredictability of weather, we ended up getting rained out for our campfire and movie both nights (although I’m relieved I didn’t have to deal with campfire with how many people we were serving). Christine (my coordinator on the 4th) was nice enough to let all of us go and watch the special fireworks show since we didn’t have to set up the movie or anything like that. I’m sure there’s a video of this show somewhere on YouTube, but it was my first time seeing it in person and it was FANTASTIC. They do perimeter fireworks around the Magic Kingdom and they pump in the narration and music from the boats on the Electrical Water Pageant for those of us who aren’t in the park. These fireworks are by far the best I’ve seen from Disney.

After that, we stuck around for a little while helping to store and put away our holiday materials for Christine and we ended up getting an early release (ER) because we didn’t have anything else to do.

I’m proud of myself for having survived Independence Day, but we’ll see what the crowds for the fall holidays look like.

Until next time, have a magical day!

Setbacks and Challenges

I really need to be better about updating this more often.

Peak summer season is upon us in Orlando, and it is HOT down here. As someone who normally isn’t used to sweating, I’m always covered in it by the time I leave work each day. I haven’t had as much time to play in the parks as I expected since I’m finding that I’m spending my days off resting instead. While each role has its own challenges, I think it’s fair to say that doing poolside activities is one of the more physically challenging jobs purely because of all the time we spend outside moving around and dancing and playing with the kids.

It hasn’t been all work, though. Last week I had my CPR course, which was a bit annoying to sit through considering that I was already certified by the Red Cross before my program began. But it was a paid training, so I guess I can’t complain too much. I also had a bit of a freakout that day since I dropped my new driver’s license on my walk over to Mickey’s Retreat for the class. Luckily, I managed to get it back two days later since a kind jogger happened to come across it and turned it in.

After the class was over, Sunny and I went to Magic Kingdom since I didn’t have my next shift for a few days and I needed to have some fun after the license stress. We spent a good portion of our time in Fantasyland, and I got to visit the Princess Fairytale Hall for the first time and got to meet Cinderella and Rapunzel!

On Sunday, Nicole and I went to Hollywood Studios to play around since we had that day off. The highlight was definitely seeing Fantasmic, since I hadn’t seen it in a few years. I still need to hit up Animal Kingdom and spend a considerable amount of time in Downtown Disney, but I have two days off coming up soon so I’ll have an excuse to do that.

This past week was a bit rough, I’m not going to lie. I won’t bother with specific details, but this week was very emotionally and mentally trying both on and off the clock. I’m trying not to get flustered by not getting everything perfect right away, but it’s hard (and those of you who know me well understand this and know I don’t take well to making mistakes). Funnily enough, the adjustment to Florida (and the program in general) is getting harder now that I’m getting more into my role. Part of it may have to do with the fact that more and more guests are coming down to the resorts for the summer, but it’s been getting more difficult for me to have a solid social life outside of work.

It stinks when you meet so many people during your first week but never seem to have any time to hang out with them because your schedules are so different and you always have different days off from work. I’m getting along great with my coworkers at the Polynesian and the Grand Floridian, but most of them aren’t in the program so I don’t really get to see them outside of work either.

I do feel a bit socially isolated at times, mostly since I’m also getting adjusted to the “rhythm” of Orlando. It’s a very different vibe from New York, and I do miss the city so much and knowing that my friends from school are going back without me does make me a bit sad. I hope when I go back in January I can still pick up where I left off with everybody and that people will have missed me when I was away (I know, super vain).

I love my job, don’t get me wrong. I know and I understand how lucky I am to be here doing what I do. After my extremely hectic day on Wednesday which involved me having to run to the Polynesian from the Grand Floridian to close, I was really cheered up by the fact that I got my first Four Keys Fanatic card from one of my coordinators the next day! These are basically little recognition cards that others can write if they see that a CM is displaying the Four Keys (safety, courtesy, show, and efficiency).

