Sick. :(

So, I'm officially sick. Ugh. I heard that a lot of CPs get sick within the first 2 weeks of the program, but I didn't think I would be one of them. But I am. And it sucks.

I left work early yesterday, and then I called in today because I'm sick. And I hated doing all of that. But, I can barely talk, I'm coughing, and my body aches. Considering I work in a restaurant, I thought it would be safer for everyone if I just stayed home today.

I did have my weekend Tuesday and Wednesday, and it was very fun! :) Cayla's fiance was in town, so I spent a lot of time with them. Monday night, we went to Downtown Disney to see "The Change-Up" at the AMC. It was a good movie, but I forgot that it was filmed in Atlanta....and it takes place in Atlanta. So I did get a bit homesick after seeing all the places that I loved (especially Turner Field...with a Braves game happening). But, it was nice going to a late movie after work, knowing that I didn't have to get up the next day. :)

Tuesday, we went to Typhoon Lagoon and hung out there for a few hours. We rode a lot of the slides, and spent some time in the wave pool. We even got to see Tiff and Jordan working! That was pretty cool. Then, it started storming, so we were going to wait it out. We got what's called The Sand Pail--a sand bucket full of ice cream and all the toppings you could imagine. The 3 of us ate it, but we didn't finish it. We almost finished it though. :) The storm didn't let up, so we ended up leaving and coming back to the apartment. Cayla and Ryan went and had dinner, and then the 3 of us went to Jellyrolls at the Boardwalk Resort. It's a piano bar, and it was so cool. We spent about 3 hours there listening to the guys play all these songs on the piano. And it was requests only, so we got a wide variety of stuff. :) It was such a cool place. :)

Wednesday was spent at Hollywood Studios. We did so much--I think we rode almost every ride in the park. We also saw Fanstamic! It was my second time seeing the show, and it was Cayla and Ryan's first time seeing it. They loved it! :) We then proceeded to ride Tower of Terror 4 times in a row. :) Oh! We were waiting in line for Rockin' Roller Coaster, and there was this 8 year old girl in line with her dad and brother, and she was terrified. She tried to run back out of line because she was so scared to ride it. We talked to her and convinced her to ride it. I told her that I rode it for the first time a couple of weeks ago, and that I freaked out the first time too, but now I love that ride. They ended up riding in front of me, and when the ride was over, she turned around, smiled, and gave me a thumbs up. She loved it! That was the coolest moment for me. :)

So that was my weekend. And now I'm sitting here in the apartment in my pjs, sick, and it's storming outside. Perfect sleeping weather, I guess! :)

Have a magical day!

All About Work

Work is making me exhausted. Seriously. Today is my 6th day in a row of work, and it's my Friday (yay!!).

I guess I should give you a little insight into what it is I actually do at work. Well, there are several different kinds of jobs that I do.  I know when most people think of hosting, they think of the people who greet you at the restaurant, take your name, and then show you to your seat. This is exactly what I thought of when I thought of hostessing in a restaurant. But there is so much more to it then that. Of course, I've done the greeting thing where I check people in (this person is called, appropriately enough, the greeter. We also call this position podium.), and I've also shown people to their seats (also appropriately called a seater). But, as a hostess, or Front of the House (FOH) CM, I've also been in charge of stocking either the left side of the restaurant or the right side of the restaurant (known as left side or right side). We have side stations on both sides of the restaurant where extra place settings are kept so that the servers can just come grab them when they need to reset their tables. The person working left or right side is in charge of making these settings and ensuring that there are enough plates, napkins, forks, and knives to continue making settings. It's actually more difficult than it sounds, especially when you're having to hunt down forks and knives. The person who does right side is also in charge of making sure that the ice at the drink station in the kitchen is kept full, and that the butter that comes out with the bread is in the butter dishes and ready for the servers to just grab on the way to their tables. The person who does left side also helps with seating guests, too. Right side doesn't unless it's extremely busy. I hate being right or left side, because I hate stocking, but it does make the time go by a lot faster. So does seating the guests, especially when we're really busy.

The last job that I could do as a FOH CM is be the assigner. This is the person you see walking around the dining room checking for open tables and then assigning parties to them. I've shadowed assigners twice, but I haven't done it myself yet. To be honest, I'm not sure I want to. It seems to be a pretty tough job because there's so much you have to take into consideration. Plus, it wasn't really explained to me, I was just observing, so I'm not 100% clear on what to do.

