A Very Delayed Week 2

Week 2: Off to Work I Go

Let me preface this and say I am so sorry with how long it took me to get this post up and running. I’ve been keeping busy to say the least and the internet has been down most of the time but it’s here now. Week 3 will be going up tomorrow or so if all goes well.

Day 1: Sunday, February 7^th

Today was my first day of official training. I had to wake up to catch the bus at 6 AM for my class at 7:15. Everyone else had the same idea as I did and the bus was super packed. Once we made it to Disney University we started class. Welcome to Operations was interesting, I’m not going to disclose a lot of information but it was basically just learning the gist of our job and how all the different roles work together to create a great guest experience. After Welcome to Operations I had Welcome to Merchandise. I am so excited for my role. Merchandise definitely sounds like where I want to be. Once class was finished I went home and did laundry to kill time before the Super Bowl. At six I headed on down to the Commons to watch the Broncos rock the Super Bowl. I am so happy to say we played one great game. I miss home so much, and not being able to watch the game with my dad and brother who are diehard fans was difficult but thank goodness for FaceTime. I FaceTimed my family when I got home and then went to sleep to wake up early the next day to hit up Animal Kingdom before class started.

Day 2: Monday, February 8^th

I woke up today and went to Animal Kingdom with my roommates, Brooke and Caitlin. I’ve found one of my new favorite parks and I can’t wait to explore some more. We became Wilderness Explorers and trailed around the park earning badges. We also met some characters and I bought my first pair of ears on the program. I couldn’t resist buying a pair of zebra print ears. After spending a few hours in the park we headed on home to get ready for class. Class was so much fun. I’m taking Entertainment Production and to be in a room with that many theatre majors was incredible. I am so excited to see what I can take away from these next eight weeks. After class we went to Dollar Tree to get some decorations since it was our suitemate Kayla’s birthday. I went to bed fairly early to get ready for my Magic Kingdom Orientation the next morning.

Day 3: Tuesday, February 9^th

I had my Magic Kingdom park orientation. It was so interesting to learn all about the park I’ll be working in, and I can’t wait to actually get out and explore. I finally got my completed training schedule and holy cow was it full. The most exciting part was finally being able to see my costumes, and learned that I’ll be working on the glow carts. I’m not going to lie that fact scared me quite a bit, but I’ll have to see how I feel about it after training. After orientation, I went grocery shopping to pick up some essentials I forgot/couldn’t afford the last trip. I came home and relaxed. I was very boring this week.

Day 4: Wednesday, February 10^th

Today was my first day of on the job training. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed by it all at first but I eventually got the hang of it. There was no register work, just a lot of walking around. Work was so draining, that I went home and crashed. Again, I was very boring this week.

Day 5: Thursday, February 11^th

Today was pay day so my roommates and I headed to Disney Springs since it was also the last day of our Holiday Discount. I purchased my first MagicBand. We headed on home for everyone to get ready for work. I had Welcome to Merchantainment. It was a four-hour long course learning how to work the registers and do merchandise the “Disney Way.” After class, Kayla and I went out to Disney Springs because I was in search for the famous Apple Pie Apple. I finally found it at Goofy’s Candy Company and it was delicious. It’s a Granny Smith Apple, dipped in caramel then dipped in white chocolate and then finally dipped in brown sugar. It was amazing, and so worth it.

Day 6: Friday, February 12

I started training on the register today. My trainer was super funny and sassy. He definitely made the night go by faster. After work I came home and crashed.

