Today I had another day off! We got a new roommate, Chelsea today. I met her this morning, then I headed to Star Wars Weekend to visit Sydnee, because she was working there instead of the Contemporary this weekend.
I got a cool Star Wars nametag, and I built my own droid. It was pretty fun, but super busy so I left early. Someone came in to fix our internet, so I stayed at the apartment the rest of the day to color in my new Disney coloring book, and watched some tv. Sydnee and I made plans to go shopping tomorrow, and maybe visit my old stomping grounds, the Contemporary!
'Til next time!
Sunday, May 31, 2015
Saturday, May 30, 2015
Day 132: Resort Hopping to the Max!
Today I resort hopped with my new roommate Kaitlyn! She's the one I share a bunk bed with, and she works at Space Mountain. We both agree that we need to take a picture together with someone who works at Splash to have all 3 mountains represented.
I had a few resorts left that I hadn't visited since I've been on the College Program, and by a few, I mean 10. So we decided to go to them all today! I also brought my pins and pin-traded a little bit. I didn't really like pin trading when I worked in merchandise, but I was just taking it easy today, and thought it would be fun to do as a guest. It was quite the adventure. We started with the All Stars (Music, Movies, and Sports), and met up with Buzz and Woody, two of my favorites!
After that, we headed to Coronado Springs, because it was pretty close by. We were near Cast Connections and Kaitlyn had never been before, so we decided to go there and walk around. I ended up getting a Disney coloring book. Then we moved on to Pop Century. It started raining really hard, so we waited in the car for about 10 minutes until it slowed down enough that we could walk in.
I stayed at Pop Century when I was a kid, but it was still cool to go back and see it. The layout is exactly the same as Art of Animation, so I found my way around really easily. Once we were done there, we went to the Swan and Dolphin resorts. They made us print a parking pass, and we had exactly 30 minutes or less before they charged us, so we really felt the crunch. We literally were in the resorts long enough to take a picture of the fountain, and check out the shop at the Dolphin. Then we were on our way.
We swung through Caribbean Beach, but did so really quickly. It's a beautiful resort, but it was really hot outside, so I didn't spend too much time there. After that, we headed for Fort Wilderness. Kaitlyn and I had never, ever been to Fort Wilderness, so we tried driving through it, but quickly found out that pargos are the only thing that can go all the way through to the restaurants/shops. So we doubled back, parked in the parking lot, and took the bus that continuously looped around the camp grounds.
Once we were done there, we headed to the Wilderness Lodge. It was beautiful, probably my favorite of the day. We ate dinner here too, because we had been at this all day. The food was just the standard quick service meal, but it was still nice! It was definitely a long day, but fun. If we hadn't gone out, I would probably have spent the day at Panera watching Netflix.
Tomorrow, I'm going to Star Wars Weekend, finally!
'Til next time!
I had a few resorts left that I hadn't visited since I've been on the College Program, and by a few, I mean 10. So we decided to go to them all today! I also brought my pins and pin-traded a little bit. I didn't really like pin trading when I worked in merchandise, but I was just taking it easy today, and thought it would be fun to do as a guest. It was quite the adventure. We started with the All Stars (Music, Movies, and Sports), and met up with Buzz and Woody, two of my favorites!
After that, we headed to Coronado Springs, because it was pretty close by. We were near Cast Connections and Kaitlyn had never been before, so we decided to go there and walk around. I ended up getting a Disney coloring book. Then we moved on to Pop Century. It started raining really hard, so we waited in the car for about 10 minutes until it slowed down enough that we could walk in.
I stayed at Pop Century when I was a kid, but it was still cool to go back and see it. The layout is exactly the same as Art of Animation, so I found my way around really easily. Once we were done there, we went to the Swan and Dolphin resorts. They made us print a parking pass, and we had exactly 30 minutes or less before they charged us, so we really felt the crunch. We literally were in the resorts long enough to take a picture of the fountain, and check out the shop at the Dolphin. Then we were on our way.