All in all, I love my job. The Coral Reef is a great place to work. It's a beautiful restaurant with amazing food (yes.....I did get to do a tasting with one of the chefs! I love my job!) and great CMs to work with. And I love getting to talk to the guests and such. I have realized that there are 2 languages that I need to learn at least the basics in though--French and Spanish. I took French in high school, but that was so long ago, and I have forgotten a lot of what I've learned. Luckily, there are several CMs at the Reef who speak Spanish, so I should be able to learn some things from them. :)

Once again, sorry it's been a few days between updates. I've been working some long days lately. But, like I said, today is my Friday, so hopefully I'll get in an update or 2 tomorrow or Wednesday.

Have a magical day!

The Crazy Schedule Begins

So, I was off yesterday, which was good. I got some laundry and some grocery shopping done. I also got some cleaning done, and some other errands that I needed to take care of. And I still had time to hang out at MK for a couple of hours last night. :)

Today is the start of 6 straight days of work for me. And it's kind of a crazy schedule. Today and tomorrow, I work from 12:30pm-9pm. Friday, I work from 4:30pm-10:30pm. Saturday is the day I'm dreading. I work 11:30am-10:30pm. But, part of me is thinking that this is when my assessment will be, and that they've allowed time for that, which is why I'll be working so long. Sunday and Monday, I'm back to working 11:15am-8:45pm. And then I'm off Tuesday and Wednesday of next week! Yay! :) I think the only thing getting me through the next 6 days is the fact that I do get 2 days off in a row.

But, the good thing is work tends to go by fairly quickly because I'm always doing something. I'm learning that the restaurant business is a very fast paced business, and that's good for me. Yes, it's repetitive, but that's okay. And I have several different jobs that I do. So far, I've greeted people (basically checked them in if they have reservations, or put them on the list if they didn't) and I've sat people. And I enjoy both of those. I will say, if we're not busy, it does get boring. But, I work with fantastic people, and there's always someone to talk to. :)

Well, I'm off to finish getting ready for work!

Have a magical day!

Welcome to Coral Reef Restaurant!

So, yesterday was first day of on-the-job training. So, instead of wearing business attire and sitting in a classroom all day, I was finally able to wear my costume (I'll take pictures and post them later) and learn my actual job! :) And so far, I am loving it! I learned how to check people in, and I learned how to seat them yesterday. I pretty much got seating down because I did that at dinner, and we were slammed. It was pretty much reservations only last night, and my trainer ended up having to leave me to go help bus tables. She did make sure I was okay on my own first, though. And I was. After seating my first family, I got really comfortable with it. I'm still not 100% comfortable checking people in on my own though. But then again, I did that at lunch when we were pretty dead, so I didn't get a lot of practice in. Maybe tomorrow.

My fellow cast members at Coral Reef are really nice, as are the managers. They all welcomed me, and no one seemed upset that they had another CP there. Which is good, because I've heard so many stories from people about how their managers are mean, and the full- and part-timers didn't like having CPs around. I'm so glad that is not the case at my restaurant. Having great people to work with is going to make my job easier. Which is good, because this is my first time working in the restaurant business, and I don't want it to be too difficult.

That was pretty much my day yesterday. Today, I'm off, so I'm hanging out with Cayla, Tiff, and Jordan, and we're going to see the Peabody ducks at the Peabody Hotel, and then head over to Blizzard Beach for some fun!

Have a magical day!

Orientation Days

First, let me begin by apologizing for not blogging last night. When I got home, my roommates were at the pool, and then we all decided to go to CiCi's and then to Downtown Disney with the guys across the hall. So, that made half of the 2nd floor of my building hanging out last night. And it was a lot of fun. I meant to make last night an early night, but that didn't happen. And that's fine. I was hanging out with some awesome people. :)

So, yesterday was basically another day at Disney University. It was for everyone who's role is food & beverage. We had to sit in a room and watch presentations over safety when dealing with food and all of that good stuff. Then, we got to go down to the computer lab and sign up for the HUB (pretty much the place for Cast Members to go online for everything related to our jobs), and do some online classes. We also got our work shoes yesterday, too. Food and beverage is the only role where the shoes are supplied for us. Every other role has to provide their own shoes. So I'm not paying anything for any part of my costume. :)