Sometimes I feel like my job can be a bit of a thankless one (such is the burden of those who work with young children), but it was really nice to know that my coordinator was happy with how I was doing with the guests. It was a great way to pick me up after the crummy day I had the day before.

I’ve officially been down here for a month, and I still have quite some time to go in my program. Even though I didn’t have a great week, I won’t let that stop me from doing my best both at home and at work. I hope I can meet more people and find time to have fun with them when I’m not working, and I hope I can start being nicer to myself when things happen that are out of my control.

Until next time, have a magical day!

My First Week Flying Solo

Sorry I haven’t had a chance to update in a bit, I’m still getting adjusted to the work/leisure balance down here. A week ago was my last day of training and since then I’ve been on my own for running poolside activities with my various openers or closers.

And I have made plenty of mistakes in that first week.

Nothing bad enough to get me fired or anything like that, but little roadbumps that invariably come with getting adjusted to a new position. Even though two of my shifts got rained out (such is the glory of working outdoors) they didn’t tack on any additional training days. I’m still finding that I’m learning more from what I’m doing wrong than what I’m doing right.

Since I was being trained along with my friend Nicole (I know too many Nicoles on this program; this one is my coworker) it made the adjustment into the actual shifts a little harder because when two of us are being trained at the same time sometimes we can get away with not knowing how to do something if the other one did. But now that we’re being left to our own devices, I’m realizing where my shortcomings are and how I can improve.

The upside to this is that I definitely feel like I can answer guests’ questions much more confidently now. I honestly have the recreation calendars and the maps for both the Polynesian and the Grand Floridian pinned to my corkboard in my room so I can study them and prepare for what I’m going to do when I go into work.

I’m honestly really relieved that I get along with my new coworkers so well! I’ve heard from other people who’ve done the program before that sometimes the part-time or full-time CMs don’t treat the CPs as nicely, but I haven’t had any bad experiences with anybody else so far. My coordinators have been so nice and helpful and supportive and I love working in this region.

With that being said, it gets SO INCREDIBLY HOT down here! I knew what I was getting myself into when I put Fall Advantage as my first pick, but the consistent days of humidity and heat are still taking their toll on me. I’m still trying to stay as hydrated as I can, but it can be hard sometimes, especially if we’re doing dance parties with the kids and we’re up and moving along with them. Whenever there’s a chance for me to be in the pools to facilitate games, I take it. I’m already getting the farmer’s tan from my costume and the “croc dots” from the Crocs that I wear when I’m at the pool.

As much as I enjoy doing the poolside/campfire/movie shifts, I’m really eager to start getting trained in other areas. I have to go back to Casting and get re-fingerprinted before I can start training at Lilo’s Playhouse in the Polynesian (they’re THAT serious about making sure the children will be safe with us). I’ll also eventually get trained in the Pirate Adventure Cruises, but that probably won’t be until after the peak summer months are over just because they can’t bring on extra people to train if the boat capacity is full from the kids. I’m a bit bummed that I have to wait for that one since I want to drive the boat around Seven Seas Lagoon and go on the little explorations with the kids.

After figuring out the timing for me to get to and from the Magic Kingdom resort area, I’m glad that I was able to have my own car for the program. It’s nice to have more independence about when I can leave and I can just leave straight from work without waiting for a bus to come! The obvious downside is that gas expenses are another thing I have to budget (especially since my car runs on premium), but since I’ve mostly been using it to and from work, I’m only refueling around every two weeks.

I hope I get used to my work schedules more in the future. I knew that I was coming down for a job, but lately it feels like all I’m doing is working and I need to find a better balance of work and leisure. But with my long weekend, I can hopefully get caught up on having some fun while I’m down here.

Whatever fun I get up to this weekend, I’ll make sure to post about it since I’ll actually have the time.

Until next time, have a magical day!

Training and Welcome Day at the Grand Floridian

So much to learn, so little time!

