Extended!

I have officially extended my College Program!!! Yay! Happiness, and rainbows, and butterflies, and all that jazz (just imagine a dancing Kelsey)! I was accepted to extend my program until August 2, 2013 in Hospitality. I am so excited to have this opportunity and it should be interesting to see how different hospitality is from attractions; my guess, it’ll be extremely different. But I’m hoping I will get more intense guest interaction, and it definitely doesn’t hurt that I will be in air conditioning during the summer ;).

But anyways, I am transferring roles, which means that I will be leaving my Fantasyland family May 12^th. I totally feel like I’m going to cry already, these silly people have made such a huge impact on my life, and I know that my CP wouldn’t have been nearly as great as it has been if I hadn’t have had them by my side day in and day out. We just had one of our busiest seasons of the year—spring break—and every day I was scheduled for those two weeks, I worked 12 hour shifts. But, I loved coming into work and seeing my cast members. I did a little interpretive dance/hand thing during Wishes for Daniel while guests stared at my awkwardness. I did the moon walk, Macarena,  and any other dance I thought would be fun with Andria at guest flow while Paul judged us and secretly wished he could join :). And I got to fill the theater for back to back shows with Andria and Cait while hoping that guests’ would listen and move all the way down their row. This has been the greatest job I ever could have asked for and I am so blessed to have gotten to know everyone I work with in Fantasyland. So thank you to all of my fellow CP’s, part-timer’s, and full-timers; you made my CP worth every hoop I had to jump through to get down here.  

Would I recommend doing the Disney College Program?

Yes. Absolutely. 100% yes.  

This has been one of; if not the greatest experience I have ever participated in. The hours are pretty crazy, work is hard, guests can definitely be a challenge, and sometimes you wake up and wonder why you are doing this to yourself. But then you get that special guest, or see your best friends, maybe you remember the magic that you’re creating, or you just know that you are fulfilling your dream. When all is said and done I absolutely love this program and would repeat it in a heartbeat.

I have met my best friend here, and made a group of friends whom I know I will still talk to 10, 20, 30 years from now. I can start singing a Disney song and they join along, instead of looking at me like I have gone insane. All of my fellow cast members that I work with and hang out with are just as awkward as me, and we all get each other. I know I could call anyone of them when I’m having a hard time and they will listen, comfort, and understand me. I’m so blessed to have met these people who have now made a permanent impact in my life, and I could not be happier.

I will say this; don’t plan on sticking with your plans for after the program (that sounds redundant doesn’t it)? So much stuff has happened to basically everyone I know that has changed their future plans, myself included. Be prepared for anything and be open to everything here because there is so much to experience for every single type of person! Basically, if you want to participate in the program, do it; and if you make the most of it, then you definitely will not regret it.

Story Time!

Hello world! I’m alive-ish and have time where I am not sleeping or out to write a post. YAY!!!! I know, I know; you’re welcome ;-) hahaha. Anyways, at the moment it is 7 a.m. and I need to be on the 9:13 bus to Magic Kingdom. However, I am doing laundry; let me share with you a lesson that I have learned: do your laundry on your days off. No, I’m serious do it! Because then you don’t have to wake up and do laundry in the morning 2 hours before work before a 14 hour shift, and following another 14 hour shift that got you home at 1:30 in the morning. Okay rant over!

The point of this little post was to share a few guest stories! So gather around my friends because it is story time! Let’s start with missing children; I used to think that I would never have to deal with the issue of a missing child because there were so many of us cast members that someone would find before me. Yeah, I was wrong about that. Just yesterday, I had two different cases of missing kids: the first was really only an alert. It was still the first 10 minutes after this dad lost his daughter, but he found her almost immediately after he notified me. The second child was a more serious situation, a little girl found a mom who then found us (yay for parents teaching their children what to do!!!) and let us know that she was lost. We took her aside and one of my coworkers called for a leader while I took care of her. She was one of the sweetest little girls ever and she just kept crying, so she got lots of stickers from me… I asked her what her mom’s name was, her favorite color and princesses, if she liked Magic Kingdom, etc. Thankfully the mom saw me with her and everything turned out fine. Missing children, a.k.a lost parents, can be difficult because you don’t want to freak out, but you kind of are inside, yet you have to stay calm on stage.