We swung through Caribbean Beach, but did so really quickly. It's a beautiful resort, but it was really hot outside, so I didn't spend too much time there. After that, we headed for Fort Wilderness. Kaitlyn and I had never, ever been to Fort Wilderness, so we tried driving through it, but quickly found out that pargos are the only thing that can go all the way through to the restaurants/shops. So we doubled back, parked in the parking lot, and took the bus that continuously looped around the camp grounds.
Once we were done there, we headed to the Wilderness Lodge. It was beautiful, probably my favorite of the day. We ate dinner here too, because we had been at this all day. The food was just the standard quick service meal, but it was still nice! It was definitely a long day, but fun. If we hadn't gone out, I would probably have spent the day at Panera watching Netflix.
Tomorrow, I'm going to Star Wars Weekend, finally!
'Til next time!
Friday, May 29, 2015
Day 131: Day Off; Back to the Comedy Club
I can't get enough of the funnies, guys. Today was the start of my four day weekend! Yay for time off, and time to relax. Our internet has not been cooperating at all lately. It was fine when we all moved in, but since I got back from staying with my family about a week ago, it has sucked. Like, super slow, the only thing that will load is Reddit, etc.
Today it was completely non-compliant. It wouldn't load anything so I called the internet guy for help. In the middle of the call, my phone died so I tried calling from Tess' phone. During that time, the internet absolutely would not work. Eventually, I reset the router and it was working ok, but they're sending someone out in the next couple of days to look at it. We're definitely upgrading the speed though.
So Tess and I went to Panera, again, so we could go on the internet. We were there for about 4 hours, and after that we headed out to the comedy show that my family went to last week, because it's pretty cheap and it was really funny. I think if I have Friday nights open, I'll go there until the end of my program. Definitely money well spent!
'Til next time!
Today it was completely non-compliant. It wouldn't load anything so I called the internet guy for help. In the middle of the call, my phone died so I tried calling from Tess' phone. During that time, the internet absolutely would not work. Eventually, I reset the router and it was working ok, but they're sending someone out in the next couple of days to look at it. We're definitely upgrading the speed though.
So Tess and I went to Panera, again, so we could go on the internet. We were there for about 4 hours, and after that we headed out to the comedy show that my family went to last week, because it's pretty cheap and it was really funny. I think if I have Friday nights open, I'll go there until the end of my program. Definitely money well spent!
'Til next time!
Thursday, May 28, 2015
Day 130: Day 4 of Training
Today I trained from 6am-2:45pm for my fourth day of training. It was our last day with Matthew, because he is leaving for Future World to be a coordinator there. So we will have a different trainer for our closing shift, and a different one for our assessment. Today we opened Tower. There was something wrong with a track switch, so we couldn't start right away. We waited in the office for about an hour before we went to the Tower to see what was going on. We hung out near Tower for about another hour waiting for word on when we could proceed. We started opening the ride really late. By the time everything was done, it was about an hour and a half delayed.
Tower basically controls ride motion. We provide access for the track walkers to reset the lifts, brakes, etc. to open the ride. We also help with PA, intercom, and phone checks, and monitor all persons walking on/near the track. So it's a lot of spieling, a lot of button pushing, and a lot of monitoring. Once we officially opened the ride, it was around 10:20. We went to lunch, because we had been there since 6!
After that, we went to the Training Room to read the last little bit, reviewing Tower Opener, and going over closing procedures, even though we won't be closing until Day 5 of training. We reviewed evacuation routes, and some basic procedures that we should know. After that, we did our last new position, Spur Grouper. The only difference between that and Main side Grouper is that we have to account for wheelchair groups when we are grouping, so if there is a wheelchair party, we need to leave room for them and leave some rows open when we group. That's it!
We did a ride through near the end of our shift to see where the doors are. We didn't have time to pick up another position before the end of our shift, so we went to find a manager to talk about something on our schedules. We had a meeting show up on Monday, for 2 hours. That would have been the only thing we had scheduled that day. The manager looked at the meeting, and told us it was something that could be rescheduled, so now instead of a 3 day weekend, I have a 4 day weekend! Since we started really early, I got home pretty early too. I went to Buffalo Wild Wings to pick up some dinner, then went back to Panera to hop on their WiFi. I think tomorrow I might go back to the comedy show!