After only working three shifts in the Seven Seas region, I love it already! I didn’t come down thinking that doing children’s activities was going to be easy, but the job is a lot more technical than I thought it would be. Instead of going through the boring play-by-play of what I did on each day of training, I’ll just talk about what a typical day is for someone doing a poolside activities shift. I haven’t been trained yet in the Pirate Adventure Cruises or the Wonderland Tea Party at the Grand Floridian and I’ll probably start my training at Lilo’s Playhouse at the Polynesian pretty soon, so I’ll post more about that sometime later (the cruise training may not even happen until after the summer is over).

A Typical Day for a Children’s Activities Host/Hostess

If you’re doing poolside, you’re either the opening shift (12:30 to 9) or the closing shift (3 to 11:30).

The opener comes first and does a checklist to see if all the materials are prepped and ready to go for the day. Each day the games are a little different, so you need to get the correct binder depending on which day it is and fill out the checklist before you step foot near the pool. The opener has about a half hour before the poolside activities are scheduled. After that, depending on what games are being played, the opener takes the appropriate materials, brings out the party cart that has the speakers, and connects it with the iPod to feed music to the guests.

From 1 to 3, the opener is flying solo and using the microphone to facilitate the games and to get the kids to participate. The closer comes at 3 to cover for the opener while (s)he goes on break. The games continue until about 5:30 and then the party cart gets put back where it belongs and the opener and closer start prepping the campfire together.

During the campfire, families can come to roast marshmallows for an hour and I honestly love this part of the day since we get to do a lot of one-on-one interaction with the guests. Once campfire is done, we get our movie materials ready! This definitely takes some time since the screen is HUGE. There’s also speakers to plug in to make sure the sound goes through and each night the movie is different.

The movie starts at 9 each night at both resorts and once the movie is running, the opener is done for the day and heads home. The closer stays with the projector to make sure that there are no technical difficulties. What’s cool about being the closer at the Polynesian specifically is that since the beach is a prime viewing area for Wishes from the Magic Kingdom, we pause the movie at 10 when the fireworks start to go off so the guests can watch! Sadly this isn’t the case at the Grand Floridian since we don’t face towards the park.

Once the movie is all done, the closer takes down the film equipment and puts everything on the golf cart to take everything back to its proper place for the next day. When everything is all set, it’s time for the closer to go home!

Welcome Day (June 9th)

Today was our welcome day at the Grand Floridian, which seems a bit odd considering that I worked two shifts there last week beforehand. Our guides were not beating around the bush when they talked about the high expectations that guests have for this resort. Since it’s Disney’s flagship resort and it already has a high reputation to begin with, we have to make the “Grand Difference” together. Both resorts I work at have very specific language and terminology that would not be appropriate at the other. At the Polynesian it’s much more laid back whereas at the Grand Floridian it’s very proper and old-fashioned. Although this is pretty intimidating, we were also reassured that we were placed at the Grand Floridian specifically because something we did or said something in our interviews that indicated that we were of a high caliber and that we were seen as CMs who would appropriately engage with the high-end guests that come in. The Grand Floridian has served royalty, celebrities, and top-level executives in the company, and I feel blessed and honored that Disney believes in my abilities so much to be able to make their stay as enjoyable as possible while still maintaining a professional attitude.

We got to do a walking tour around the property and even ventured into the Villas for the DVC members. That was definitely the highlight of the tour for me since the lobby is themed after Mary Poppins (one of my favorite movies). The fountain in the center has the penguins from the Jolly Holiday sequence holding teacups and it’s adorable! There’s also small statues of carousel horses on some of the tables and chalk drawings on the walls inspired by Bert’s artwork. The indicator of which floor the elevators were on were also shaped like Mary’s talking umbrella, which I thought was a nice touch. I wish I could’ve taken pictures today, but since I was onstage (Disney-speak for an area where guests are able to see you) I couldn’t have my phone out. I’ll make sure to go back later and show you all what they look like.