Anyways, more stories! Ummm… there was a guy sleeping on a bench behind the castle, and we were setting up for Wishes. Well he had been there for at least a good half hour, and I was doing strollers at Castle Couture, so I was just standing by him. And, all of my coordinators and coworkers kept asking me if he was dead, and I honestly could not tell for sure. I thought he kept moving but I didn’t know if he truly did or not. But I have yet to hear anything about him being dead or what not, so I’m taking that as a good sign!

Okay, just to keep you guys on track, I started this post 3 days ago and I am now coming back to it because I have time to do so! Anyways, this is one of my all-time favorite things that have happened to me at work and it just occurred yesterday. I just got off my break yesterday, went to CDS and pulled Carrousel rotation. Most everyone hates the Carrousel because you usually work it alone, nobody listens, and it’s an extremely difficult safety position that you are in charge of and always at fault for. So I pulled rotation and went to the Carrousel, well of course one of the trainers is doing an assessment with a new cast member, which he just ended. I then take over the operator position, and thankfully I had a grouper or else I would have been even more stressed out. So I do the safety check for my first cycle and start the ride. A few seconds later I notice a guy is standing outside the boundary, so I tell him he needs to stand inside. The carrousel does one more rotation and I see that he didn’t move, so I have to ride stop the carrousel. It was just short enough where we were going to try and keep everyone on the carrousel and do another cycle. Guests were just not having it so I’m running behind guests are confused and everything is just going wrong. Finally, I get everyone off and start a new cycle with new guests, well guess what. Another guest is standing outside the boundary! I do the whole spiel, they don’t hear me, and then I need to ride stop it AGAIN! Twice in a row guys, that is no bueno. At this point I’m stressed out, and I have lost my voice so I’m trying to tell people to exit the carrousel and they are laughing at me because my voice keeps cracking, it was great… Now to the good part! I start a new cycle with new rule obeying guests! And I’m watching the monitors and guests’ making sure everything is going smoothly, then I hear a voice over my shoulder and I look behind me and there is a little princess dressed as Belle! She had just been to BBB that day because her hair was fresh and her dress was still clean. She then puts her hand up with a bunch of flowers, and says, “Hi! I just wanted to give you these, they are for you”! Guys I just about started crying. I was having such a terrible time and this little princess made it all completely worth it. She is why I am here in Disney, making magic for guests and I wish that more of them knew how magical they make it for the cast members as well!

So those are just a few of my guest stories. I am just ending a 60 hour work week, consisting of three 14 hour days, and today is my ‘Friday’. I miss sleep and I know we will get along quite well when I reach my bed tonight. Okay lovely’s until next time, have a philharmagical day!!!

Housing and stuff!

Hello world! I'm back for another rare update! Woot woot :) Well, I have been crazy busy with work and I feel like  that is the majority of my life; but, I'm okay with that because I adore my coworkers, and my attractions are pretty great!
My family just left yesterday from a quick visit. I loved seeing them, as always. But it is definitely a little different than coming on vacation with them! But we got to do a lot of fun stuff, and I loved being able to see my family and show them what I do and where I live.
I have met some of the greatest people down here! It's crazy because we are able to sing random Disney songs together, and appreciate everyone's geekiness! It is quite lovely. My friends are just some of the most wonderful people I have ever met. This program is definitely what you make of it. If you make sure you actually do stuff outside of work then your program will probably be amazing!
There are definitely some days where I wake up at 5 in the morning and think, well it won't hurt if I just call in this once... but then I get out of bed. Catch the bus (usually an hour and a half before my shift), get to work and then see all the kids who are so excited to be in the Magic Kingdom, and I just know that I have one of the greatest jobs in the world.
Here's a quick housing update for you as well! At the moment I am living in a 3 bedroom with 4 girls, including myself. I just got a letter today saying that we are supposed to get a new suite mate on March 4th, so hopefully that'll work out well! I love love love Chatham. It's the first stop for the Magic Kingdom buses which works great for me because I'm basically guaranteed a seat on the bus going to work and am the first stop back after a long night. Also, a large majority of the housing events are held here, and most of my friends live here! It was definitely just a great choice all around :)
Okay, well that's it for now but hopefully I'll be able to do another post soonish...

