We Have Now Reached the End of the Journey

Well....my Disney College Program is officially over. I graduated on Thursday, moved out of my apartment yesterday, spent one last day in the parks, and came home today. It's hard to believe that I no longer live in Orlando, that I no longer work for Disney, and that I'm no longer surrounded by magic pretty much 24/7. What really sucks, though, is not being around the amazing people I got to spend my time with down there. Especially my besties. It's hard knowing that all of sudden I'm going from seeing them on a daily basis to not being able to see them at all. So this whole Post-Disney Depression (PDD) thing is very real. I'm going through such a wide range of motions, usually within a few minutes of each other. I'm happy to be home, back with my family, with my boyfriend, and with my friends here. I'm happy that I won't miss anymore family get togethers, and I get to spend the holidays with them this year. And that's going to be amazing because honestly, Christmas kind of sucked last year because it wasn't what I was used to. So I'm definitely looking forward to being surrounded by my huge, amazing family this year. :) But I'm also very upset about the fact that I'm no longer at Disney. I don't get live with pretty much constant sunshine (something I never thought I would get used to). I don't get to go play in the parks when I want. I don't get to get that wonderful Cast Member discount on pretty much everything. And I don't get to say that I work for the Walt Disney Company. I absolutely loved my life in Orlando, so I am definitely sad that I don't have it anymore. Being back home is definitely something I'm going to have to get used to again. And as sad as I am that this wonderful journey, this dream come true, is over, I am pretty excited to see what my next adventure will be. I've got a job interview lined up next week, and I'm applying for grad school, which if I get in, I will start in the fall. So I definitely have some kind of plan for my life right now. But, no matter how amazing it all turns out to be, nothing will ever truly replace my experiences on the Disney College Program. I had the time of my life, and I'm so glad I did the program. For everyone who kept up with my journey through this blog, thank you. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. And for those of you who are looking into the program, do it! You will never get another experience even remotely close to this. You will make amazing friends, work in the most magical place on Earth, and have the time of your life. It won't always be easy, but it'll be worth it. I promise. :) Well...that's it, I guess. My college program is done, and so is this blog. So, for the final time.... Have a magical day!

It's My Last Full Month!

So it's officially my last full month here in Orlando. I know I said this in my last post, but I really am sad about leaving. However, I know that it's time for me to go back home and settle into a "normal" life there. And as much as I love Disney and Orlando, I feel like I've been missing out on a lot back home, and I don't like that. I can't wait to be around my family and friends, and to be able to do the things that I love doing back home. And I'm also looking forward to being able to be back around my dogs! I miss them!

So since I'm leaving my "dream world" in 37 days, I have started trying to find jobs back home. So far, I've applied for one, and I'm getting my resume ready to send out to other places. I've also applied to go back to school for my Masters' degree. All that's left for me to do is to register to take the GRE. I'm dreading that because (a) I hate taking tests like that, and (b) it's expensive. But it's something that has to be done. To be honest, I'm looking forward to going back to school. I feel like I'll be one of those people who is pretty much always in school because there's just so much that I'm interested in and want to learn about. :)

However, I still have over a month left here at Disney, and I plan on making the most of it. Today, since I'm off, I'm planning on going over to the Grand Floridian and seeing the painted Easter eggs that they have on display. And Monday is my birthday, so Kim, Kelly, and I are planning to drive up to St. Augustine for the day to celebrate. I've always wanted to go to St. Augustine, so I'm excited that we're going for my birthday. :) I also have to start packing stuff up so I won't be rushed to do it all my last week here. Let's hope that for once, I'm actually on the ball about this. :p

Oh! And even bigger news--the boyfriend is coming to visit me!!! He'll be here for just 2 days (next Saturday and Sunday), but I'm so excited that he's coming!! He's never been to Disney before, so I'm very excited to get to share this part of my life with him and show him around the place I love so much. He'll be here in 10 days, and I can't wait!!! I just have to get through some crazy hours at work the rest of this week and next week. But it'll be worth it. :)

Well that's all for now. I will definitely try to update next week because I've picked up a PAC (Parade Audience Control) shift over at Magic Kingdom next Wednesday, and I want to tell y'all about that. I'm looking forward to that experience. :) And now I'm off to get ready and head out for the afternoon!