It was nice to take the tour anyway so I could know where everything was and not look like an idiot when a guest asked me where something was and I didn’t know. I will say one thing though: thank goodness for CM discounts! I can definitely see myself blowing a lot of money at the resort. There are new restaurants there that I want to add to my bucket list and it made me more motivated to save up enough money to be able to have a nice dinner at Victoria and Albert’s (though this may take some time with how expensive it gets). I hope I can have a spa day too, but I may wait until around my birthday or later since the summer rush of guests staying on the Disney property will have left and it won’t be as busy.

At the end of the welcome day, we each got a certificate and a key that actually used to belong to one of the rooms in the resort before key cards were introduced! It’s a nice little keepsake from my program and I feel special that I get to possess a unique Disney item that not everybody can say they have.

This week is my second week of training with my first shift by myself on Friday! I’m a bit nervous since I’m opening and I’ll be starting off by myself for the first three hours, but I’ll really start taking more of an initiative and get as hands-on as I can to make sure I’m ready so the kids can have the best time ever.

Until next time, have a magical day!

Traditions, Magic Kingdom, and Aloha Day

I can’t believe I’ve already been living in Chatham for one week! If the rest of the program flies by as fast as this week has, I’ll be packing up to go back home before I know it.

Even more has happened to me since my last post, so this is going to be another “organized-by-day” post so you can see what I did for each day. This may be how other future posts end up as well since I don’t always have time to sit down at the end of the day to make a post. Let’s go!

Friday, May 29 – Traditions

Since my last post, I’m pleased to let you know that I got my second drug screen results less than 24 hours afterward and I was informed that I was allowed to attend Traditions! I was supposed to be in the morning group, but they moved me into the afternoon group instead.

We went to Disney University (located behind the Magic Kingdom) to attend our seminar dressed in our non-costumed guidelines for that lovely Disney look, and I was placed in the same group as Nicole. A lot of Traditions was mostly sitting and listening to the expectations that were in place for us. After a while, we were able to go on a walking tour of part of the Magic Kingdom to be able to identify and see Disney’s “four keys” in action: Safety, Courtesy, Show, and Efficiency.

During Traditions we also got a complimentary pair of mouse ears and Mickey came to give us our name tags! I’m not going to lie; I nearly cried twice during the seminar because we were shown a compilation of kids getting surprised with Disney trips and we were also read a letter from a parent whose daughter was physically handicapped and how normal the family got to feel when she got to be featured onstage at the Festival of the Lion King when they were bringing some of the little Guests onstage. Having a brother with autism, I’m so glad that I work for a company that values treating guests with disabilities with the dignity and respect that they deserve. By the time my group was finished, it was around 7:30 at night, and we headed back to Chatham.

We also had our Welcome to Operations class on Saturday, but I won’t go into detail with that too much since it was mostly an introduction to what being a Recreation CM includes.

Monday, June 1

Yesterday I had the day off, so I decided to head over to the Polynesian and the Grand Floridian to do some resort hopping before I went to the Magic Kingdom. It was my first time inside both resorts, and I wanted to get an idea of the area I would be working in before I had my orientations. I loved being at both places, despite having very different atmospheres. It was a bit intimidating to think that I would get to work at these places, but I was mostly excited.

I ended up spending about an hour just lounging around the Grand Floridian lobby and listening to the live music that was played. They swap out a jazz band with a pianist, and I felt so much classier sitting and listening to the music. After I was done, I hopped on the monorail to the Magic Kingdom and my timing couldn’t have been better – a huge mass of storm clouds were brewing but I was smart enough to have brought my umbrella with me, so I didn’t worry too much. I knew a lot of people were probably going to leave anyway so less wait times for me!