'Til next time!
Tower basically controls ride motion. We provide access for the track walkers to reset the lifts, brakes, etc. to open the ride. We also help with PA, intercom, and phone checks, and monitor all persons walking on/near the track. So it's a lot of spieling, a lot of button pushing, and a lot of monitoring. Once we officially opened the ride, it was around 10:20. We went to lunch, because we had been there since 6!
After that, we went to the Training Room to read the last little bit, reviewing Tower Opener, and going over closing procedures, even though we won't be closing until Day 5 of training. We reviewed evacuation routes, and some basic procedures that we should know. After that, we did our last new position, Spur Grouper. The only difference between that and Main side Grouper is that we have to account for wheelchair groups when we are grouping, so if there is a wheelchair party, we need to leave room for them and leave some rows open when we group. That's it!
We did a ride through near the end of our shift to see where the doors are. We didn't have time to pick up another position before the end of our shift, so we went to find a manager to talk about something on our schedules. We had a meeting show up on Monday, for 2 hours. That would have been the only thing we had scheduled that day. The manager looked at the meeting, and told us it was something that could be rescheduled, so now instead of a 3 day weekend, I have a 4 day weekend! Since we started really early, I got home pretty early too. I went to Buffalo Wild Wings to pick up some dinner, then went back to Panera to hop on their WiFi. I think tomorrow I might go back to the comedy show!
'Til next time!
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Day 129: We Got To Track Walk!
Today I trained from 6:45am-3:30pm for my third day of training. Today, we opened Track Walker with another training group. Today, I would say this was frustrating. There are so many training groups at Thunder right now. All of us are around the same point in our training, so we all need to be doing the same things, but it's not reasonable to assume that that could happen. There's just not enough room for all of us to watch a trainer do something.
Because I don't fully understand the operation of the ride yet, I can't explain what happened, but it took a while for the track to be safe to walk on this morning, so we had to rush through the walkthrough to make sure we opened on time. This really didn't allow us much opportunity for explanation/clarification. It was more, "Go fast so we can finish now, and we'll explain later." We followed another training group while opening track walker. That trainer would talk to her trainees, saying things like, "well you guys saw this yesterday, so you already know what to do", meanwhile Ashley and I had no idea what she was talking about. It was tough to keep track of everything when we weren't thoroughly going over it all.
We did walkdown again, but because we got a late start, we had to walk reeeeeally slow to make sure the ride was operational and ready for the guests. We went to break after that, and did more reading in the training room. I really appreciate the reading, even though it's kind of repetitive. I feel like the training is more complete and thorough than what I got in merchandise.
Today, we also covered a lot more new positions. We went up to Tower for a few minutes and got to see what it was like. Basically, there's a bunch of video monitors, and it's our job to make sure that the ride path is clear, nobody is near the track when they shouldn't be, and that all riders are safe. You have to keep your focus on the screens at all times, and for me, I get kind of distracted easily, so I think this could be tough.
After that, we did probably my favorite position: Grouper. Grouper at our attraction is different, because we load from the back to the front. Everyone follows us in a line and we put them in their rows, so it's kind of easy for people to get in the wrong place, which is the only frustrating part. After that, we got a new assignment, probably my least favorite so far, Merge. It was just difficult because people have trouble tapping their MagicBand to the touchpoints quickly, so it's a constant game of catch-up in order to keep our ramp filled, so the grouper can do their job efficiently. I think that position will just take some time to get the hang of it.
After work, I completed the triology and watched Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Donnie Darko before going to bed at 9pm. Tomorrow, I have my earliest shift yet, 6am-2:45pm.
'Til next time!
Because I don't fully understand the operation of the ride yet, I can't explain what happened, but it took a while for the track to be safe to walk on this morning, so we had to rush through the walkthrough to make sure we opened on time. This really didn't allow us much opportunity for explanation/clarification. It was more, "Go fast so we can finish now, and we'll explain later." We followed another training group while opening track walker. That trainer would talk to her trainees, saying things like, "well you guys saw this yesterday, so you already know what to do", meanwhile Ashley and I had no idea what she was talking about. It was tough to keep track of everything when we weren't thoroughly going over it all.
