Catching Up...

What?! I have a night off that I don’t have to do anything or see anyone?! I don’t get many days like this, where I don’t work super early, or work super late and when I actually have time to write about what is happening. Lot of things are happening. My program is quickly coming to an end, and as much as I didn’t think I would say this, I am ready for it to be over. I miss home. A lot of my current co-workers that are College Program students are extending their program to stay living down here and working for Orlando through the end of May. And well, all I really want to do is move back to Wisconsin and continue on pursuing what I know I can accomplish.

A lot of the people that I started working with when I first moved down here, have left. They’ve “self-termed” to move back home and either get a “real job” or finish up school. Out of the 15 or so of us that started at Seasons back in May, I believe 4 of us are going to actually stay and finish our program. The hardest friend that I had self-term happened last week, with my friend Lawrence. It’s going to be hard and different not having him around for the remainder of my program, but I know he’s back in New York pursuing is goals of working with a marketing firm and doing what he loves in a place that he can call home.

I’ve come to determine that only the strong survive working for Disney. Especially the College Program. There is nothing that is saying that I have to stay here and finish my program. I could, in theory, walk over to the main office building and say I wanted to go home and I would have 24 hours to be off property. It takes a certain type of person to stick through the program. Disney works the CPs the hardest because they are the cheapest labor, and they aren’t part of the union. It’s typical to have 12 hour shifts multiple times a week, doing physical labor, and interacting with guests the entire time. And we have to maintain the Disney smile the whole time that we are “on stage” in front of the guest. I set out to be part of this program, and I knew that it wasn’t going to be easy, but I never imagined it to be this hard either. I’m going to take the last few months to soak in all that I can and grow as much as possible, because I know this is an opportunity that many people dream of having.

One of the hardest things that I have had to deal with is seeing all of my co-workers and roommates being able to see their families and fly home to see friends, and I haven’t been able to afford to do that. I’m overjoyed with the opportunity to be able to fly home for an extended weekend to spend time with my family. I know that I won’t want to come back once I’m there, but I need to be able to have that time with them. And it’s helpful knowing that they are going to be visiting me a few short weeks after I come back. And then approximately a month later, I can call Wisconsin my home again. I excited to be able to drive in Wisconsin again. And be able to see the landmarks and buildings that I grew up with. And go to familiar places. And smell comforting smells. And I’m overjoyed that I get to see my puppies again. I miss them more than most could understand. I envision a scene much like those that are shown of a soldier coming home, which might be a little exaggerated, but that’s what I see happening with Pal and I. I can’t wait to be able to see my little sister again. And to be able to see Nana all grown up from when I left her and she was barely taller than my shin.

As excited as I am to be able to return to Wisconsin for a few days, I’m still excited to be able to spend time with my family here, in Orlando, when they come and visit. I want to be able to show them all of the things that I’ve learned and how I go about a “typical” day as a Cast Member. And I don’t have to sleep in this awful apartment when they’re here!

Food & Wine

I'm headed into what I believe to be the 4th week of the International Food & Wine Festival and believe it or not, time seems to be flying by really fast. I love working at the festival, instead of working at Sunshine Seasons. I get to be outdoors for my entire shift (rain or shine) and I get to actually be able to see the sun and interact with guests more than I was able to at my home location. The festival has been all that it was promised to be for me.

The festival is broken into three different segments that only Cast Members are aware of, Red, Blue, and Yellow Zones. I work in the Red Zone. This zone includes the Marketplaces of Ireland, Canada, Greece, Puerto Rico, Desserts & Champange, Hawaii, Scottland, and Terra. During any giving day or time, I could be moved to any of these locations and expected to know all of the menu, how to prepare the dishes, including allergies, and overall, run the marketplace smoothly.

More to come... Just needed to get something out on "paper"

How I've Grown as a Person

Disney has taught me multiple things:

Making friends who are from all over the world will make you realize that no matter how different your cultures and backgrounds are, we really are all equal and very much alike on the inside.

You will find out that you are much more brave and fearless than you thought you were. You'll look back at the old you and notice how many things you've done here on your own and how proud youa re of those things. The old you who used to be someone so sheltered and afraid of many things is now someone who is strong, has big dreams, goals, and knows more of what she want from her life. But no matter how strong you think you are, there will be a couple day where you miss the scenery of home

You will have to dig deep inside to find that last ounce of patience to be able to help foreign people count their money, or give them directions solely by hand signals.