Today was my orientation at Epcot. I won't go into everything that happened because I do want future Epcot CMs to have something to look forward to with orientation. And trust me, there's a lot to look forward to. :) I did get to get my costume today (and Disney sizing sucks, for the record), and I did get to see the kitchen of the restaurant I'll be working in. The two of us that are working at Coral Reef also got to meet the head chef of the restaurant, which was pretty cool. We also got our work lockers, and a little tour of the backstage area of Epcot. And we got to take a couple more online classes. And we got our schedules for on the job training (OJT) for the next week. This is where the really long hours for me begin. Tomorrow and Monday, I work from 11:15am-8:45pm. I'm not sure the exact hours the restaurant is open, but I'll be there for most, if not all, or them. Fun day indeed.

Tonight, I'm relaxing a bit and probably going to Hollywood Studios with the roomies. :)

Have a magical day!

Traditions!

Yesterday was a very long day. But it was also a very fun day. I had Traditions (which is held at Disney University!) yesterday, but I had the afternoon session with Cayla (Tiff and Izzy had it in the morning). So, I was able to go with Cayla to take her dad to the airport (which meant that I also got to see my parents before they headed home), and then I was able to do a Walmart run and get some stuff done around the apartment before I had to catch the bus at 12:45pm for the 2pm class. We had to dress up for Traditions, which was fine. What wasn't fine was standing at the bus stop all dressed up in the heat, and then the buses being 30 minutes late. >.< I have a feeling I'm going to need to get used to late buses. Hopefully they won't be that late.

I'm not going to go into a lot of detail about Traditions because I think it should be a surprise for the people who will take it in the future. I will say that it is a long class, though, so bring food. They do have vending machines there, but you only get 2 10 minute breaks. So I would just go ahead and pack a snack. By the time we got through, I was starving. But other than that, it was a very informative class, and they did add some fun into it. We even got to take a field trip. :p And we had a special visitor, and they gave me a little something for being smart and knowing that Walt Disney founded the company:

My prize! :)

What was the best thing about Traditions, though? Well, we got our company ids and name tags, of course!

I'm an official Cast Member now!!! :)

My company ID.

I will admit to the fact that I almost cried when I got my name tag. Since my first trip to Disney World in 1997, when I was 9 years old, I dreamed of working here and having one of those name tags. And now, I do. My dream is coming true, and it's all unbelievably amazing and overwhelming to me. :)

After Traditions, Cayla and I came back to the apartment and met up with Tiff and Izzy. We went and did a little shopping (well...Tiff did), and then, we decided to put that company ID to good use, and we headed to the Magic Kingdom! It's a glorious thing to be able to get into the parks for free. We got there when everyone was either leaving or waiting on the parade and fireworks, so we were able to ride 4 rides pretty much back to back with very little waiting. We rode Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Big Thunder Mountain, and then Izzy and I rode Haunted Mansion while Cayla and Tiff went and did some more shopping. :p

All in all, this is starting out as a wonderful experience. Today, I have Food & Beverage Core Training at DU from 1pm-5:30pm, and then tomorrow, I have Discovery Day at Epcot from 8am-3:30pm. I'll definitely blog some more tonight about how today goes!

Have a magical day! :)

Check-In!

I am going to start off by saying that I know it's after midnight, making this officially day 2 of my program. But...since I'm just now getting to where I can slow down enough to blog and I haven't slept yet, I will still refer to this as today. And now, on with your regularly scheduled post. :p

Oh my word. Today has been insane. I am so overwhelmed after everything I went through today, and I am so glad that day 2 is an off day so I can get settled in and recover from the craziness that was day 1.

I was up at 4:30am....something I typically don't like to do. I met my 2 housemates (Tiffani and Cayla) and Tiffani's boyfriend Jordan in the lobby of the hotel we were staying at, and we drove over to Vista to get in line for check in. We got there around 5:30, and while we weren't the very first people there, we were still at the front of the line. We stood in line until right around 8am, and I'm glad we did. By the time they opened the gate and let us in, the line was freaking long. I took video, and I'll post it tomorrow. It was ridiculous.

