So I thought I would share a little bit about my new
position with y’all!
I now work Hospitality at Disney’s All Star Resorts, I work
two positions: front desk and runner. Front Desk is pretty self-explanatory; I
check people in and out, give them directions, explain dining plans, extra
magic hours, keys, etc. And the runner is an interesting position. Basically
you drive around the All Star property for your shift, helping guests who were
locked out of their rooms, delivering packages they had ordered, surprising
them with floral arrangements, sometimes driving them to their room or possibly
to a park or other location on and off property.
I finished my training for Front Desk on Saturday. It was
four 8 hour days of training at Disney University. These days consisted of
learning Lilo (the reservation system, also the name of my dog!), how to do
check-ins, check-outs, exchange foreign currency, paid outs, refunds, room
changes, and all that jazz. It was a little overwhelming because there is so
much information you need to know, but by the fourth day I felt a little more
comfortable about what I was doing. I will say that the way Disney University
trains you is very cool. They have an actual little lobby set up like the
check-in desks, so you do different scenarios with your ‘guests’ and that helps
you get more hands-on training. Once I was done with my four days at Disney
University I started my All Star training.
It’s actually funny because out of all of the Disney resorts
on property, All Star is the only one that I had never visited before. So I knew
the least about it, but after our property orientation I had a better feel of
the resort. The nice thing is all three resorts—sports, music, and movies—basically
have the same set up, so it isn’t too confusing when you switch resorts constantly
because everything is in the same general area. After my property orientation,
I received my costume, which is all blue. Blue pants, blue top, blue bag…
everything is blue, I look like a mail man. And then I had my first day of training
on the desk!
I was lucky enough to have the same trainer, Edward, for all
5 days. Edward was very nice and extremely helpful! He knew exactly what he was
doing and wasn’t afraid to ask managers if I had a question he could not answer.
He definitely better prepared me for the desk, which I am very thankful for. Throughout
my training I got a little bit of everything; I received cash, paid outs,
refunds, foreign guests (thank goodness for the language bank!), cancelled
reservations, groups, etc. Basically what Disney University told me might happen
during my time in hospitality; I got in my first week. The interesting thing is
All Star is the largest resort on property (when you put the three themes
together) and they have hundreds of check-ins in one day. But, it’s a lot
calmer than Magic Kingdom. Unlike MK you have downtime, and I don’t really know
what to do with myself. The managers don’t really care if you talk with your
fellow cast members as long as you are there to help a guest should they need it.
One suggestion during down times is to blow up balloons; they even have a whole
helium tank and a balloon animal guide. It’s just a very different setting than
Magic Kingdom, which I will have to get used to.
My homeroom managers seem awesome, and the FSA’s are great
as well! That is definitely something I like about my resort, I have actually
met my managers, where in Fantasyland I didn’t know half of them by May. All
Star is extremely different from Magic Kingdom and I’m assuming the other theme
parks, you have guests there 24/7, so you are basically always on call. But you
also have those down times, and from what I’ve been told when people are
deployed from another resort to All Star, they are always surprised at how busy
it is. However, I would like to try to cover shifts at other resorts, because
once you are front desk trained you can pick up shifts at any resort on
property which I believe could be fun!
Alright I believe I covered everything in this little post
for y’all. But if anyone has any questions about hospitality, All Star, my
extension, or the College Program feel free to ask! Have a philharmagical day
everyone!