You will realize that no matter how annoying your job is, it really is the people around you that make it worthwhile. If you don't like your co-workers, but like the job, you won't like it much for long. If you don't like your job, but like you co-workers, time will pass much faster and it will be a lot more fun

You will find out how un-American and how unfair interns are treated. College interns at Disney don't get paid time and a half for working holidays. And we WILL work EVERY holiday during our program. We work like full-time employees, but we are not eligible for health benefits. We are the very bottom of the food chain. College interns are below full-time, part-time, and seasonal works. We are paid less than any of those, typically doing more work than they do.

You will notice how on stage at Disney World all the workers seem so happy and cheery because they're working at the Happiest Place on Earth, but in the utilidors everyone is so crabby, rude, and everyone looks like a zombie because of the hours they are workings. But we all return day after day to create the magic for that one little kid whose smile you get to see light up their face.

Finding and building a support network when your 1,000 miles from home is key

Cast members protect the magic and hold it close to our hearts. Character integrity is something we all pride ourselves on. A daily question that I get is, "How many Mickey's are there?" There is one. One Mickey. One Donald. One Goofy. Cast members can not be Mickey Mouse, they can only be "friends" with Mickey. Parents constantly are trying to get cast members to break and say that there is more than one. We never will. We preserve the magic that kids cherish and want to experience.

Storytelling is an art.

The difference is in the detail.

#4parks1day

It happened and we rocked the four parks in one day. It was a spur of the moment decision the night before because most of the CPs that I came in with and went through training with all have Wednesday's off, we decided that it would be a good day to try to see if we could get to all four parks.

The group that ended up going consisted of Sarah, Faasha, and Krista, all of which I work with at Seasons. We all met on the Transtar bus that took us over to Studios at 9am to be there when the park opened. We weren't sure how busy the parks were going to be, and we didn't want to spend all day waiting in lines. Once we got over to Studios we headed for Tower of Terror and basically walked right onto the ride with no wait. And then we walked onto Rockin' Rollercoaster with no wait.... twice. I have never seen a park that quiet. Since we had time because we didn't stand in any lines we also went over to Star Tours, Toy Story Mania, and The Great Movie Ride before we headed out of the park.

We were off to Animal Kingdom and we were all really hungry. We ate at Pizzafari for lunch and to sit down for a bit. We rode Dinosaur, and it had minimum wait time. Expedition Everest was a 5 minute wait.... The ride that is typically close to a 2 hour wait... We rode that twice. We were all done with that park so we headed too our home park, Epcot. We rode all of the major rides there (Soarin', Test Track, Mission Space) and went to see a couple people that were working at Seasons. Like the other two parks, it was extremely slow and there was little to no wait for all of the rides.

We ended our adventures at Magic Kingdom and spent the most time there. Once again, the park was almost empty, maybe 15,000 people total in the park. We rode all three mountains and a couple of the other rides but mostly people watched and enjoyed each others company and the end of a good day. On our way out of the park, we stopped at the end of Main Street, by the train station, to watch Wishes. It's still one of my favorite firework shows that Disney does, even if I've seen it more times than I can count

It was a long day with a lot of sun and heat. I got a little bit of color and lots of walking in. Definitely glad that I was able to check that off my DCP bucket-list and got to do it with some of my friends from work.

Food & Wine!

In however many times I have been privileged to visit Disney World, I have never been able to be there when the International Food and Wine Festival is going on at EPCOT. When I found out that I was going to be working down at Disney during the Festival, I was beyond excited that I would be able to attend it finally and see what all the hype is about.

A couple weeks after working here I was told that anyone that wanted to could apply to transfer to Food and Wine and the management would look into who would be the best fit for the environment. Of course I applied the night that I found out I could. It was a long month or so without hearing anything about if I was accepted or declined to work it, so I didn't get my hopes up too much, since I am still new to working here. Yesterday, while I was working in the lobby of Seasons, Michele (one of my multiple managers) came up to me and said that when she looked at her most recent list of Cast Members going to Food and Wine. I was beyond excited when I heard that, but didn't want to get too excited because it still wasn't official. Once I got home, the first thing I did was get online and check my training schedule on Disney's intranet and sure enough, I was signed up for Food and Wine training!

Ok... I should probably take time to explain what the International Food and Wine Festival is... This year is the longest running festival, 53 days, of amazing dishes and combinations. This year Disney is bringing in "The Cake Boss", Buddy, which is admittedly, probably what I am most excited for. There are over 300 national and international wines available for tasting, more than 80 international foods in appetizer-sized portions, and 250 chefs providing all of the deliciousness.

I'm still unsure of what I will exactly be doing while working the festival, but I'm so excited to start this next chapter at Disney.

More to come! And lots of pictures of all the foods and drinks I get to try!

Fun Facts I Learned

The Pirates of the Caribbean was originally supposed to be a walk through wax museum

The brown concrete that runs through Colonial America in the Magic Kingdom is to represent the human waste that ran through the streets during that time in history.