So, they let us in, and that's when the craziness started. We pretty much ran to the back of Vista and had to go through this process of filling out some paperwork that wasn't related to the paperwork we had to fill out before today. This is where we found out where we would be living, who our roommates would be, and got our parking decals (which I still haven't put on my car. I need to do that tomorrow). We also got our program guide, which will basically be our best friend throughout the program. It has pretty much any piece of information we need to know about the program, from maps of the apartment complexes to phone numbers, to information about the Orlando area. We also got our housing ID. I hate mine. My picture looks horrible, and no, I will not be posting it for you to see. :p

And just so you know, I did get with the 3 girls (Tiffani, Cayla, and my roommate Izzy) I wanted to be with, and we did get the apartment we wanted. All went very well with housing. :)

After we got through all of that, we had about 45 minutes to kill before we had to board the bus to Casting, so we walked over to the parents' area and met up with my parents for a bit. Tiffani took the time to actually drive over to the apartment complex and find our apartment. When she got back, we boarded the bus and headed over to Casting so we could find out where we would be working and get all of the technical things taken care of so that we could officially become cast members at Walt Disney World. And yes, this included taking another picture for our Cast Member ID. So now, I have to carry 2 IDs with me at all times. This should be fun.

So, I bet you're wondering where I'm working. Well, I was hoping I would be in a resort, but I'm not. I'm in a park. However, I got lucky and ended up in my favorite park, which is Epcot. And I'll be working at Coral Reef. This excites me. I ate there back in December, and it is such an amazing restaurant. Go look up information about it. It's awesome.

We were at Casting for what felt like forever. We had to get our background checks (including fingerprints) done. We got to turn in our on-boarding paperwork (the paperwork we had to fill out prior to getting here), we got to set up direct deposit for our money to go directly into our checking accounts, and we got information about our Traditions class and training schedule for the rest of the week. Traditions is on Wednesday. I have the later session, which is at 2pm. I'm glad because those who have the 8am session have to be at the bus stop at 6:45am Wednesday morning. I won't have to be at the bus stop until 12:15pm. More sleep for me! :p All I know about Traditions is that it gets us acquainted with the Disney Company and Disney World, and we get our CM IDs. Once we get those glorious CM IDs, we can officially get into the parks for free and start getting our CM discounts! The parks are going to be overrun with CPs on Wednesday! :) I'm so  excited to get to visit the parks again. I'm just trying to figure out if I should visit MK or Epcot first. :p

I start training on Thursday. I have what is called "Discovery Day" at Disney University then. I think this is probably when everyone with the same roles get together and learn about their role and what to expect and all. Friday, I actually have orientation at Epcot. I'm not sure if it's just for my restaurant, or if it's a park orientation. I guess I'll find out then!

After Casting, we headed to get our cars and go to the apartment to start unloading and moving in. Of course, it rained pretty much the entire time we were moving things in (oh...and we're on the 2nd floor of a building with no elevators.) Pretty fun stuff there. :p I was completely soaked by the time I finished getting all of my stuff inside. We had a few hours before our housing meeting (which was at 3pm) to start unpacking, so we did. Then we went to the meeting, and that lasted about 2 hours. Not gonna lie, it wasn't the most exciting thing in the world, and a lot of it was just repeating information we had already been told. I was pretty glad when it was over.

I went out to eat with my parents because I hadn't eaten a real meal all day. I get the feeling that I will have more days like that. So....I'll probably (hopefully) lose some weight on this program. :p After dinner, they took me to Walmart, and then I came back to the apartment to finish unpacking and such. I'm still not done, but I do have most of the stuff unpacked. I can always finish tomorrow. :p

That was pretty much day 1. It was all very crazy and overwhelming. A lot of information was thrown at us today. I'm going to have to take some time tomorrow to sit down and go over all of it.

I think it's bedtime for me now. Hopefully I'll get my pictures/videos uploaded tomorrow so I can post them and show you how things went. I'll do an apartment tour once we're all completely settled in and everything. :)

Have a magical day....er...night! :)

Made It To Orlando!

So, I arrived in Orlando late yesterday evening, after a very loooong day of driving. I didn't do much of anything because, well, I was exhausted last night. Pretty much came to the hotel, got settled, got dinner, and then went to bed. Such excitement, I know. :p

Today has been a little more eventful. It started off with a visit to Downtown Disney this morning, including breakfast at one of the newest restaurants there, Pollo Campero/Fresh A-Peel. I had some cereal and one of the fruit cups, and it was really good. Then I headed over to Babycakes Bakery (which is inside Pollo Campero), and tried one of their coconut doughnuts. I did have some reservations because they use completely organic things in their baked goods, but I was curious. And the verdict? That doughnut was one of the best doughnuts I've ever had. :) Then after that, there was some more shopping, then a trip to Walmart and to find where I have to go check in tomorrow, and to find where the apartment complex I hope I get is at. :)

Tonight is the check-in dinner for everyone checking in tomorrow. I'm excited because I get to meet a lot of the people I've talking to on Facebook. And....I finally get to meet my awesome housemates in person! :) I'm so excited!