Day 7: Saturday, February 13

To make up for being so boring all week long, I finally hit the parks today. Brooke was sick so it was just Caitlin and I venturing out on our own. It definitely wasn’t the same without Brooke by our side but we made the most of it. Kayla joined us up later and we went and met Gaston. Gaston was such a fun character to meet. He’s definitely one of my favorite characters to meet in Magic Kingdom. After meeting Gaston, we headed off to Epcot. In Epcot we met Alice in Wonderland and Mary Poppins as well as Belle. We had Fast Passes for Hollywood Studios so that was our last stop. I finally watched Fantasmic for the first time and oh my Hannah, it blew my mind! It was so incredible. We came home and I realized that I was so sunburnt. I definitely learned the hard way that sunscreen is not optional and that lanyards leave the most awkward tan lines haha.  Overall it was a great day and a good ending to a crazy busy week. It’s so crazy to think I’ve been here for two weeks. I miss home so much but I know I’ve made the right decision and I can’t wait to see where these next few months bring me. That’s all for now, I’ll take at you later. 

Pictures will be posted soon, the internet doesn't like downloading things.

I'm Here! First Week Breakdown.

Hey all,

Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve made a post, I’ve been so busy with everything. I made it to Orlando and have been here for about a week now. I figured the easiest way to break this down would be to break it down day by day. I’m being lame and staying home blogging instead of going out in the parks but that’s only because it’s pouring down rain outside and I own no good rain clothes. So here we go!

Day 1: Saturday January 30

I flew out from Las Vegas and into Orlando. The flight was nice and short, only four hours which wasn’t too bad. Once I landed, my suitemate Kayla picked me up from the airport and we headed to the hotel to check in. Our hotel was just lovely… nice and muggy with damp carpets. Needless to say we didn’t stay there other than to shower and sleep. We hit Disney Springs and checked out the sites. And made plans to go to Animal Kingdom the next day, and go have some fun in the park before meeting up with the rest of the house on Sunday.

Day 2: Sunday January 31

Kayla and I decided to hit up Magic Kingdom today instead of Animal Kingdom. We woke up and headed over to the park. We spent the day running around and meeting characters and rode a few rides. It was so surreal to think that this is going to be my home for the next six months. We decided to get Fast Passes to ride Pirates of the Caribbean and to go meet Mickey in the Main Street Theatre. While we were heading to see Mickey the Cast Member gave us a Fast Pass to meet Anna and Elsa. While we were walking out of our Mickey meet and greet, Snow White was getting ready to come out and do a meet and greet so we jumped in line to see her. Kayla and I then headed over to the Jungle Cruise and braved the line to ride the ride. After the Jungle Cruise was finished we decided to head over and use our Fast Passes to meet Anna and Elsa while we were waiting to use our Fast Pass for Pirates of the Caribbean. While walking over, we saw the Fairy Godmother and of course we had to jump in the line to meet her. She gave us some fabulous words of wisdom that will carry me through my program. She told us that no matter where we get placed to work, or where we end up living to remember that we are here to make magic and have fun. Little did I know how much that would help for the next day. After Fairy Godmother was Anna and Elsa, who were so fun to meet. We went over and rode Pirates of the Caribbean and headed home as soon as we were done to get ready for dinner at T Rex.

We met up with the rest of the roommates around 7:30 or so for dinner at T Rex. It was so magical to meet everybody for the first time and to actually talk to them face to face and not over Skype or texting. The food was so good, and very filling. And at the end of the night we all went our separate ways, ready to meet again tomorrow when we’d finally move in.

Day 3: February 1

The day I’d been waiting for forever was finally here. I was finally starting my DCP. Kayla and I woke up and starting packing up her car and preparing to check out of the hotel room. Kaity, who was our first roommate to check in told us that we’d been stuck in a two bedroom, six person apartment in Chatham Square complex and we were not happy. I’d hated the idea of sharing a room with one other girl, let alone two! I was trying so hard to stay optimistic because this program is going to be what I make it, and hey at least it’s the cheapest rent at only $93 a week. Since I had an hour and a half between Kayla’s check in and mine, I met up with some people I met on the Facebook page and we went to Disney Springs and ate at Earl of Sandwich, which was so yummy. At check in I found out that I’d been placed in Magic Kingdom, but in Adventureland. I’m not going to lie, I was kind of disappointed but I know it’ll be great. My biggest upset is the thought of having to wear a long sleeve shirt to hide my tattoo. As soon as I have enough money I’m definitely buying a good tattoo cover-up kit. After coming home from Casting and getting all the information I needed for Traditions, all that was left to do was head home and start getting settled.