When you are riding the Haunted Mansion and the Doom Buggy moves backwards and drops into the graveyard it is supposed to be symbolic of the guest falling out of the attic like the wife from the ride and dying.

22,000 students applied for the College Program. Disney hired 3,500. That puts me in the 16%

Epcot- "Every Paycheck Comes On Thursday"

Spielburg asked Disney if they would want to produce E.T. They declined. M&M's was also approached about product placement. They declined as well, which is why E.T. eats Reese's Pieces

Code Mickey is used when there is a mouse or rat spotted by a Cast Member

Code V= Vomit

A Buzz Lightyear costume costs Disney $23,000 per costume.

#PirateProblems

I've been very much enjoying all of the new things that I've been able to experience while not being crunched by a limited amount of time like when you're on vacation. I've found out things about Disney that I never would have known before and I'm learning more about the Central Florida area and what there is to do around here. And meeting all of the amazing people I work with from around the world.

When I moved down here I told myself that one of my goals was to be able to work at as many different locations as possible, to be able to see what each area has to offer and how they are managed. Recently I have picked up shifts at both Blizzard Beach and ESPN Wide World of Sports. I will NEVER pick up another shift for ESPN WWS ever again because it was such a mess and unorganized. It didn't feel like Disney ran it. No one really knew who was in charge or how to get things set up. It looked like the area I was working in hadn't been seen by any human in months it was so dusty. I couldn't wait for that shift to be over with. I also picked up a shift at Blizzard Beach, which I'm not sure how I feel about working there again. It wasn't a terrible experience and I think I could like it if I was able to know some of the people I was working with. When working for the largest single site employer in America with 70,000 employees strong, it's hard to be able to know people you are working with.

I'm also quickly enjoying all of the restaurant offerings there are in Florida that I've never heard of before. It helps being friends with someone that's from the area, as he knows where all the good places are and all the cool secrets. Since moving, I've learned to enjoy spicy food, as most of the food here has a kick to it. I went to Tijuana Flats, which is what I would describe as a combination between Chiptole and something else, but I'm not sure what. It's all tacos, burritos and food of that style. But they have a hot sauce bar with 15 sauces to taste and use. It was a wonderful late lunch after a long day of classes. All I could imagine while I was at the hot sauce bar was my Dad just taking a spoon full of each one and tasting them. It brought a nice smile to my face.

On a recent day when most of my roommates and I didn't have to work until later in the afternoon, we decided that we wanted to go to Epcot for the morning just to hang out in the park. That is when we found that Coke was doing their Share a Coke promotion there and allowing guests to make two personalized cans of Coke for free. We all really wanted to do it, so we got in line right when they opened the line. And since we all have brothers, we all made the other can for them. I thought the whole concept of the promotion was genius and since I'm interested in that aspect of business I really wanted to learn more about the promotion, but no one higher up in the marketing team was there to talk. After making our cans we walked over to the Boardwalk and the Yacht and Beach Club for lunch at The Captain's Grille since right now Cast Members receive 40% off the bill. It was a wonderful meal and I was craving a burger and I found an amazing one. It was an angus chuck burger with crab meat on top. Delicious. And the price wasn't bad either. We all left happy from that meal.

Today was my day off for the week and after my 4 hour class in the morning I was able to meet up with my friend from my work location, Alex, and we went over to the Boardwalk and ate lunch at the ESPN Club. I once again found a wonderful burger that I want to know how they made it and a nice glass of Sam Adams. We walked over to Epcot for a little bit because it was the middle of the day and we didn't want to be in the Magic Kingdom during peak hours when everyone is there and it's the hottest. We walked over to the Rose and Crown and I had a Carl's Combo and Alex had a Leaping Leprechaun and after talking to Carl for a little bit and explaining how I knew about Carl's Combo we continued on our walk of Epcot. Once we noticed that all of the lines for rides were too long for use to be willing to wait in we decided that we would devote our time to finding Cast Members to pin trade with. Once we got bored with Epcot we took the monorail over to Magic Kingdom and continued to pin trade there as well as get fast passes for Peter Pan and Space Mountain. We both still had not rode the Mine Train which just opened just over a month ago so we stood in line for 75 minutes to ride it. It was a cute ride and a cute concept, but I don't think that it lived up to the hype. I did enjoy the engineering aspect of it with how the train actually rocks back and forth as the ride moves. All I hear about, being a Cast Member, is how often it breaks down, which is expected for a new ride. And how long the queue line is.

Some fun Disney gossip that has been in the news recently that is always fun to hear about at work:
-A British man decided to stick his hand in the water while going down the first drop of Pirates and it cut off the tips of two fingers. There's a reason why they tell you to keep your hands, arms, feet and legs, inside the boat at all times.... They took him to the hospital, had to completely drain and sanitize the whole ride, and find his fingers. Gross.