Have a magical day!
-Amanda

Sorry for the Disappearing Act

I know I've disappeared for awhile, and I apologize for that. I've been settling into my new apartment, hanging out with my friends, and working. So I've been a little busy. :p

Just a few updates since I've been away from the blog for over a month. I know I said in my last blog that we were supposed to be getting new roommates, and I hoped that 2 of them would be Australian. Well, they are! Their names are Clare and Taylor, and they are such sweet and fun girls. I love sitting and talking to them and comparing cultures.....and of course, listening to them talk with their accents. :)

On a work note....we've got 6 new CPs at my location, making it a total of 8 CPs, when really, we only need 4. This means that those who work part time at my location aren't getting hours, and Kim and I are getting fewer hours than we're used to. As a CP, we're guareented at least 30 hours a week. When I checked my schedule on Sunday for next week, I was only getting 28.5. Luckily, when I told my managers, they fixed it and got me the hours I need. But I really feel bad for the part-timers because they need hours, too. Whoever is in charge of placing CPs didn't really seem to think this one through. Hopefully things will work out and people who need hours will be able to start getting them again soon.

Last week, my parents came to visit me. :) We got to stay at the Grand Floridian, which is the nicest resort on Disney property. It was a very relaxing vacation, and even better since I only had to work one 6 hour shift while they were here. :) I love getting to spend time with my parents like this, and I'm sad that I won't see them until May now.

And speaking of May, I have officially decided to go back home to Georgia at the end of this program. Don't get me wrong, I love being here in Florida and working at Disney. And 2 of my best friends are here, and I hate to leave them. But, I miss my family, I miss Ronnie, and I miss home. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with my life once I get home, but I'll figure something out. I'm just ready to go home. After going home for a few days last month, I know that's where I need to be again.

So there's what's been going on with me for the past month. Hopefully I'll be able to update (meaning: hopefully I'll have something to update about) more than just once a month. So until next time....

Have a magical day!

Picture Time!

Okay, here is the long awaited picture post I've been promising.

And yes, I'm aware that you all are saying it's about time. :p

So without further ado........I give you:

THE PICTURES.

First roomie picture! Taken at Casting right before we found out where we would be working.

Me and Cayla with Pooh and Tigger

Me and Mexican Donald. :)

Me and Cayla on a boat. :p

The oh-so-attractive costume.

Back when I was training. :)

Finally got to meet Pinocchio!

I sent this picture to my parents. :)

Minnie and Mickey came to my apartment complex for a Western style party. :)

Got to meet Gaston at Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. :)

I met Captain Jack, too. :p

Me and one of my co-workers, Emily. :)

Finally took that hot air balloon ride. This is the view of Downtown Disney.

Panorama shot of World Showcase.

In Canada. ;)

Beautiful sky at sunset.

Found this on my car. I don't know who put it there, but it was definitely a magical moment for me. :)

Sorry it's sideways....but, Kristie, Chris, and Hannah visited Disney! :)

He danced with me. :)

Raspberry wine from South Korea. Yay for the Food & Wine Festival at Epcot!

Tiff and Jordan enjoying F&W, too. :)

Trying out the different sodas from all over the world! :)

I found out I got to audition for my dream job the day F&W started. This is how I celebrated. :)

I came home to find this lovely head in my bed. >.>

Those are just some of the many pictures I've taken since I've been here. Life has been pretty amazing down here. :)

Today is the first day of classes for me, so I'll post a blog later tonight telling ya'll all about them. :)

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!

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! :)

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 14]]

Source: Simple Disney Things

Honestly, having not just Cast Members wish me a happy birthday, but other guests made my 23rd birthday even more amazing than it was. :)

The perfect ending to the perfect birthday. :)

Reasons Why I Love Disney [[Day 11]]

Source: Simple Disney Things

I remember on one trip meeting a girl who was from the same county as me. It was really cool, because I had never thought about people from my county working at Disney. :)

And I'm looking forward to meeting guests who are from my area. I think that adds a little to the magic that is experienced by the guests. :)