I was scheduled to work yesterday from 8am-2pm (8:00-14:00.. get used to military time haha) but we were short staffed so I extended until 5 (17:00 ;) ).. all on four hours of sleep. When I got back, around 6:30 I decided to take a nap.. and I woke up at exactly 2:22 to the sound of my roommates. Awesome.
Here are some really great guest moments I'd like to share. You will deal with these kinds of people all the time.. and you will either want to kick yourself in the face, or laugh. Or both.
(The stroller rental area is directly underneath the train station on Main Street, so guests often ask how to get to the train station when they have a wheelchair or stroller)
Guest: Ma'am, excuse me, but where is the elevator? **
Me: We don't have any elevators, unfortunately, but we do have a ramp. If you go back out and go all the way left, you'll see it.
Guest: But my mother has arthritis and can't walk up ramps.. so where is the elevator?
Me: Ma'am.. we don't have an elevator, we just have a ramp.
Guest: But my mother can't walk UP THE RAMP. How am I supposed to get her up there?!
Me: Well I can get a manager for you and see if we can arrange a wheelchair for you somehow.
Guest: NO, I just want the elevator! This is ridiculous! You should do something about this. You're going to have a lot of people complaining.
**(We don't have an elevator because it doesn't fit the show, and it would also likely be a fire hazard, with a bunch of people with strollers and wheelchairs clamoring to get on an elevator in a really cramped space.)
The entire time I was just thinking.. 'really? If your mother can hardly walk, WHY did you bring her to a theme park? I mean, I'm just asking.. did you really think this through? And of course I'll change it; I'll just build an elevator right here, because let's not forget that I built Magic Kingdom with my bare hands.' It's REALLY hard to bite your tongue sometimes. Or, if you're me, it's REALLY hard to not roll your eyes. Which reminds me..
(It was raining during this day, and the strollers only have a sun shade.)
Guest: Excuse me, you don't have any covers for the strollers for when it rains?
Me: Unfortunately, no, but you can use a poncho and it should work just fine.
Guest: Okay, where do I get a poncho?
Me: Well if you don't already have one, you can buy one at the registers just over there for $7.50
Guest: No. This is inadequate. I can't believe you're making me buy something to cover a stroller that is completely inadequate. Even if it were sunny out, this is not enough cover to protect the children. I am really disappointed, I want my money back. (He kept repeating this over and over and over..)
Me: I can get a manager for you or if you'd like you can go to City Hall. Guest Services is in there and they can most likely help you out.
Guest: No, I went there.
Me: Okay, do you want me to get a manager?
Guest: No, I want YOU to do this.
Me: I can't do anything.
Guest: You know who else said, "I can't?" The Nazi soldiers. "Oh, we're just doing our jobs."
Me: Sir, I CAN'T DO ANYTHING. But I'll go get my manager.
Guest: Fine.
(He ran off to the register and by the time my manager came out he was gone. I told my managers what he had said and they were pissed, but I couldn't stop laughing, because REALLY? I'm so obviously committing genocide by not building indestructible stroller fortresses. Homeboy, you knew what you rented when you paid for it, so just get over the fact that it rained and you're to cheap to buy a poncho. Oh, and my one really nice manager made a good point: "You know who else was just doing their job? The American soldiers, who defeated the Nazis.")
So pretty much people will do anything to get something. They know the Disney guest service standard and will definitely try to abuse it, but there's really only so much you can do.
And sorry for the random posting, it's just 5am, I haven't made a post in a while, and I have nothing new to say, really.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Saturday, March 6, 2010
I am SO tired.
Today was honestly the first nice, warm(-ish), sunny day since I've gotten down here. It's been freakishly cold so it was nice for a change - unfortunately, everyone else thought so too, and so it was super busy today. I worked in the Newsstand for the first part of the day, and it actually wasn't busy at all at first (at about 10am) and I was there with a full-timer, David (one of the only nice full-timers :) AND he's from England. He's super cool.) so even when there were a few extra guests, it was no problem taking care of them. It was when his position got dropped that I was in trouble: I was the only one in the Newsstand and suddenly it was PACKED - as in, people had trouble even moving. It was REALLY stressful but as long as you take your time, you'll be fine. I just took my time with each guest and tried not to look at the line behind them.