-Monorail Red was struck by lightening early this week and lost power. Disney had to call in Reedy Creek Emergency to evacuate the monorail from the top hatch in each car. I think that would have been really cool to either be on that monorail (imagine what Disney did for those guests to make up for that) or watch from the sidelines and laugh.

Off to bed for me. I have a nice 10 hour shift tomorrow.

A Mid-West Work Ethic

Today was..... long. That's a good way to put it. I think any place you were and you have an 11 hour shift, it's going to be a long day. But I think I made the most out of my day. I started my shift by working at the greeter board. My job there is to welcome people, answer ANY question that a guest may have, explain the menu and dishes served, smile, and hand out stickers to the little ones. Sounds pretty straight forward and simple. It was. For the first two hours that I was placed there. Once 1pm rolled around I thought it was a bit strange that I hadn't had any tour groups come through yet. I then saw a flood of close to 300 teenagers from Argentina come into the building, all wearing matching shirts, carrying their stupid little flags, and chanting something they all seemed to be enthusiastic about. People from South America have never little concept about personal space. They are ALWAYS crowded into a small area, even if there is an entire area for them to spread out in. It's something that's part of their culture that really stands out when they come into a place like Disney World. We got all of them their food and then we were able to slow back down until the dinner rush came through for the night.

The other part of my day that I thoroughly enjoyed was working the 4th of July area that we have set up for the holiday. It's a really simple area that's decorated with two cakes that look like they were made by the Cake Boss, and American flags, and banners. Kids can come in a color a picture for the 4th of July or whatever else they want and they have the choice of hanging the picture up on the wall or taking it with them. It was fun to be able to interact with the kids. They would come up to me and ask to look at my pins for pin trading and tell me ALL about their day. That was my first time really being able to interact with the kids on a personal level. I could get down on their level and talk to them about their days while they colored and see them light up when they talked about seeing their favorite character or getting to see a parade. It was really nice to be able to see who really believes in the Disney magic and just how much it means to them , and then standing up and see their parents truly enjoying the moment of seeing their child so happy.

My day ended by closing off all of the dining sections and closing busing (so sanitizing all of the tables, chairs, and benches). I was in a smaller section of the restaurant and another CP was helping me out before it was time for her to punch out. She has been at Seasons for awhile now, and was actually one of the people that trained me. She called me over for a little bit to talk to her. I thought it was somewhat odd that she would call me over, but I went and talked to her. She told me that she really likes working with me and really likes my work ethic. One of the managers and herself had been talking earlier in the day and they were discussing how the newest group of CPs don't have much of a work ethic, but my name stood out. That I guess the managers don't see me as one of that group. Alex, the girl that called me over, wanted me to know that the managers have noticed my work and how much effort I put into my job. She told me that I need to stand out and shine because there stepping stones to move up in the company that the managers are liking what they see out of me. That was a real confidence booster after an 11 hour day.

I have the next two days off. I'm not really sure what I'm going to do with myself just yet... But on the 3rd I plan on seeing the fireworks display at Magic Kingdom since I work until 1am on the 4th.

Moving My Way Up the Ladder

Things still seem to be happening so fast for me since moving down here. It seems as if I just started working at my location (which I somewhat did just start) and the management has taken a liking to me. I'm thinking this is a good thing, as it will allow me a lot of different options over the next several months that I'm in this location.

Next week I start my on the job training for working the register system. I'm not too concerned at all about working on it, because to put it nicely, I've talked to and worked with some of the people that work them.... Won't be rocket science. I'm really looking forward to getting back into my swing of things with the register and working with the cash side of running a restaurant. I was also talking to another on of the staff at my location who is also on the college program (CP) and I mentioned to her that I'm going to be training on the register within the next week. She was surprised by this and had to confirm with me that I did in fact just recently pass my basic assessment for working the shops and the front of house. She said that it was impressive that they are willing to move me up that fast and they normally only do that with people that they want to place in training roles and move up in the location. That made me feel really good. That I might have the chance to not only work at Disney, but have to possibility to be a trainer at Disney. That would be amazing. I'm not going to get up hopes up too much yet, but that would be an awesome achievement if I could reach that by the end of my program

This week is going to be a hectic week at work as it is a holiday weekend. I know our projected attendance for Epcot on the 4th is almost double what we see in a normal day. I'm used to not getting off for holidays, as I worked retail before so it didn't come as a surprise to me when I saw that I was scheduled on the 4th. A lot of the other CPs were upset that they weren't able to do something on that day. But that's how it is in retail, restaurant, and hospitality business; we work while others party. I was able to be lucky enough to get the 3rd off so I plan on going to the Magic Kingdom for the evening to see the firework show that they will be setting off on both the 3rd and 4th. And then on the 4th since I don't have to work until later in the afternoon, the roommies and I were planning on going to Celebration, FL to see what festivities are going on. And I've already scoped out the nearest Subway so I can still carry out the tradition of having subs on the 4th. I might not be able to eat it on Fireman's Park Hill watching the fireworks in Germantown, but I can still enjoy it in the break room at work.