It’s a really weird feeling to be in the parks and having to remind myself that I don’t need to do EVERY SINGLE THING I want to do in one day. Although with all that I wanted to do, I was limited by the borderline monsoon rain and couldn’t do too many outside rides for a while because of lightning in the area. Sadly the Main Street Electrical Parade was cancelled since it was too wet for the floats and characters to come out safely, but I still got to see Wishes (the fireworks show). I’m not going to lie; that show makes me cry every time I see it. “When You Wish Upon a Star” NEVER made me cry until after my dad died, and now when I listen to it I think of how I do my best to make him proud and how coming to Disney with my family always gave me such wonderful memories. It’s a bit comforting to know that I can feel at home here too since I can go back to the same places he and I went together when I was younger.

After composing myself when the fireworks for done (thank goodness for the rain to hide the tears!) I started to slowly make my way down Main Street to start to leave the park. Then it hit me; I hadn’t had any real dinner! So I stopped by Casey’s Corner and got a chili cheese dog (one of my “to eat” items on my bucket list). It was HUGE!

The chili cheese dog meal from Casey’s Corner

I was about to leave the park for the night when I noticed that there was only a 20 minute wait to meet Mickey at the Town Square Theater. Now, what sort of Disnerd/CM would I be if I didn’t get to see him? I honestly can’t even tell you when the last time I met Mickey Mouse was, that’s how long it’d been.

What made this interaction special was that Mickey actually talks to the guests here. It was really funny to see some of his conversations he was having with other guests before it was my turn. There were two girls who came from Japan, and he actually welcomed them and used some Japanese phrases to communicate with them! That was just the coolest thing. Then it was finally my turn and I got a big hug from him. He asked me if I had visited the Haunted Mansion (which I had), and he got a little scared and tried to hide since he was worried that one of the hitchhiking ghosts tried to follow me. After his attendants reassured him that everything was okay, he thought it would be a good idea to pose for pictures pretending we were the ghosts, so we got some silly pictures.

Beware of hitchhiking Mickeys and Paiges!

It was so surreal finally getting to talk to one of the most iconic figures from my childhood, so I left the Magic Kingdom with a bit of a spring in my step, and headed to the bus stop to take me home. I didn’t get a lot of sleep for work the next morning, but it was so worth it.

Tuesday June 2 – Aloha Day

This morning I woke up at 6:15 to get ready for my orientation at Disney’s Polynesian Village and Resort. The bus that was supposed to get me to the resort never showed up (my favorite), so I ended up driving myself and one of my coworkers to work. We still got there pretty early, so we had some time to chill out in the cafeteria before we had to clock in. When it was time to begin, we went into the space and we began our Aloha Day!

It started out with us learning some of the basic Polynesian terminology that is exclusive to the resort (luckily I was already familiar with some of it since I had visited Hawaii with my family a few years ago). We also went on a walking tour of the resort so we could become more familiar with the names of all the buildings where the guests stay. It’s a bit difficult for me now, since the buildings all look very similar, but I’m sure I’ll know where everything is after a few days of training. I got to see the Lava Pool, where I’ll be doing the poolside activities with the children and it looks so awesome! The entire theme of the resort is so beautiful and it honestly made me forget that I was in central Florida (mission accomplished, Disney).

By far the highlight of the tour was getting to meet Auntie Kau’i in the lobby. If you ever get a chance to visit this resort, you NEED to go see her! She’s been with the resort for many many years and she makes leis for the guests in the lobby. Although she’s got a quick wit, she’s a very sweet woman who took the time to greet all of us and ask us where were were being stationed. She gave us all leis and greeted us with cheek kisses, as per French Polynesian custom. Then came the interesting part: all of us learned the Hukilau dance! It was a bit odd since we were in the middle of the lobby and other guests were watching us, but once we got into the dancing it was so much fun. The guests seemed to enjoy watching us too, so as long as they were happy it didn’t matter.