After arriving home, I realized there was still some things I needed before I could settle in for the evening, like groceries and a mattress protector. So when my roommate Caitlin offered me a ride to Walmart, I wasn’t going to say no. We went to Walmart and made it home with just enough time to hurry and get dressed for our character dinner at 1900 Park Faire. The dinner was fantastic. We met Lady Tremaine, Anastasia and Drisella as well as Cinderella and Prince Charming. It was a great way to end a not so great day.

Day 4: Tuesday February 2

I finally finished setting my room up. We decided to go shopping for a router, and after some serious searching, we were finally able to locate one and have functioning internet again, hurray! After setting the router up, we discovered the internet however is painfully slow. I was able to finish my homework and that’s all that mattered. We made dinner together and watched a movie, which was some great roommate bonding.

Day 5: Wednesday February 3

We were going to do the Kitchen Sink today, but discovered that you need a reservation to do that and booked a reservation for March. We did some shopping for the apartment together and some of the other roommates had housing meetings, so while they were doing that, we cooked dinner again so that’d it’d be ready when they got home. After dinner we went to Disney Springs and ate ice cream at Ghirardelli’s then looked around the shops. It was such a great night.

Day 6: Thursday February 4

I lounged around the house most of the day and decided to go with Brooke and Caitlin to Disney Springs for a little bit before my housing meeting. I got to experience the Florida rain. While walking to the Commons for our housing meeting, Brooke and I got drenched in the downpour. Back home we never see that much rain that fast, and I wasn’t sure what to do with myself. The housing meeting was fun and we headed back home to get ready for Traditions the next day.

Day 7: Friday February 5

I finally became a Cast Member today. I had Traditions and it was magical. I don’t want to give too much away, but it was definitely the best orientation I’ve had. I choked up so many times during that class realizing that I get to be a part of creating magical memories for other guests, and how much Disney means to some people. Once we got our Blue ID’s that prove we’re Cast Member’s (CM’s from here on out) Brooke and Caitlin wanted to head to Hollywood Studios. I was lame and stayed home to take a nap, but then changed my mind and decided to catch the next bus out to the park. Hollywood Studios was so fun. We met Darth Vader and Minnie and then decided to catch a bus over to EPCOT. EPCOT was a great park. We walked around the world first and met Aurora as well as Aladdin and Jasmine. Aurora was such a delight to talk to, she even named us her three new fairies. While walking around the world, we stopped in the American Pavilion to talk to Brooke’s CP friend and ask him where we catch the bus to head back home. After drawing us a really complicated map, he just offered to meet us when he got off work and he’d show us the way. We headed over to Mexico and rode the little boat ride there. Afterwards we went and rode Spaceship Earth which was a nice little break. We then headed on back to meet Brooke’s friend, who wasn’t there. Once we’d realized we were going to miss the bus we decided to ask a CM where to go. They showed us backstage and we got lost, but eventually found our way and thankfully caught the bus on time and made it home so Brooke and Caitlin could get to bed for their early morning training sessions tomorrow.

Day 8: Saturday February 6

I had today off, and I was going to play in the parks but it’s been raining all day and I’m not about that life. Kayla and I went out to Disney Springs to do some shopping but went home when it started down pouring. I didn’t pack any of my boots, and I’ve yet to buy tennis shoes so I was miserable. We got home and the girls decided to go out to the parks, but I decided to stay dry and stay home. I’ll start training tomorrow at 7:30 in the morning and then I’ll probably go watch the Super Bowl, so nothing too eventful planned for tomorrow. That’s it for now folks. I’ll update next week!
Have a Magical Day!