An amusing side note: The other day I had noticed that there had been an unusually small amount of Brazilians coming through the restaurant and I made a comment to another CP that there must be a World Cup game going on. Sure enough, the Brazilians had flooded The Odyssey building where all the games are being broadcast. I felt kind of sorry for the Cast Members that were working over there, but thankful that we had gotten the day off of being yelled at in Portuguese.

Side note #2: I ordered another name tag yesterday, this one with my hometown of Germantown. I'm really excited to be able to wear that one instead of the Milwaukee Sch of Eng one.

Becoming a Local

It's been awhile since I've had time or energy to be able to formulate a complete and coherent thought that I would want for those following to read. I've learned and experienced a lot of different things that are presented to living down in Central Florida, that I'm not used to in Southeastern Wisconsin.

1. 

These geckos are EVERYWHERE. Taking out the trash... you see one. Walking to your car... three more. Awesome little guys.

2. Rain is completely unpredictable. There won't be a cloud in the sky and it will downpour and cause flash flooding. 

3. The traffic isn't terrible. It's the waiting 5 minutes at every red light that is terrible. 

I've been able to experience a lot of different things that I haven't been able to experience before when I was down here vacationing. I was able to go to the Florida Mall earlier in the week because I was giving a roommate a ride to pick up some shoes. That mall is huge! Probably the biggest mall that I've been in aside from Mall of America. So big that there is a hotel that is attached to it... Massive.

One afternoon when I had off from work and it was raining I was able to go to the AMC at Downtown Disney. Before, whenever I would be visiting Disney, I would question as to why someone would want to go see a movie if they were at Disney. But it makes sense now as to why Disney wants it there. It provides Cast Members with an easy access theater for entertainment. It was so nice to be able to sit down, by myself, and actually enjoy a movie and some time alone, away from people. 

Today, after my morning class, I went to Cici's for lunch and was supposed to meet up with a coworkers, but turned out we both went to different Cici's... Whoops. Then a drove over to the Cast Connections and Property Control trailer which is where Disney sells all of the discontinued or damaged merchandise to Cast Members at super discounted rates. Not only do they sell that merchandise, but they also were selling furniture that is no longer used in resorts and printers and monitors that were no longer used at desks. If I had more space in my apartment and car, I would have spent a lot more money than I did. They also were selling produce and items that kitchens use at discounted rates, which is always good to know when I want some fresh fruit and don't want to have to pay massive amounts at the grocery store for it. 

On to the work side of my adventures down here. Things I think have been going smoothly with transitioning from a trainee to a regular employee. There are still a lot of things that I don't know about how such a large restaurant is run, but I making friends and learning from those that have been around the kitchen for awhile. My manager has enrolled me in the training program for me to be able to work on the register, which is what I really want to be doing. It's where I feel most comfortable, as I have been doing that for five years.

One of the culinary, Teddy, and I seem to get along really well. We hit it off the first time that I was working in his station. When it was slow, we were able to talk about the times that he spent a couple nights in Waukesha and how much he enjoys live music. We hit it off with my love of working Summerfest and all of the cool things that I got to do while I was there. He;s been with Disney for I believe four years and always has a huge smile on his face. It's a good day when I get to work with him. 

Another person that I quickly took a liking to was Alex, one of the trainers that I had. We also hit it off right away. He had made some sarcastic comment under his breathe when he was training me, and I responded with an equally sarcastic response, and we kinda haven't stopped talking since. He's been with the company for just over a year and plans on staying with the company and moving up into a management position. We typically close together, and once the park is closed and our shift is over we will walk out our cars together, talking about how each others days went and how much he despises certain upper management. It's nice to be able to have someone my age, going through some of the same things that I am, and instantly become friends without having to really try. We went to a place called Wawa after close earlier in the week because he kept telling me about how amazing it was. So to amuse him, I went. And it was amazingly cool. Best gas station that I've found down in Florida. It's Kwik Trip on steroids. All of the customers order their sandwiches via touchscreens with ways to customize it whichever way you want. The computer prints out a slip with the order number on it and that is taken to the register to pay for the food, along with gas and whatever else you find in the store. And then by that time, your food is ready and they have a patio area for eating. It was fantastic. And the best part is that they don't close. So if I get stuck working a crappy shift, I could go to Wawa on my way home and get any shake I want. 