Once that was over, we went back into our break room and finished up our orientation. I’m sure you can imagine our surprise when we found out that the general manager, Norm, had come to talk to us! Norm gave us a lot of good advice about working at the resort which basically boiled down to:

• Consider the legacy that we will leave at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort
• Make sure that our guests feel like they are part of our Ohana
• Just because we’re new and still getting familiar with the resort, we shouldn’t feel intimidated to reach out to the guests to assist them

Once Norm finished up what he had to say, that was more or less the end of orientation! All that I had to do afterwards was finish some e-learning and get my costume for my first day of on-the-job training tomorrow.

Final Thoughts

I think I really learned a lot in the past few days. I’m still trying to make sure my onstage presence is strong around the guests and I did my best to greet them as we were walking around on our tour. Sometimes I find myself slipping with not using Disney point (two fingers, not one) or not feeling like I know exactly what the perfect thing to say would be. I know, I know, it was only my first day. But I really don’t want to let anybody down while I’m working and I want to strive to be the very best version of myself that I can be while I’m interacting with the guests.

Tomorrow is my first day of training in costume, and I’ll be learning the basic setup of a typical day in children’s activities by the pool and setting up the campfire and movie at nighttime. The nice thing about children’s activities is that the AM shift starts at 12:30pm, so I get to sleep in! I’m scheduled with my coworkers who were at my Aloha Day for the PM shift (which begins at 3). Considering I’m not a morning person, I think it’s safe to say I got the best gig I could at the best places that I could. Later this week I’ll also be starting training at the Grand Floridian.

I had a really fun and informative weekend, but my first day of training is finally happening and the real work will be underway soon.

Until next time, have a magical day!

My First Few Days

Oh my goodness, so much has happened since Tuesday and I’m only now able to finally have the time to sit down and write all about it (I apologize in advance as I’m sure this post will be a bit lengthy). I think dividing this post into smaller sections of what I did each day will help make organization a little easier.

Day 1 (May 26) – Check-In

Tuesday morning, my check-in time was at 7am, so we pulled into Vista Way (one of the DCP housing complexes) to get to the welcome pavilion so I could get all my information. The first line out the door was for us to get stickers with our names on them so everybody helping us out could refer to us by our first names.

My pseudo name tag

Then when we got inside, we were separated by last name into two lines so we could get our program guides and find out our work locations. I was super excited to hear that I had gotten children’s activities, but it turns out that I will be working at the Grand Floridian! I can’t wait to start training and see how beautiful the resort is in person since I’ve never been there before. After that, I got my housing assignment and found out the number of girls I was living with and which complex I would be living in. We got our room keys and our photos taken for our housing IDs. As we moved on, we also got our personalized itineraries for the next few days and started our I-9 forms.

By the time I finished the entire check-in process, it was about 8:40, and according to my itinerary, I had casting that same morning at 10:30. “Casting” is basically Disney speak for the lovely recruiters and other HR people who take care of onboarding and new hires. The bus took us to the Casting Center near Downtown Disney so we could get our paperwork and background checks completed. Because I was doing children’s activities, it took a little longer to do my fingerprints because they needed to be sent to more places for the background check, but I didn’t mind and tried making small talk with as many of the CMs as possible. Everybody was so friendly and accommodating, and it made me so excited to start working for the company.

The Casting Center

After I was all done at Casting, my mom and I went to Chatham Square (my new home) to unpack my things and get situated. I’m living in a 3-bedroom apartment with 5 other girls. Two of them (Genesis and Katherine) are from Puerto Rico, another two (Raven and Nicole) are from New Jersey, and MacKenzie is from Oregon. Once I got settled in, I had to take my mom back to the airport so she could go home and I took it easy for the rest of the day since I was so tired! I actually went to bed before midnight which almost never happens to me anymore.

My building at Chatham

Day 2 – Drug Screening and Housing

Yesterday, my itinerary was fairly straightforward. I had a mandatory drug screening at 10:30am for my role and then at 1pm was our mandatory housing meeting. Only certain roles are required to do the drug test when they arrive, and they’re usually ones like Transportation and Attractions since they count as “safety critical.” I didn’t think that I was going to need to have one done, but it said so on my itinerary. It was a bit of an inconvenience since they were doing the testing at Vista instead of Chatham, but Disney doesn’t let you go to Traditions (your onboarding seminar) or start training until the drug screening and the background check clears. For obvious reasons, I won’t divulge too much personal detail of the actual screening process.

