WEEK ONE IN THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH

HELLO WORLD! Sorry about the delay in the blog posting :( I didn't realize that once I reached my destination here in Orlando that I would be overwhelmed by the magic of Disney....which is exactly what happened.

 First things first--LETS RECAP A BIT

Last October, I had gotten accepted into the Walt Disney World College Program Spring Advantage 2011! (yayyyyyy)
What is the Disney College Program?
 The Disney College Program offers college students a chance to work at Disney World (parks or hotels) full time and incorporates a Living, Earning, and Learning experience to all of their Cast Members (that’s right Cast Members, not workers--because we are all about putting on a show to our guests) Disney offers apartment complexes for their cast members to reside in while on their  PAID internship! (Although rent is deducted from your paycheck automatically depending on which apartment complex you chose). Disney also offers a variety of classes such as their Collegiate Courses; like Marketing You or Creativity and Innovation, Disney Exploration Series, or Professional Development Studies that include Engineering, Finance, Entertainment Show Production, and Security. 

The Role (not job) that I have been accepted for was for a Hopper.

Below is Disney’s description on the Hopper role:

Hopper

            Responsibilites may include:

·         Working in different locations within the same role, or working in multiple roles

·         Must check all of the following roles: Quick Service Food & Beverage, Merchandise, Attractions, Main Entrance Operations, and Custodial

At the time that I decided to apply for the Disney College Program (which was on a spur of the moment type thing) I was so desperate to go that I was prepared to be sweeping trash in the parks for six months. (Yes, I know-desperate)
However I wouldn’t know my exact role until my check-in (February 7^th). Talk about building up the suspense!

Okay now-FAST FORWARD

 Sunday Feb 06
Woke up early and was escorted by my parents to Metro Airport to catch the flight from Detroit to Baltimore. Flying alone=not as bad as I thought it would be. Then I got to wait in the Baltimore airport for a couple of hours to catch my flight to Orlando. On that flight I ended up sitting next to two little girls on their way with their parents to Disney World (awww cute!) Pretty much became best friends with them. Once that flight was over with, I made my way onto a shuttle and made it into my hotel until check-in the next day.
Monday Feb 07 – CHECK IN
Check-in started off like a typical first day of college feeling. Extremely excited to get started yet at the same time equally as nervous about how the living situation is going to work out, who your going to meet, and just the physical demand of moving all of your stuff into the apartment…and for me that was trying to move 3 large suitcases across an intersection to the check in place.
The Check-in itself was not as difficult or confusing as I thought it would be. You could tell that Disney had been doing this for a while. You pretty much waited in one line only to encounter another line and wait in that. The whole process probably took around an hour or two.
During check-in I decided to live in Vista Way (the cheapest of all the apartments and are also known as the party apartments) in a 3-bedroom apartment. Since all of the bedrooms have 2 beds, this meant that I would have 5 other girls living in the apartment. (my thought process: the more girls in the apartment, the better the chances of me liking them)
After we got our photo taken for our housing ID, we were then sent off the casting. This is where I found out that I would be working in Magic Kingdom in Parking Operations (which is under Main Entrance Operations). My immediate thought was “Oh great, I came all of this way to Disney and did not even get to work in the park”.  (Disney does however allow cast members to visit the parks for free)
Working in Park Operations gives me a variety of jobs. I get to drive the tram which is 171 feet long and can reach speeds up to 13MPH (I know…FAST), deliver a spiel on the tram while standing on the back of it, and also direct guests to their parking spots. Although this may not seem like an “ideal” job, it is known to give the most freedom (seeing as were out in the parking lot the majority of the time) and also have some of the funniest people to work with. It also is known for the longest breaks J
After casting I moved into my apartment and met the other 5 girls. Three of them were from the Miami area and the other two are from Michigan. There seems to be a lot of people from Michigan doing this internship (as well as New York). Thankfully, we all get along great! (I’m surprised I have had this much luck with roommates seeing as I pretty much have roomed blind all throughout my college career.
Tuesday Feb 08
Today was a free day. This was pretty much declared a roommate day and we all just stayed at our apartment and then went grocery shopping afterwards. Good day.
Wednesday Feb 09
Today I had what Disney calls “Traditions” for about four hours. Traditions are basically a look inside Disney as not only an entertainment company, but business, and a strong emphasis on guest relationship. The whole process talked about Disney’s past, present, and future. We also received our nametags and officially became a part of the Disney family.
Thursday Feb 10
Today was the first day of training! For me, I had my “Once Upon a Time..Is Now”  training which was the theme park orientation. This allowed us to walk around some of the areas of the park and see what it is like “backstage”. Not remembering my previous experience to Disneyworld, I was in awe at how detailed and efficient the park ran. After theme park orientation, I had the first part of my parking operations training right after wards. Pretty much all we did was walk around Magic Kingdom some more and then went to costuming to get our quite colorful polyester costumes. (Pictures coming soon I swear!) After that I somehow managed to attend the Welcome party at one of the other apartment complexes known as Chatham where Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Donald all came out for the party!
Friday Feb 11
First day off! WHEW! I am going to treasure these. Slept in and then went to Magic Kingdom in the afternoon. Saw the princess show that happens on Cinderella’s Castle and then at night watched “Wishes” which is a fireworks show. It also projects images and really amazing things onto the whole castle. AS OF RIGHT NOW I CANNOT FIND MY CORD THAT CONNECTS MY CAMERA TO MY COMPUTER BUT AS SOON AS I FIND IT I WILL UPLOAD IT!!

ANDDDDD NOWW FOR TODAY

Saturday Feb 12
Woke up today at 7:00AM  in order to catch the bus be at work by 8:00AM sharp. (Only a 6 hour work day today-yessss) Today was devoted for my parking training group to go on e-Learning (online learning lectures) and read some of the safety and procedures on how to perform our jobs and interact with the guest. Two hours later, we were completed and got to go on one ride in Magic Kingdom and watch the Princess Show (yes the same one I saw yesterday..AGAIN! )
And now it is just after 11PM and I have training again tomorrow at 7AM (first time I get to wear my costume to work and supposedly the first assignment I get tomorrow is to drive the tram) So, it looks like it’s going to be a big day. Only working 39.9 hours this upcoming week, but for someone like me who thinks working a 4 hour day is rough, this should be interesting..
 
Oh and another thing: The day after check-in I tried to register for the Engineering Professional Development Study Course. Unfortunately, it was full so I got put on the wait-list :(. I'll find out in a couple of weeks though so keep your fingers crossed for me!

"I only hope that we don't lose sight of one thing - that it was all started by a mouse."  -Walt Disney