In other news, the Brazilian Tour Group season is upon us. Massive groups of them pile into places at once and flood the area. Disney has specially trained Cast Members specifically for these groups and they act as translators for Cast Members that have to interact with them but don't speak the language. There are also Cast Members that have to go under cover and watch where the groups are going throughout the park and radio in to the next area that they are headed in that direction and any available Cast Member needs to be on stage to help control the situation. As Cast Members, we HATE Brazilian Tour groups because they, as a whole, are the most rude group of people that we encounter. 

The World Cup is big news right now down here. One of the buildings at Epcot is specially designed for Guests that want to watch a certain match during the day. I don't understand it, but I guess it's a big deal... 

Earning My Ears

I don't know where to begin with what I've learned or seen in the past three days that I've had training. Sunshine Seasons, the restaurant that I work in, is huge compared to what I was expecting to see. The stainless steel counters seem to go on forever and there are so many different rooms and coolers that I need to learn. It's much bigger than what I am used to, but a lot of the same concepts and practices carried over, which is making my training easier.

I work the front of the house and over the past few days I have been introduced on how most of the stations are run, how busing works, how to stock and close down for the day. It's a lot of information that has been thrown at me, but I think I've caught on pretty fast. Everyday I've had a different trainer and worked with different people, something that I'm not used to but I think I'll fit in with the crew. At every different station it is expected that I know what is served, the different portion sizes, and what every ingredient is in each. In order for me to pass my training, I have a one on one assessment with one of the head chefs and managers. I have a lot of studying to do over the next couple of nights, but I feel confident that I'll pass. Most trainees don't get left by themselves three hours into training because the trainer feels confident that they know what they're doing.

This is the first job that I've had that I've worked with this many people at any given time and it's amazing how well the kitchen is run with that many people moving around. Everyone is always doing something, there never seems to be chaos, and it seems like most people get along with one another. At any given point there are 50 people working in the kitchen and surrounding area. That's about 10 times more than I'm used to. I love watching the management side of it and the delegation that happens, especially during the closing hour. It's amazing how smoothly everything happens.

Not only do I work with more people, I get to work with people from around the World. One of my trainers is from Thailand. Another is from Haiti. There are multiple people from Puerto Rico and The Dominican Republic. I work with someone from Australia, Panama, Germany, China, and Canada. It's a lot different than small Germantown and I'm loving it. During our break, we all can sit in the break room and talk about the differences in how we grew up and traditions from where we are from. It's amazing.

Even though I'm still new to Sunshine Seasons, it feels like I've been there for a while. I walk in to punch in and people are asking me how my night was, how I'm doing. There are a few people that have taken me under their wing and it's nice to be able to have a couple people that I can turn to if I have questions or need someone to talk to about Disney life.

And to need the post, I got my Main Gate Entrance Pass today! Now I can go to the parks without having to explain to twenty bajillion people that I work for Disney and I haven't gotten my pass yet. And I got my Guest passes too! So people can come visit now!

Discovery Day

Discovery Day is how Epcot welcomes the new Cast Members into the Epcot family. It wasn't as fun or exciting as the Traditions class at the Magic Kingdom, but it was much more specific and narrowed to the atmosphere that I'll be interacting with at Epcot.

The backstage of Epcot isn't anything like that of the Magic Kingdom, since most of it is above ground. It reminded me a lot of the backstage of the Summerfest grounds. There are golf carts and people walking everywhere, and everyone was busy doing something. I walked into the costuming building and there were thousands of lockers for the Cast Members to store their costumes once they were checked out. The whole room with the costumes had rows about rows of costumes with five bars high in each row. There were hundreds of thousands of pieces of clothing all over the place.

The trainers took the entire class into a trailer classroom and we went over a couple of housekeeping things. Finally the fun part came and we got to go into the park. The first thing that we did was ride Spaceship Earth. I got PAID to sit and ride Spaceship Earth. I couldn't have been happier than in that moment. After, we walked over to the main fountain, and all 100 of the newest cast members were told to stand in a huge circle and face outward. Then an announcement came over all of Epcot welcoming the newest Cast Members into the Epcot Family. It was great to be recognized like that. We went and saw a little more of Future World and then all of the College Program Cast Members got a behind the scenes tour of the World Showcase before it opened.

The rest of the day I spent with a group of four other students that are also going to be working at Sunshine Seasons and we did a lot of computer training that is required before we are able to complete the training course.