After about an hour of that, I got bumped to the Wheelchair register, where people rent.. well, wheelchairs, but also ECVs (Electric Convenience Vehicles). I was, once again, the ONLY cast member working at the register and there was a HUGE line. Eventually someone came over to help me out a bit and the line died down but it was really intimidating at first. It's also scary because we can only have so many ECVs inside the park as a safety precaution (by the government, so I mean we can't really do anything about it) and so we run out of them pretty quickly, and people have to be put on the waiting list, which they tend to dislike. A lot. A LOT. But today wasn't so bad on that front.
After my break at about 1pm, I got assigned to be a runner - a runner's job is to deliver new/charged ECVs to guests who have had ECV breakdowns. I was REALLY intimidated by this, mostly because I've heard bad stories of people being really angry (it takes some time for us to get from the Main Entrance to, for instance, Toontown.) There are ways to get to different lands via backstage, but it's really confusing because there are just SO many possibilities that it's easy to get lost.. but the only other option is going through Main Street and it was just TOO crowded today. Sooo, I had my first run and it was in Tomorrowland! Luckily I knew how to get to Tomorrowland backstage so it really wasn't bad. The best part about being a runner is getting to drive the ECV to the guest :) The downside is that you likely have to push the other ECV back to the front, but whatev. I pushed the ECV halfway to the guest anyway because they are just sooo s l o w. So anyway, I couldn't find the guest at first (they said they were in the arcade at Space Mountain) but eventually I found them, and they were so sweet! It was an elderly couple, and they turned out to be from Duluth (an area near where I'm from) and so we had a nice little chat.. I was really lucky to get them as my first running experience. Total, it probably took me about 25 minutes to do.
But yeaaah, I'm really tired so I think I'm just gonna go now. My internet is being ultra weird so I don't know when I'll get to post next, sorry :( I hope you guys have a great weekend!
After about an hour of that, I got bumped to the Wheelchair register, where people rent.. well, wheelchairs, but also ECVs (Electric Convenience Vehicles). I was, once again, the ONLY cast member working at the register and there was a HUGE line. Eventually someone came over to help me out a bit and the line died down but it was really intimidating at first. It's also scary because we can only have so many ECVs inside the park as a safety precaution (by the government, so I mean we can't really do anything about it) and so we run out of them pretty quickly, and people have to be put on the waiting list, which they tend to dislike. A lot. A LOT. But today wasn't so bad on that front.
After my break at about 1pm, I got assigned to be a runner - a runner's job is to deliver new/charged ECVs to guests who have had ECV breakdowns. I was REALLY intimidated by this, mostly because I've heard bad stories of people being really angry (it takes some time for us to get from the Main Entrance to, for instance, Toontown.) There are ways to get to different lands via backstage, but it's really confusing because there are just SO many possibilities that it's easy to get lost.. but the only other option is going through Main Street and it was just TOO crowded today. Sooo, I had my first run and it was in Tomorrowland! Luckily I knew how to get to Tomorrowland backstage so it really wasn't bad. The best part about being a runner is getting to drive the ECV to the guest :) The downside is that you likely have to push the other ECV back to the front, but whatev. I pushed the ECV halfway to the guest anyway because they are just sooo s l o w. So anyway, I couldn't find the guest at first (they said they were in the arcade at Space Mountain) but eventually I found them, and they were so sweet! It was an elderly couple, and they turned out to be from Duluth (an area near where I'm from) and so we had a nice little chat.. I was really lucky to get them as my first running experience. Total, it probably took me about 25 minutes to do.
But yeaaah, I'm really tired so I think I'm just gonna go now. My internet is being ultra weird so I don't know when I'll get to post next, sorry :( I hope you guys have a great weekend!
Friday, March 5, 2010
Apparently I'm a zombie.
I have come back from the dead! Zahhh (that's the noise zombies make.. duh.)
It's been like three weeks since my last post; that is not okay. I don't even really know what to update you guys on, to be honest. I work in the main entrance of Magic Kingdom, so I work at the Locker Shop, Newsstand (which is one word for some reason..), and Stroller/wheelchair/ECV rental. Officially, my position is "Merch - Main Street Strollers" but honestly it's so much more than that.