1/3 of the way in...

Hey everyone! It’s been a long time… whoops. I’m sorry, I’ve been really busy! But I thought I’d update y’all on the program.

I’ve been working a whole lot lately. Yesterday I had a 15 hour shift and have a 58 hour work week. That’ll definitely be interesting! Other than that I’ve been hanging out with my roommates and friends; I’ve also been getting to know my coworker’s which is great, because a lot of them are CP’s as well!

I love my job too; it’s just amazing being able to work in the Happiest Place on Earth. I get to make so many magical moments for people and make their vacation just all that more memorable! My attractions are definitely interesting also… The carrousel is pretty crazy if you’re working it by yourself when the park is busy, and lots of people enjoy jumping off when it’s moving. So if you ever ride Prince Charming’s Regal Carrousel, don’t be that person! I love Philharmagic, it’s a great movie and is always fun to see people’s reactions to certain parts in the film. I have also been Wishes trained, so I can be scheduled to basically guard the castle from guests before, during, and after the fireworks. It’s just awesome being able to watch Wishes every night and get paid to do it!

Anyways, I really love it here, and it’s scary to think that I’m already almost 1/3^rd of the way into my program. I’m super excited because my parents, grandparents, and aunt are visiting next week! So I’ll get some family time and a few days off, which will be much appreciated. Well, that’s all of the updates I have at the moment, and hopefully I’ll be able to make another update soon.

The Past Week!

Hello world! Nothing of too much importance has happened these last few days. Our apartment is actually clean tonight, which makes me extremely happy! Yesterday I went to Hollywood Studios and Epcot with one of my lovely roommates Kristen. We had so much fun! I love being able to go to parks on my days off, but I have to be super careful because I spent a ton of money yesterday. Like, a lot. I had planned on saving money during this program but right now we still have a holiday discount on all merchandise, and that discount is just trying to kill my bank account. But I’ll be more careful once the discount is back to normal… hopefully ;)

Other than that I’ve just been working! I’m getting more into the groove of work and making each position my own. I’m also beginning to get to know my coworkers more, and they seem really great. The other day I submitted a form to cross-train but I have no idea if they’ll let me, but it never hurts to try!

So, yeah, that’s about all I can think about at the moment. But hopefully I’ll have more exciting stuff to share with y’all later :-)

Mini Update!

I got my little weekend in, and yesterday was a lot of fun! I went to Magic Kingdom—which is still my favorite park, even though I work there—and got a few hours in the park! We got to ride Jungle Cruise at night (crossed off the bucket list), Kristen and I got an entire boat to ourselves on Pirates of the Caribbean, we saw Wishes while riding Big Thunder Mountain, visited our other roommate, Katie, on the people mover, and then went to Poly for some Dole Whips! I’m so blessed, where else can you go to your favorite place in the world and basically visit for free and get paid to work their every day?

So after my lovely weekend, I will be back at work today. But I have to say this: while I may deal with difficult guests, attractions shutting down, stroller duty, and a ton of other craziness; I truly believe I have one of the greatest jobs in the world. Where else can I call every little girl princess, and make a strangers day just by wishing them a Happy Birthday? I mean I get to watch Wishes when I’m working! How much luckier can I be? Yes I have long hours, and yes I will have bad days, but I’ll always come back the next day ready to see what’s coming for me. I just, I truly love what I am doing right now.

P.S. I also signed up to work the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival! So we’ll see if that request is approved or not.

P.P.S Live with Kelly and Michael are coming to Florida in mid-February, and I was able to sign up for tickets! So cross your fingers, and hope that I’m chosen to go see them!