Well, that's all for right now. I'll try and blog about tonight when I get back. If not, then look for a pretty lengthy update tomorrow. Actually, look for a pretty lengthy update tomorrow anyway. :p

Have a magical day!

Reasons Why I Love Disney [[Day 36]]

**1 day until check-in!!!**

Source: Simple Disney Things

I'm such a geography buff, so this is my favorite part of Disney World. I could spend all day at World Showcase if people would let me. :p

Well, this was my last "Reason I Love Disney" for awhile anyway. Tomorrow is the big day for me (finally!!)!! So, be looking out for actual blog entries about the program now. :p

And later on today/tonight, I'll blog about the drive down to Orlando yesterday, as well as getting to finally meet my lovely housemates in person. And of course, the check-in dinner is tonight, so I'll blog about that, too. :p 

Have a magical day! :)

Reasons Why I Love Disney [[Day 35]]

**I leave for Florida TODAY!!! And check in is in 2 days!!!!**

Source: Simple Disney Things

I love Disney date nights. They're the best. 

And I love this sweet picture of Minnie and Mickey. <3

Reasons Why I Love Disney [[Day 34]]

**3 days! 3 DAYS!!!!**

Source: Simple Disney Things

I love Kilimanjaro Safaris. In my opinion, this is the best ride in Animal Kingdom. You get to ride in this cool vehicle and see all these animals that you would see if you really went on a safari in Africa. And the coolest part? The animals are real, and yes, they will walk up to your vehicle. In fact, I got to see a rhino up close and personal back in April when it wandered up to the part of the truck I was sitting on.

Yeah....no zoom needed.

Reasons Why I Love Disney [[Day 33]]

**4 days!!! EEEEE!!!**

Source: Simple Disney Things

Disney movies have a way of tugging at your heartstrings. It can suck sometimes. :p

Blog Roll!

Just a quick update to say that I added a blog roll page. So, if you want to check out some CP blogs from different roles, click the last link at the top of the page and check out some of the other blogs I follow. I'm still looking for other blogs to feature in my blog roll, especially those roles that are blank right now! So, if you have a CP blog you want me to feature, leave me a comment with your name, your role, and the link to your blog! :)

Happy reading! :)

Reasons Why I Love Disney [[Day 32]]

**5 days!!! OMG!!!!**

Source: Simple Disney Things

Favorite song from my favorite movie. :)

Reasons Why I Love Disney [[Day 31]]

**6 days!!!!!**

Source: Simple Disney Things

I love the TTA. It's the first thing I have to ride when I go into Tomorrowland. And going through Space Mountain while on the TTA is probably my favorite part. Seeing the little model village, and then seeing the actual roller coaster....it's all so cool! And of course, after I get off the TTA, I must go ride Space Mountain. :p

One Week!!!

Well, here I am at the one week until check-in mark! I'm so excited that this time next week, I will have my apartment, have my job placement, and be settling into my new life as a Disney Cast Member. And I am beyond excited! I can't wait to get down to Orlando this weekend and meet the awesome people that I will be living, learning, and earning with. :)

I'm still in packing mode, and I have been for most of the summer. I think I've got a lot done, but I don't really feel like I have. Which sucks, because I leave Saturday, and I feel like I'm nowhere near ready. But I'll get there. I have to work tonight and get my bed cleaned off (which means I have to do some more packing) so that I can finally sleep in it again. :p Sharing a couch with my dog is not fun...especially when she keeps trying to push me off because she believes that the couch belongs to her. :p

I will definitely be doing some more actual blog posts this week, but for now I must go and work on some more packing and figuring out what I still need to get before I leave!

For my fabulous D-Fam, I leave you with this:

I can't wait!!!

Reasons Why I Love Disney [[Day 30]]

**1 WEEK!!! 1 WEEK!!!!**

Source: Simple Disney Things

This is one of my favorite rides, and when those doors open and you get the view of Hollywood Studios....it's so cool! :)