One thing I'm going to say to all you incoming fall CPers: this is WORK - you might hate it. The payoff is that you get to be surrounded by Disney and all of that, but never let go of the fact that it's exhausting to constantly be upbeat; to smile and apologize to someone who is yelling at you for something that's not your fault; to be on time (read: early) EVERY DAY. It's tiring to do your job well, but it's worth it in the end. I know all of you guys know the upsides to the job, but I just don't want all of you to be disappointed when you get to the reality of it. It's still fun, because the childrens' smiles are worth everything, and your coworkers will make things better too, but at the end of the day it's still WORK.
I have so many stories to tell that I don't know where to begin.. one of my duties is "tunnel" which is basically standing at the front of the tunnel (before you leave Main Street) and directing people who rented strollers to the place where they can drop them off before exiting the park.. lately it's sucked because I'm sick and it's two degrees outside (and the night before last they had me out there from 6pm-8pm) but otherwise it rocks, mostly because the other day when I was offering to give this one toddler a "four-five" (we wear Mickey gloves :) ), he came up to me, stretched out his arms, and gave me a hug. Another time I was saying goodbye to a family and this little girl of about 6 came up to me, looked at me, gave me a kiss on the cheek, and left with her mom. SO PRECIOUS. And again, when I was doing Podium (greeting guests into the park inside the tunnel) one day while wearing the Mickey glove and apron (we put the celebration buttons on them), this girl came up to me and gave me the biggest hug ever; I asked her what she was celebrating and it turned out to be her birthday. Things like this seriously keep me smiling for days after they happen. THOSE are the moments that make everything else worth it. That and the fact that every night when I collect strollers from the hub (the circle area around the Partners statue - each land puts the strollers people have left throughout the day into the hub for us to collect at night) I skip down the entire length of Main Street. Seriously. It's so tiring, but SO AMAZING.. Main Street music is so skippable (you know what I'm saying..). And Main Street is SO GORGEOUS after dark, especially when there are only like 10 people on it. Sometimes it's hard to believe any of it's real haha.
I'd say more but unfortunately I have to go; I'm going to Ghirardelli in Downtown with one of my roommates (Amy :) ) for our new tradition: ICE CREAM! Ahh. SO GOOD. Seriously.
I'll be posting soon! I promise! Sorry I went so long without letting you guys know what was going on! If you have any questions about anything just lemme know :)
It's been like three weeks since my last post; that is not okay. I don't even really know what to update you guys on, to be honest. I work in the main entrance of Magic Kingdom, so I work at the Locker Shop, Newsstand (which is one word for some reason..), and Stroller/wheelchair/ECV rental. Officially, my position is "Merch - Main Street Strollers" but honestly it's so much more than that.
One thing I'm going to say to all you incoming fall CPers: this is WORK - you might hate it. The payoff is that you get to be surrounded by Disney and all of that, but never let go of the fact that it's exhausting to constantly be upbeat; to smile and apologize to someone who is yelling at you for something that's not your fault; to be on time (read: early) EVERY DAY. It's tiring to do your job well, but it's worth it in the end. I know all of you guys know the upsides to the job, but I just don't want all of you to be disappointed when you get to the reality of it. It's still fun, because the childrens' smiles are worth everything, and your coworkers will make things better too, but at the end of the day it's still WORK.
I have so many stories to tell that I don't know where to begin.. one of my duties is "tunnel" which is basically standing at the front of the tunnel (before you leave Main Street) and directing people who rented strollers to the place where they can drop them off before exiting the park.. lately it's sucked because I'm sick and it's two degrees outside (and the night before last they had me out there from 6pm-8pm) but otherwise it rocks, mostly because the other day when I was offering to give this one toddler a "four-five" (we wear Mickey gloves :) ), he came up to me, stretched out his arms, and gave me a hug. Another time I was saying goodbye to a family and this little girl of about 6 came up to me, looked at me, gave me a kiss on the cheek, and left with her mom. SO PRECIOUS. And again, when I was doing Podium (greeting guests into the park inside the tunnel) one day while wearing the Mickey glove and apron (we put the celebration buttons on them), this girl came up to me and gave me the biggest hug ever; I asked her what she was celebrating and it turned out to be her birthday. Things like this seriously keep me smiling for days after they happen. THOSE are the moments that make everything else worth it. That and the fact that every night when I collect strollers from the hub (the circle area around the Partners statue - each land puts the strollers people have left throughout the day into the hub for us to collect at night) I skip down the entire length of Main Street. Seriously. It's so tiring, but SO AMAZING.. Main Street music is so skippable (you know what I'm saying..). And Main Street is SO GORGEOUS after dark, especially when there are only like 10 people on it. Sometimes it's hard to believe any of it's real haha.