I earned my ears!

It’s official guys, I earned my ears! I can officially operate all of the positions for Prince Charming Regal Carrousel and Mickey’s Philharmagic on my own! I had three days of training: the first focused on the carrousel, the second was Philharmagic, and the third was a combo of each. Then, I had my assessment on Sunday, which I was super nervous about. My assessor was great and very helpful, but she did e-stop (emergency stop) the carrousel when I wasn’t looking to make sure I knew how to handle that situation. And yesterday was my first day on my own! It was actually a lot of fun. I got to see so many cute little kids and wish them Happy Birthday or call them princess, I love it! I mostly did stroller parking and the exit glasses for philhar, but I made the most of it and actually had a good time doing those!

I have lost my voice though, because I have to scream/annunciate at guests to fill in all the available space in the queue for carousel. So if you guys are ever told to move all the way down please do it! Anyways, I’ve been hanging out with my roommates and friends a lot lately, which is great! And our sixth and final roommate arrived this morning. She seems super nice so hopefully everything turns out well!

In other news, the buses suck. I waited for the Walmart/Publix bus today and it never showed. Then, once I called transportation from the apartment they said it was running half an hour late and that I would have to just guess and wait for it to arrive. Yeah, ummm no thank you. So I’m either going to Publix tomorrow or getting groceries delivered, at the moment I am still undecided. 

Well, I am going to enjoy my two days off, and to end this post I will be posting some pictures of my time here so far!

First Day of Work

So yesterday was my first day of ‘training’! I would call it more of an all-day park orientation. I took the 6 a.m. bus because I had to be there by 7:15… let’s just say that I was dead to the world until I got to Magic Kingdom. When everyone was there we were split up into two groups and took tours of the Magic Kingdom before the park was open! That was super cool because I have never seen the park empty, so that was a dream come true right there! We also got to ride Haunted Mansion and the People Mover, which I love. Then when the tour was over we split up into more groups that were specific to our locations. Right after we were separated I found out that I’ll be working Prince Charming’s Regal Carrousel and Mickey’s Philharmagic! So that’ll be cool!

            We then had lunch, and went on a tour of Fantasyland! I just love Fantasyland so much; it’s just wonderful in every possible way. Once our tour was done and when we finished riding the Barnstormer, it was time for costuming! I personally like my costume, although I was jealous of the New Fantasyland and Storybook Circus costumes lol :) Costuming took a little time only because we all had to get our costumes, make sure they fit correctly, and check them all out together. And after that my day was done!

            Today was my day off so I got to sleep in, and then I start another class tomorrow, and on the job training Thursday. So wish me luck! 

here is me in my costume!

Traditions!

So this post will be pretty vague, only because I’m not allowed to disclose a lot of what we did! 

My roommates had Traditions this morning at 8, and their bus left at 6:45 so I had the apartment all to myself from 7 until 12. That was definitely weird, if only because I’m not used to being by myself because it’s been so crazy lately. After my few hours of boringness it was time to get ready for traditions! You are supposed to be wearing a business casual outfit. I found the perfect dress (which I posted about earlier) and left for the bus. 

I got on the bus at 12.45 and Traditions started exactly at 2. The beginning was pretty boring but then we got to go to Magic Kingdom!!!! Let me just say that going through the backstage areas of Magic Kingdom was a dream come true for me. It was so cool seeing all of these cast members in their uniforms walking around and hanging out. I also saw Belle and Ariel heading into work, and Cinderella about to go onstage!

Once we left Magic Kingdom we did a few more activities relating to the company, and then got our name tags. Which was a great moment for so many reasons—if you’ve been through Traditions then you understand ;-). Overall, it was a pretty relaxing day, and I feel so blessed and fortunate to finally be able to make my dreams come true at the Happiest Place on Earth!

Tomorrow we are heading to Hollywood Studios and Epcot, and then I have my first day of training on Monday! I’ll let you all know how that goes when the time comes! :D