Thursday, January 15, 2009

First Day of Training ... Check!


Well, it has been a busy busy busy past few days.  Yesterday I have my first day of paid work which was a class called Traditions.  I woke up about 5:45 and rode with my roommates Christina and Allie to Disney University.  The class started at 8:00 and was 4 hours long.  At first it was a lot of fun because we got to learn a lot about the history of Disney and play some games.  I won a little Tinkerbell, Minnie and Tigger figurine.  But after about the first hour it got a tad boring.  We of course had to go over the typical new hire information like how to handle a situation of sexual harassment and what standard Disney expects of you.  I also got my beautiful Disney name tag!  I had woken up at 3 that morning with a sore throat and knew I was getting a sinus infection since the week before Noah had one while on the cruise.  So, after Traditions ended I headed over to a Centra Care and was lucky enough to get right into a doctor.  I flat out told him my boyfriend had a sinus infection and I was around him the entire cruise ... and that I've had thousands of sinus infections in my life since my body seems to love them ... and that I started training for Disney the next day and COULD NOT get sick.  Literally the doctor didn't even ask my symptoms.  He just looked in my ears, looked at my throat and listened to my breathing then prescribed me one of the strongest antibiotics!  So thanks to the wonderful doctor and power of Zpack mixed with Nasonex and Advil cold & sinus I have felt much better today!!!  But anywho, so after the doctor I ran some errands to get like toilet bowl cleaner, a new blanket and a mattress pad ... since the Disney mattress pads for interns feels like you're sleeping on a rock.  When I got home my precious roommate Allie came in my room and gave me a picture she made saying feel better and a little stuffed Eeyore.  It was just about the sweetest thing ever!  Then she invited me to Epcot with her and some other girls, but by that time I was exhausted so I decided to stay behind.  I picked up Lauren from Vista Apartments after her class, ate dinner and was asleep before 10.  
Then today I got up at 5:15 so I could be at Disney University for my 7:00 training.  I know many of you may be thinking why get up so early before my shift ... but Disney expects you to be about 20 minutes early for all shifts, therefore I left the apartment around 6:15.  This is actually lucky ... when my actual shifts at the Magic Kingdom start I will have to learn about an hour early due the the fact that the employee parking lot is about 20 minutes away and then I have to take a bus to the employee tunnels where I have to navigate my way to Fantasyland!  But anyway ... so I get to the University at about 6:40 and probably close to 8:00 we loaded buses and headed over to the Magic Kingdom.  Then we toured the park not only around the actual grounds but in the backlots and underground tunnels for employees while learning about some of the history and culture of the park.  It's incredible how much detail there is to everything and how every little aspect of the lands follows a theme and story.  They talked a lot about how at Magic Kingdom they want the guests to feel "Fantasy" so basically they want you to feel like you're dreams and how it's our role to help make that fantasy come to life.  During this time we also got to ride the Haunted Mansion and Buzz Lightyear!  Yes ... I got paid today to tour Magic Kingdom and ride rides.  It was a lot of fun, but also somewhat exhausting as well as kinda sad.  Trust me ... rides aren't NEARLY as fun when you aren't with a friend or family member ... it fact they're kinda lonely.  The whole time I wished I could be back in October with my family!!!  Also, it was kinda weird knowing all the ins and outs of the Magic Kingdom.  When you're a guest in the park everything is so magical and even though it sounds kinda ridiculous you almost believe the characters and all the workers are really a part of the story.  But after training you begin to see them all as the normal people and employees they actually are.  Also it kinda takes away some of the magic when you know all the backstage type of stuff.  When we were done we went to a Disney theater and split up into our roles, such as food, merchandise, etc.  We then took a bus over to costuming and tried on our costumes ... which was extremely entertaining.  Even though my costume isn't great I am extremely blessed because some people had terribly ugly shirts with black pants that go up to you belly button and get skinny towards the ankles and stop at about the ankles so you don't walk on them.  Mine on the other hand is a white blouse with some embroidery and a navy skirt with little birds and flowers on it that goes up to my belly button and down past my knees.  Then I have to wear panty hoes and some basic classic black shoes I bought at Wal Mart after my shift.


This is a picture of my costume.  It's kinda small and blurry cause we took in on Lauren's computer camera since Wal Mart still doesn't have my camera hookup in stock.  I also have a yellow and red coat because lately it's been pretty cold.  Like today it was in the 60's and tomorrow it's suppose to be in the 40's.  The coat is ridiculous because it's a small but I'm like drowning in it and it looks totally ridiculous.

So after I got home I changed and then Lauren and I went over to Hollywood Studios around 2.  It was exciting getting to park and getting inside for free!  So we went over to Rockin Roller Coaster and got fast passes.  Then we went over and rode Star Tours.  We then went to see how long Toy Story's line was, but it was like 80 minutes and we didn't feel like waiting.  After that we stopped because there was  a show going on with the Bug's Life, Monster's Inc and Incredibles characters.  When that ended we went over and Lauren faced her fear of the Tower of Terror, which was incredible!!!  It was one of the best times I've been on it because it dropped up like 5 times ... we were both laughing so hard!  We also saw a High School Musical show and a couple old Hollywood characters performing in the street.  Also, we walked over to New York and saw some New York landscapers perform some songs on their landscaping truck.  They were called Rake and Roll.  Lauren and I were trying so hard not to start dancing right in the middle of the street!!! (I posted a short video I took of them on my phone which is at the bottom of this blog ... it's kinda crappy and hard to see but it was one of Kristin's favorite songs when she was younger so I had to take it!)

By then it was almost 5:40 so we walked to the other side of the park and rode Rockin Roller Coaster which was amazing!  We were laughing and screaming so loud.  By this time we were both exhausted so we once again headed back to the apartment where I succeeded to set off the fire alarm while cooking bagel bites ... go me!  So now it's currently 9:30 and Lauren and I are both in bed watching Grey's getting ready to sleep.  She starts her training tomorrow at 8:30 and I continue mine at 10:30.  For now I'm only working 6 hours a day since I am still training, but who knows what my schedule will look like when I actually get out on my own.  Magic Kingdom has extra magic hours for resort guests every Thursday morning and Sunday nights.  For example, today the park opened an hour early at 8:00 and on Sunday it was stay open two hours late which means it won't close until 2:00 AM!  Yes ... I could be working in the middle of the night when you are all nice and asleep.  

One thing I have noticed is the magic that goes on everyday at the parks.  When you're another guest you tend to not recognize such situations, but even after my short amount of training I'm beginning to see how easy it is to make someone smile.  Like today when we were at Hollywood Studios watching High School Musical we saw two moms standing on a wall dancing like the dancers on stage and even making up some of their own moves.  It was amazing to see just how easy it is to become a kid again at Disney.  Then when we were walking down the main entry road one guy yelled out something like "Guys watch out, two ladies are walking down the street" and then when I was on the phone with my mom another said "Good tell you're agent to lower the price and I'll think about it" ... just the little things that made you enter the world of old Hollywood and put a smile on our faces.  And it was incredible to see how everyone around us copied the same smile and were so happy! 

Anyway ... I'm exhausted.  I'm already missing everyone SO much and am attempting to convince them all to come visit.  So if I haven't talked to you yet you should really come see me :)  

Good Night Everyone!

Stephanie



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