Week 3 Update

This last week went by pretty quickly. I work a lot and got rained on a lot. Wednesday and Thursday were my days off and on both of them I got rained on. I went to Epcot and Hollywood Studios on Wednesday and on the walk between the 2 the sky opened up and my friend and I got soaked. It was a pretty fun day. I got to go on some rides for the first time such as Living with The Land and the Figment ride. They were both really interesting. I also got to ride Mission: Space (the weak version).

Work has been good. I had a treat shift Tuesday night which I handed out candy for a couple hours and then waved a sign and directed people to the candy for a couple hours. It was a pretty fun night. Sadly I have no pictures from the event but I have 2 more treat shifts this next week. Hopefully I'll get some pictures then. I was really terrible about taking pictures this week anyways.

Sorry this was short but I hope everyone had a great week.

Happy Travels! And as always comments are much appreciated, especially if you think there's something at the parks I absolutely must try!

-B

Week 2 Update

So it has been a long week and a half of training. I have learned all about Tommorrowland, the different positions at Space Mountain, how to walk track, how to handle guests, and a lot more. I have also now experienced all 4 parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom) and the first Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party.

Today was my assessment for my proficiencies at Space Mountain. It wasn't as difficult as I was expecting. I had to take a 130 question test which had some basic and some complicated questions on it asking what I would do in certain situations, how many trains we operate with, and how we handle a breakdown. After that I had to get assessed by one of the Tomorrowland managers. It was not nearly as bad as I was expecting. He just asked what the 4 Basic Keys were and to give examples of them. He also explained the attendance policy and a couple other little things. Next up on my assessment was actually working the locations. This included: Fastpass Distribution, Fastpass Return, Greeter, Merge, Load 1, Restraint 1, Grouper, Unload 1, and Unload 2.  It all went rather well and... I passed!!!

Here are some pictures from the last week.

(Left) This is from the Finding Nemo: The Musical at Animal Kingdom. It was a very good show for only being about 30 min. I loved it and the use of puppets.

 (Right) This is from Festival of the Lion King at Animal Kingdom. It was also a spectacular show in a square theater with the majority of the action taking place in the center of the building with the rows of seating around the edges.

 (Left) France at Epcot at night. I think it looks fabulous.

I got to see Enchanted Tales with Belle! at the New Fantasyland. It was a fantastic experience which I would love to do again.

Enchanted Tales with Belle!!!!!!!!

 

Enchanted Tales with Belle!!! (aka. New Fantasyland!!!)

The castle at night from the Frointerland

 bridge

At the Halloween party meeting Rapunzel and Flynn Rider!

As always I love comments and have a fantastic day!!

-B

Finally!!!

Yay! The apartment finally has internet! As you probably noticed I hadn't been updating my blog the last week and that is for 1 reason. The power cord to the apartment's modem was missing. We just got the cord (actually the whole modem) replaced today while I was at work. So here's a quick run down of what I've been up to since last Tuesday.


Tuesday 8/28 - This was the day I flew to Orlando. Long uneventful flight. Met my roommates.

Wednesday 8/29 - Check-in day! The roommates and I got there a little after 6am and the line about 100ish people. They started actually checking people in about 8ish. We went through the line and got the apartment that we wanted. Then got on the 9:30 bus to casting. Once at casting we found out what our specific location was going to be. My sticker said "Tomorrowland Attractions."  This subset of rides is located in the Magic Kingdom and includes:

• Tomorrowland Speedway
• Space Mountain
• Astro Orbiter
• Tomorrowland Transit Authority People Mover
• Carousel of Progress
• Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
• Stich’s Great Escape
• Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor

I was completely alright with any of those attractions. After casting we took the bus back to Vista and then took another bus to Chatham Square (where we would be living). I had left my luggage with one of my roommates parents and she was nice enough to bring it over to the housing complex for me. Unpacking my suitcases took very little time and so later one of my roommates and I went to Walmart to buy some bedding stuff and some food.

Thursday 8/30 - This day was a free day (and my birthday). The roommates and I went to Downtown Disney for dinner and some shopping. I got a "Happy Birthday" button and a "1st Visit" button. We also ate at the Earl of Sandwich and it was delicious.

Cannonball at Earl of Sandwich

Friday 8/31 - Today was a free day in which I did nothing of significance other than go to a housing pool party and get caught up on some sleep.


Saturday 9/1 - TRADITIONS!!! Today was Traditions, which is Disney's overall orientation to their company and the manner in which they present themselves. We got to go backstage in the Magic Kingdom (I was overjoyed) and have a short demonstration of some of the key aspects of how MK is presented to the public. At the end of this training we got our name tags! (Somehow I missed taking a picture of my name tag but here's me with my name tag on)

After all of that one of my roommates and I went to the MAGIC KINGDOM!!! I was so excited since it was my first real time there and I got to experience so much! That evening we got to watch Wishes! and see one of the last showings of "The Magic, The Memories, and You!" It was magical.

Sunday 9/2 - I had today off whereas my other 3 roommates had training. Therefore, I hung around my apartment for the beginning of the day and slept. In the evening we went and saw Fantasmic! at Hollywood Studios which is my favorite show.

Monday 9/3 - My roommate and I went to EPCOT and walked the World Showcase. It was fun but made for a long day.

Tuesday 9/4 - TODAY!!! I had Magic Kingdom orientation today. It started by getting up about 4:40am and catching the bus at 6am in order to get there by 7am. The first part of the day was an overview of the park and an extensive walking tour that included riding Buzz Lightyear and Haunted Mansion, as well as sitting in Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe without any customers in it. (Trivia: Cosmic Ray's is the second busiest quick service food place in the world!) After the tour I got to meet with my area facilitators and learn where I would be working. Drum roll please...... SPACE MOUNTAIN!!!! The rest of the day was spent walking around Tommorowland learning where things are located, how to answer guests questions, and how to make the magic happen. That leads to the here and now in which I am sitting on my couch in my sweats and trying not to fall asleep. I hope everyone has a fantastic evening!