It was a really long day learning a lot of the basics that are needed to be able to know what I'm doing. I wasn't really wanting to spend the rest of the night at the apartment, but I was too tired to actually go back out to one of the parks. Maybe tomorrow morning I'll go play before work.

My DCP Bucketlist

Magic Kingdom:

• Go on every ride
• See every show
• See the "Goodnight Kiss"
• Haunted Mansion Backstage Tour
• Buy a Mickey Balloon on Mainstreet
• Eat at Be Our Guest
• Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party 
• Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party
• View the filming of the Holiday Parade
• Dapper Day
• Work at least one shift
• Pinocchio Village Haus

Epcot:

• Go on every ride
• See every show
• Drink around the World
• Go shot for shot with Beverlys at the Cooling Station
• Eat in all the countries
• Mexico
• Norway
• China
• Germany
• Italy
• American Adventure
• Japan 
• Morocco
• France 
• United Kingdom
• Canada
• Swim with the Dolphins
• Work at least one shift

Disney's Hollywood Studios:

• Go on every ride
• See every show
• Star Wars Weekend
• Watch both shows of Fantasmic! in the same night
• I should have been able to see both when I was working Fantasmic! but the second show was cancelled because the boats weren't clearing the stage fast enough and had fireworks going off at them....
• Work at least one shift

Disney's Animal Kingdom:

• Go on every ride
• See every show
• See the new nighttime show
• Backstage Tour of the Safari
• Work at least one shift

Others:

• Finish the Kitchen Sink
• Complete a pin set
• Fill an Autograph Book
• Disney Speedway
• VoluntEAR
• View all Firework shows in the same night (might be impossible)
• All 4 parks in 1 day
• Watch Wishes from the Polynesian Beach
• View the Electrical Water Pageant 
• Tye-Dye Cheesecake at Pop Century
• Go to a park by myself
• Go to a cast exclusive event
• Ride every color monorail
• Red
• Coral
• Orange
• Gold 
• Yellow
• Teal
• Lime
• Green
• Blue
• Silver
• Black
• Peach
• Behind the Scenes Tour
• Spaceship Earth with Sunshine Seasons Cast
• Earn my Ears
• Graduate DCP
• Apply for my Professional Internship
• View a television filming
• Meet or see a celebrity
• Ariana Grande
• Stevie Wonder
• Corbin Bleu
• Neil Patrick Harris
• Witness a proposal
• Witness a Make-A-Wish Event
• Make a Magical Moment
• runDisney!

Downtown Disney:

• Characters in Flight
• Cirque Du Soliel
• See a concert at House of Blues
• Cars Weekend
• Movie at Downtown Disney

Other Areas Worked

• Caribbean Beach
• Cirque Du Soliel
• ESPN Wide World of Sports
• Blizzard Beach
• Fantasmic!
• Village Haus
• All Star Music
• Art of Animation
• Food & Wine

Traditions!

Today was the day that I have been waiting for since I can remember. Today I officially became part of the Walt Disney Company family. Everything felt surreal this morning when I was getting ready because I knew today was the day I was getting my name tag. Nothing could happen soon enough for me.

Four of my five roommates also had Traditions in the morning, and then one had it in the afternoon so we were all up and trying to get ready at the same time. Getting four girls in and out of a bathroom at 6 am is not the easiest thing to do when we all had to be dressed professionally and have the "Disney Look".

We boarded the bus for Traditions at 6:45 and we were on our way to Disney University. Everything was "backstage" and we drove past where all of the costuming takes place, the Disney Transportation Maintenance Building and all of the other things that Disney hides from the Guests. I was trying to take everything in all at once, but it was still too much for me to process and I have been to the parks so many times.

We finally got to the Disney University Building, and all of the College Program Students were separated according to what section they were in for Traditions and finally got into the classrooms for the much anticipated class. I walked in and there were a bunch of different pamphlets and books about how to Disney conducts business and all of the different things that were going to be covered in the next four hours.

One of the first things that the program facilitators had us do was open up a box that was placed on each of our tables. We all had to stand up and open the box together. Inside there were Mickey Mouse Ears for everyone that was in the program. It was a very nice token and symbol that we were becoming apart of the company. We continued the class with how Disney conducts business and the four areas of how they achieve success for each Guest individually. It all just seemed to make sense for how Disney presents themselves to the public.

After we had covered how Cast Members are supposed to interact and treat the Guests, we were taken over to the Magic Kingdom and we went "under cover" to see it working in action. Everyone in the class wore headsets and we were able to communicate with our leader about what we were seeing and how the Disney experience was happening in front of us. I got to go in the tunnels that run underneath the Magic Kingdom which was something that I had never been able to experience before. I saw the trash system that I have heard so much about. The group walked underground until we reached the beginning of Main Street. That's when we went "on stage" and the Guests were able to see us. I was finally a Disney Cast Member. Once we had experienced some of the Magic Kingdom and watched the Cast Members interacting with the Guests we all went back to the classroom and debriefed about what we saw.