After that was all done, I went with Raven to The Commons where our housing meeting was held. It was mostly dealing with logistics in housing, like what not to do so we don’t get in trouble. It also included how to be safe in the Orlando area in general since some students may never have had experience living in a big city before. To me, a lot of what was said seemed like common sense, but that’s only because I’ve lived in New York for two years. I’m sure there are plenty of CPs who needed to hear a lot of that information, and it’s always a good reminder to make sure that I’m looking after myself.

Day 3 – Drug Screening (Part II) and Appliance Issues

Today was originally supposed to be a free day for me, but I got a call around 11:30 this morning from one of CMs who oversaw my drug screening yesterday. As a result of overpreparing for the test by drinking more water than I should’ve, the results were inconclusive and they needed me to get retested. Since I won’t be allowed to attend my Traditions seminar until this test comes back definitively negative, it was important that I got it done today so I could still start my training on time.

After a quick pit stop at the local Walgreens to pick up more food for myself, I went over to the testing center to get retested. Again, without getting into too much detail, I was much more confident that this time they would get more definitive results so hopefully that will get cleared soon. Unfortunately, because they’re still processing the sample, I can’t go to my Traditions seminar tomorrow. I’m guessing they’ll know by tomorrow so I can go on Saturday. The CM who called me from Casting about the update was very sweet and told me there was nothing to worry about and sometimes it takes some CPs longer to get through the screening and background check process too and there were others in the same boat as me. It’s a little disappointing though, since I was really looking forward to going tomorrow.

This morning was a little interesting in Chatham 6203 as well. Our stove has been inconsistent with wanting to heat up when we need it to, and our microwave plate shattered and broke when Mack was trying to heat up something for breakfast. Luckily someone from maintenance came over within a few hours and managed to fix the problems so at least we have a functioning stove and a new microwave plate. The front desk also gave us the kitchen utensils and the dinnerware we were missing, so it’s safe to say we’re pretty well-stocked. I guess the upside to not having Traditions tomorrow is that I have another free day to do what I want minus going to the parks since I still can’t get in for free yet. I was already planning on going shopping for a new bathing suit (since I stupidly left mine at home) and possibly getting more business casual clothes for my trainings, so I may end up spending part of the day in Downtown Disney as well and browse.

Final Thoughts:

All in all, I’ve had a pretty eventful last few days. I’m still getting adjusted to the Florida humidity and I’ve already learned that I have to drink way more water than I’m used to or else I’ll get dehydrated. Having my car down with me has been a lifesaver since I have more mobility to get around to where I need to go and it definitely made going to get retested much easier.

I knew before I got here that Walt was always a big believer in being on a first name basis with all his employees, but it was a bit bizarre at first to have all these people who I didn’t know call me by my first name when I had my name displayed during check-in. I was raised more traditionally in the sense that my first instinct is to always address someone older than me as “Mr./Ms. _____,” but I’m finally getting more comfortable using first names with the people I’m meeting.

One of the biggest pieces of advice I got from when I went to Casting was that it’s never too early to start networking. Especially for people who want to continue working for Disney after their program is over and those who are interested in applying for a Professional Internship, it’s super important to put yourself out there and get to know the higher-ups that you encounter. They even said to start networking among ourselves, since some of our fellow CPs could be big names in the Disney company someday.

I know I’m going to learn so much from working in such a successful, diverse company and that this opportunity could open so many doors for me in the future. I’m just eager to get this stupid screening cleared so I can begin Traditions and start training and getting to know all the little princes and princesses at the Grand Floridian I’ll get to spend time playing games with during the day.

Until next time, have a magical day!