I'd say more but unfortunately I have to go; I'm going to Ghirardelli in Downtown with one of my roommates (Amy :) ) for our new tradition: ICE CREAM! Ahh. SO GOOD. Seriously.
I'll be posting soon! I promise! Sorry I went so long without letting you guys know what was going on! If you have any questions about anything just lemme know :)
Friday, February 12, 2010
Round the world tonight, a symphony in spectromagic!
I've had a ridiculous couple of days of training concerning the bus system so I'm driving to work today. My shift is 5:30pm to 12:45am, which really isn't bad considering it's President's Day & Valentine's Day weekend.. it was nice to get to sleep in instead of waking up before the crack of freaking dawn every day. I'm not really a morning person haha. Oh, and I finally earned my ears, so today is my first day of work without a trainer.. kind of nervous about that, but it's freezing and raining today so hopefully it shouldn't be TOO overwhelming. I'll let you guys know :)
Katie and I went to MK on Monday, which was nice/weird. Nice because I hadn't seen her face in a while, but weird because usually our conversations go as follows:
"Wanna hang out?"
"Sure"
"My house or the mall?"
and now it's more like:
"Wanna hang out?"
"Sure"
"Disney World?"
Just surreal is all, haha.
Anyway I have to get ready for work.. woot. Hopefully my posts won't be this bad in the future haha. Have a magical day! ;)
Katie and I at Magic Kingdom :) (And me being a bad CP by wearing my Cast Member ID. Oops.)
Katie and I went to MK on Monday, which was nice/weird. Nice because I hadn't seen her face in a while, but weird because usually our conversations go as follows:
"Wanna hang out?"
"Sure"
"My house or the mall?"
and now it's more like:
"Wanna hang out?"
"Sure"
"Disney World?"
Just surreal is all, haha.
Anyway I have to get ready for work.. woot. Hopefully my posts won't be this bad in the future haha. Have a magical day! ;)
Katie and I at Magic Kingdom :) (And me being a bad CP by wearing my Cast Member ID. Oops.)
Monday, February 8, 2010
Park Orientation, Merchantainment, Training, etc.
SO, basically I suck. It is incredibly hard to sit here and type out everything that's been happening; I can't even REMEMBER half of it, so unfortunately most of it isn't going to be very detailed.. especially because I don't want to reveal too much and get terminated or something (seriously, I am so paranoid about getting terminated for something so trivial to me.)
PARK ORIENTATION
Park orientation was really fun for me, since I work at Magic Kingdom. Not saying the other parks aren't awesome, but everyone knows MK is definitely the most "Disney." We had to wear business attire, but the entire orientation was only like four hours so it was fine. We started on Main Street (where I'll be working at the main entrance), and worked our way over to Tomorrowland and rode the Buzz Lightyear ride; after that we went over to Liberty Square and were told of a legend/myth about the area and why they built the Haunted Mansion to commemorate it (the story turned out to be completely false, but it was to encourage us to make up stories to keep the Disney magic alive) so we also got to ride the Haunted Mansion. Which is awesome. I got paid to ride rides. At Disney World. Yeah, it's that amazing to me.
TRAINING DAY ONE
Not much to say here except that we basically walked back and forth 'on stage,' 'off stage,' and 'backstage' (you will get used to this terminology very quickly) to get better acquainted with our area. We got registered for the Hub and finished a lot of online safety/disability service courses. We got our costumes this day simply because for us, our training was before our park orientation (and I could be wrong, but I think most people get their costumes on orientation day.. don't quote me on that, though.)