Then the most exciting part of the day happened. Mickey Mouse opened the door of the classroom holding a big gold box and came and welcomed us all into the Disney family. The box was opened and inside were all of our name tags. Every person in the room was called up individually and was presented their name tag. I had been thinking and dreaming about getting my Disney name tag since I decided that one day I was going to work for the company. And that day came. I put it on and I don't think I could have been any happier.

It may be just a piece of plastic for some people. But for me, I will always carry that name tag with pride. When I graduate from this program, it will be framed and it will be in every office that I have. I will never forget the feeling of finally earning something that I have pushed myself so hard to reach.

Meeting Day

I slept really well, probably because the past couple nights I haven’t been able to get much sleep because of all of the traveling. I woke up and looked at my phone thinking that I was going to be late for my Casting Meeting, but it turned out I had another hour to sleep.

The Casting Building is beautiful. Its right across from Downtown Disney and it looks like a castle when you walk up to it. The first room that I walked into was all pillars with gold characters on the top of them and it lead you to the main walk way. The entire hallway was covered in Disney paintings and there were bridges going above to the next level. It was all really neat to be able to see something that I had never seen before.

I checked in with the person that was going to be helping me fill out my paperwork and such and I found out that I’m going to be working at Epcot, which is the park that I most wanted to be at. I believe that I’ll be working over in the Seas area where Soarin’ is so I’ll be in the air conditioning. They also took my fingerprints there and talked more about the Disney Look. I guess that I’m not going to be allowed to wear my glasses because they don’t adhere to the Disney Look and I’m going to have to purchase all new glasses, which I’m not happy about…

I had a Housing Meeting today too, over in Commons, which went a lot longer than I anticipated, but I got a lot of the information that I was curious about. 

Check-in Day

I made it! It was an 18 hour drive and traffic wasn’t too bad at all. The only time that I had an issue was getting through Atlanta, which was my fault with timing, because I went right during rush hour. The second day was longer than I had anticipated, which made me check in late at my apartment complex, but things seemed to work out okay.

I walked into the “Clubhouse” and checked-in with the front desk, they gave me my room key and a Program Guide that has all the information that I would ever need in it. They also took my picture for my Vista Way ID and I registered my car to be able to park and drive on the property. I drove around a bit trying to find my apartment complex and I finally found it. The original key that they gave me didn’t work, so I had to have them go make me a new one and then I was finally able to make it into my new house for the next 7 months.

I have 5 other roommates, which is much more than I wanted, but I think I could get along with most of them. One none of us have met yet because she’s been avoiding the apartment since check-in. I guess her boyfriend is doing the program too and is living on the other side of Vista, so I don’t think we’ll see much of her. The complex that I got wasn’t my first choice, but it’ll be nice because I only have to pay $89 a week for living expenses. It seems like it’s the central area for most things, so it won’t be a lot of traveling to try and get things taken care of.

Once I was all moved in, I went to Wal-Mart to get a little bit of shopping done for things that I needed right away. Everything was going all fine and dandy until I locked my car keys in the truck of my car. I had to call State Farm and they sent someone to come and unlock it. It all turned out to be okay in the long run, but it wasn’t a good way to end a long day of travel or my adventure at Disney.

One Month....

Tomorrow marks one month until I depart on this adventure of mine. One month until I get in my car and drive 19 hours to my new home. I'll be all on my own in this big world. No family in the area, no friends to run to... I'll be alone for a couple of days. But I'll make friends, find people that can be family for seven months and I'll be making new relationships for the rest of my life.

It was just this school year that I actually started talking to people in my classes at school. It was the first time in three years that I did anything besides school or work. I found some people that I love and truly enjoy being around them. And now I'm leaving them. Not forever. Just for what seems like forever.

A lot of what I'll be doing there is still up in the air. I don't have a set apartment yet, I just know that I'll have somewhere to sleep at the end of the day. My classes are all set up and start up two weeks after I get down there, which will be helpful to keep me busy and allow this brain to have time to soak up all there is to learn. I don't know where I'll be working or the hours.... just that I'll be work a minimum of 35 hours a week.

I've thought about packing, but it's so overwhelming. I don't know what I need to live for seven months. I don't want to under-pack and have to buy things that I already have and forgot to bring, but I don't want to over pack and have too much stuff laying around and being in the way.

So here I sit, staring at the walls of my room of 18 years, thinking "shit son, you're dreams are coming true." But who would have thought those dreams would have been so terrifying.