MERCHANTAINMENT
This class was incredibly boring/weird. The first hour is just finishing up online safety courses, etc, and after that we got an hour and a half break, so two other girls and I went to Magic Kingdom, watched Philharmagic, ate a quick lunch, and went back for the actual Merchantainment course. Here you learn about money, counting the "Disney Way," about various situations that may occur while working at the POS/register/cash wrap (items not being found in the system, how to change the price of something to a "special price"/sale price, how to ring up a fellow cast member (as long as they're not your friend!) etc.. I wore heels this day because I thought most of it would be elab stuff but I actually had to stand for a significant amount of time while we practices with POSs and role played various situations between customers and cast members. It was weird. But at the end you get a sweet Merchantainment pin that you can only get by finished the course, so that's pretty sweet.
___________________________________________
Other than all of that stuff, I've been having an amazing time. All of my roommates are really awesome, I'm really lucky. Yesterday Amy and Elizabeth and I went to Animal Kingdom and walked around, rode Expedition Everest (our first time! I sat next to this 9-ish year-old boy who was so not phased in the least by the ride so I felt like a wimp because I (may have) screamed a few times during the ride.) It was mostly awesome for me because the last time I went was in 2000 or 2001, and so it wasn't build when I went last, but since then I've watched Travel Channel episode concerning the making of Everest and it just makes you appreciate it so much more, it's so cool to finally see it in person and actually experience it. Also while in DAK I ran in and visited Katie at Chester & Hester's :)
After DAK closed we went over to Epcot's world showcase, had nachos and churros, got our name written in Arabic for free by our new friend Mehdi (my name is كرستين.. woot!) in Morocco, and made friends with Abou and Marion in France (Marion noticed our Arabic names while we were buying stuff and asked us where we got them so she could get one later, so instead we just surprised her and went back to Mehdi and get her name in Arabic too. Hopefully it made her night a little better :) ) We also made friends with Jonathan (sp possibly, hah) who is also from France. Apparently every Sunday they all get together at the House of Blues so we're gonna crash those parties haha.
In about 20 minutes I'm going to head out to Magic Kingdom with Katie, even though I need to laundry.
It's seriously ridiculous how it's like, "Hm.. laundry, or Disney World?" All you fall CPs are going to LOVE it.
_____________
The roomies and I at the House of Blues our first night! Left to right is Ren, Me, Kate, Nicole, Elizabeth, Lene, Brittany, and Amy.
Kate, Lene, Myself, and Brittany getting ready to go to Traditions. The clothing people wore varied from very very professional (ie, business suit) to somewhat casual (nice slacks and a more sophisticated looking blouse).
Elizabeth, Amy and I at DAK yesterday. Thanks photopass! :)
Me and the boss! :)
PARK ORIENTATION
Park orientation was really fun for me, since I work at Magic Kingdom. Not saying the other parks aren't awesome, but everyone knows MK is definitely the most "Disney." We had to wear business attire, but the entire orientation was only like four hours so it was fine. We started on Main Street (where I'll be working at the main entrance), and worked our way over to Tomorrowland and rode the Buzz Lightyear ride; after that we went over to Liberty Square and were told of a legend/myth about the area and why they built the Haunted Mansion to commemorate it (the story turned out to be completely false, but it was to encourage us to make up stories to keep the Disney magic alive) so we also got to ride the Haunted Mansion. Which is awesome. I got paid to ride rides. At Disney World. Yeah, it's that amazing to me.
TRAINING DAY ONE
Not much to say here except that we basically walked back and forth 'on stage,' 'off stage,' and 'backstage' (you will get used to this terminology very quickly) to get better acquainted with our area. We got registered for the Hub and finished a lot of online safety/disability service courses. We got our costumes this day simply because for us, our training was before our park orientation (and I could be wrong, but I think most people get their costumes on orientation day.. don't quote me on that, though.)
MERCHANTAINMENT
This class was incredibly boring/weird. The first hour is just finishing up online safety courses, etc, and after that we got an hour and a half break, so two other girls and I went to Magic Kingdom, watched Philharmagic, ate a quick lunch, and went back for the actual Merchantainment course. Here you learn about money, counting the "Disney Way," about various situations that may occur while working at the POS/register/cash wrap (items not being found in the system, how to change the price of something to a "special price"/sale price, how to ring up a fellow cast member (as long as they're not your friend!) etc.. I wore heels this day because I thought most of it would be elab stuff but I actually had to stand for a significant amount of time while we practices with POSs and role played various situations between customers and cast members. It was weird. But at the end you get a sweet Merchantainment pin that you can only get by finished the course, so that's pretty sweet.
___________________________________________
Other than all of that stuff, I've been having an amazing time. All of my roommates are really awesome, I'm really lucky. Yesterday Amy and Elizabeth and I went to Animal Kingdom and walked around, rode Expedition Everest (our first time! I sat next to this 9-ish year-old boy who was so not phased in the least by the ride so I felt like a wimp because I (may have) screamed a few times during the ride.) It was mostly awesome for me because the last time I went was in 2000 or 2001, and so it wasn't build when I went last, but since then I've watched Travel Channel episode concerning the making of Everest and it just makes you appreciate it so much more, it's so cool to finally see it in person and actually experience it. Also while in DAK I ran in and visited Katie at Chester & Hester's :)
After DAK closed we went over to Epcot's world showcase, had nachos and churros, got our name written in Arabic for free by our new friend Mehdi (my name is كرستين.. woot!) in Morocco, and made friends with Abou and Marion in France (Marion noticed our Arabic names while we were buying stuff and asked us where we got them so she could get one later, so instead we just surprised her and went back to Mehdi and get her name in Arabic too. Hopefully it made her night a little better :) ) We also made friends with Jonathan (sp possibly, hah) who is also from France. Apparently every Sunday they all get together at the House of Blues so we're gonna crash those parties haha.
In about 20 minutes I'm going to head out to Magic Kingdom with Katie, even though I need to laundry.
It's seriously ridiculous how it's like, "Hm.. laundry, or Disney World?" All you fall CPs are going to LOVE it.
_____________
The roomies and I at the House of Blues our first night! Left to right is Ren, Me, Kate, Nicole, Elizabeth, Lene, Brittany, and Amy.
Kate, Lene, Myself, and Brittany getting ready to go to Traditions. The clothing people wore varied from very very professional (ie, business suit) to somewhat casual (nice slacks and a more sophisticated looking blouse). 
Elizabeth, Amy and I at DAK yesterday. Thanks photopass! :)
Me and the boss! :)
Saturday, February 6, 2010
I've been slacking big time, I know..
But I am so EXHAUSTED. I have tomorrow and the next day off so hopefully I'll get some much-needed rest and I'll be able to fill you guys in on all the lovely details concerning park orientation, my first day of training, and merchantainment. Sorry for slacking though, I just wanted to let y'all know that a post IS coming, I just don't have the energy to focus too long because I am mentally and physically DRAINED.
Congrats to all of you who have gotten accepted for the fall!! I am so happy for you all, you guys deserve it!!
Congrats to all of you who have gotten accepted for the fall!! I am so happy for you all, you guys deserve it!!
Monday, February 1, 2010
Check-In
Warning: I'm REALLY tired so my English is horrendous. I say "after that" and "next" to the point that it's almost unbearable, so I apologize! I'm just exhaused.
Sooooo I finally checked in today! I left Port Orange at about 5:30am in case of traffic, and I got there at about 7am. I just mainly talked to one guy in line (Maaattyy!) until my roommate Ren met up with me. We went through a line where they gave us a little nametag - this line led to a tented type area where there was a DJ who played Disney music and asked Disney trivia (I got one right and got a little post-it notepad that said "Disney College Program" on it as well as a Disney World pen.) After that they led us to fill out some papers (I honestly don't remember what exactly we were filling out right here, you fill out SO MANY papers on check-in day you won't remember what's what.) Anyway, after we filled out just a few sheets, we were led out of the tented area and into a small building where you finally get to request what apartment/amount of rooms you want - this is also where it matters who you're standing next to, as they'll likely be your future roommate. Today they were only taking Chatham and Vista so we picked Chatham, but it was between a one bedroom and a four bedroom.. so we got the latter. It sounded crazy but honestly all the girls are AWESOME, so we really lucked out.
Anyway, directly after housing assignments, we took a photo ID that will be used every time we enter Chatham or the bus system, etc.. directly after THAT, if you drove your car and have your insurance (with YOUR name on it), registration, and driver's license, then you go and get your parking decal. After this you get a little break to find your apartment, pick out a room, and maybe move in a few things (we had about an hour).
After all that you'll meet up for the bus to Casting, where you'll finally find out EXACTLY where you'll be working (I, no kidding, got Strollers at Magic Kingdom. Awesome.) After finding that out, you'll go to a little table with five or so other people and will be informed of the Disney Look - you'll also be checked to make sure you fit the Look before Traditions, so if you're a little iffy on something that might not fit the look, they'll tell you here. After that, if you didn't fill out your on-boarding paperwork (I didn't) then you'll fill it out in the next room - not really a hassle, just kind of annoying because it's a LOT of signing and reading and just takes a little while. When you finally make sure you filled out all your on-boarding paperwork correctly, you'll move forward and get your Visa, which your paycheck will automatically go onto. Here you can also ask any questions about how to receive payments (direct deposit, etc). Next you'll be directed to the next room where there will be a whole cast of, well, cast members who you'll talk to if you want to take a Disney course - if not, keep moving. At this point it gets a little foggy, to be honest, because so much happened, but basically you'll get a background check and find out when Traditions is for you and all the information you need to know. TRUST me, you will NOT be lost - they tell you absolutely everything, and if they don't, they're more than willing to answer ANY of your questions.
After I checked in and everything I went to lunch at Panera with Katie, which was a nice break from everything. After the two hour housing meeting, my seven other awesome roommates and I went to the House of Blues for dinner.
I'm still not done unpacking.. but luckily I have tomorrow off to finish. Yay. I'll talk to y'all later.
Sooooo I finally checked in today! I left Port Orange at about 5:30am in case of traffic, and I got there at about 7am. I just mainly talked to one guy in line (Maaattyy!) until my roommate Ren met up with me. We went through a line where they gave us a little nametag - this line led to a tented type area where there was a DJ who played Disney music and asked Disney trivia (I got one right and got a little post-it notepad that said "Disney College Program" on it as well as a Disney World pen.) After that they led us to fill out some papers (I honestly don't remember what exactly we were filling out right here, you fill out SO MANY papers on check-in day you won't remember what's what.) Anyway, after we filled out just a few sheets, we were led out of the tented area and into a small building where you finally get to request what apartment/amount of rooms you want - this is also where it matters who you're standing next to, as they'll likely be your future roommate. Today they were only taking Chatham and Vista so we picked Chatham, but it was between a one bedroom and a four bedroom.. so we got the latter. It sounded crazy but honestly all the girls are AWESOME, so we really lucked out.
Anyway, directly after housing assignments, we took a photo ID that will be used every time we enter Chatham or the bus system, etc.. directly after THAT, if you drove your car and have your insurance (with YOUR name on it), registration, and driver's license, then you go and get your parking decal. After this you get a little break to find your apartment, pick out a room, and maybe move in a few things (we had about an hour).
After all that you'll meet up for the bus to Casting, where you'll finally find out EXACTLY where you'll be working (I, no kidding, got Strollers at Magic Kingdom. Awesome.) After finding that out, you'll go to a little table with five or so other people and will be informed of the Disney Look - you'll also be checked to make sure you fit the Look before Traditions, so if you're a little iffy on something that might not fit the look, they'll tell you here. After that, if you didn't fill out your on-boarding paperwork (I didn't) then you'll fill it out in the next room - not really a hassle, just kind of annoying because it's a LOT of signing and reading and just takes a little while. When you finally make sure you filled out all your on-boarding paperwork correctly, you'll move forward and get your Visa, which your paycheck will automatically go onto. Here you can also ask any questions about how to receive payments (direct deposit, etc). Next you'll be directed to the next room where there will be a whole cast of, well, cast members who you'll talk to if you want to take a Disney course - if not, keep moving. At this point it gets a little foggy, to be honest, because so much happened, but basically you'll get a background check and find out when Traditions is for you and all the information you need to know. TRUST me, you will NOT be lost - they tell you absolutely everything, and if they don't, they're more than willing to answer ANY of your questions.
After I checked in and everything I went to lunch at Panera with Katie, which was a nice break from everything. After the two hour housing meeting, my seven other awesome roommates and I went to the House of Blues for dinner.
I'm still not done unpacking.. but luckily I have tomorrow off to finish. Yay. I'll talk to y'all later.
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