We did walkdown again, but because we got a late start, we had to walk reeeeeally slow to make sure the ride was operational and ready for the guests. We went to break after that, and did more reading in the training room. I really appreciate the reading, even though it's kind of repetitive. I feel like the training is more complete and thorough than what I got in merchandise.
Today, we also covered a lot more new positions. We went up to Tower for a few minutes and got to see what it was like. Basically, there's a bunch of video monitors, and it's our job to make sure that the ride path is clear, nobody is near the track when they shouldn't be, and that all riders are safe. You have to keep your focus on the screens at all times, and for me, I get kind of distracted easily, so I think this could be tough.
After that, we did probably my favorite position: Grouper. Grouper at our attraction is different, because we load from the back to the front. Everyone follows us in a line and we put them in their rows, so it's kind of easy for people to get in the wrong place, which is the only frustrating part. After that, we got a new assignment, probably my least favorite so far, Merge. It was just difficult because people have trouble tapping their MagicBand to the touchpoints quickly, so it's a constant game of catch-up in order to keep our ramp filled, so the grouper can do their job efficiently. I think that position will just take some time to get the hang of it.
After work, I completed the triology and watched Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Donnie Darko before going to bed at 9pm. Tomorrow, I have my earliest shift yet, 6am-2:45pm.
'Til next time!
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
Day 128: Second Day of Thunder Training
Today I trained from 6:45am-3:30pm for my second day of training. We opened the queue by resetting the ropes, checking fire extinguishers, doors, gates, etc. After that was done, we went to Walkdown again.
We took our first break in the air conditioning, and then headed to the training room to read some more from the operating guide. We also learned some more positions today, like dispatch. To me, dispatch is very similar to the Unload position, except you keep your eyes on the train on the way in, instead of the way out, which is what you do at Unload. We also got to help with wheelchair assist. Basically, when we run full capacity for trains, the trains alternate stations, so if the wheelchair can only load from our first station, it will return in the other station.
So we helped with running the wheelchairs back and forth between the stations, in time for the guests return. We would have helped with the Disability Access Service cards, Fastpass+, etc. (the normal duties of the position) but we were so backed up, it was ridiculous. After work, I went to the gym, biked and whatnot. I came back to the apartment, watched The Ringer and Back to the Future Part II. I went to bed early, because I have another early day tomorrow of training.
'Til next time!
We took our first break in the air conditioning, and then headed to the training room to read some more from the operating guide. We also learned some more positions today, like dispatch. To me, dispatch is very similar to the Unload position, except you keep your eyes on the train on the way in, instead of the way out, which is what you do at Unload. We also got to help with wheelchair assist. Basically, when we run full capacity for trains, the trains alternate stations, so if the wheelchair can only load from our first station, it will return in the other station.
So we helped with running the wheelchairs back and forth between the stations, in time for the guests return. We would have helped with the Disability Access Service cards, Fastpass+, etc. (the normal duties of the position) but we were so backed up, it was ridiculous. After work, I went to the gym, biked and whatnot. I came back to the apartment, watched The Ringer and Back to the Future Part II. I went to bed early, because I have another early day tomorrow of training.
'Til next time!
Monday, May 25, 2015
Day 127: A Day Off, Relaxing
Today I was off for the whole day. I tried going to the gym, but realized it was Memorial Day, so it was closed. Everything kind of blurs together here, especially when you're working lots. Since I had nothing to do, I went to Panera to use their Wi-fi because ours at Chatham is so horribly slow. Netflix won't even try loading- it just gives up. I went to bed early, because I have an early shift tomorrow.
'Til next time!
'Til next time!
Sunday, May 24, 2015
Day 126: Saying Goodbye To My Family
I had the day off today again, and it was my last day with my family before they headed home. We went to EPCOT, but didn't really have an agenda. We went on Spaceship Earth, The Seas, and saw Ellen's Energy Adventure of all rides. We mainly wanted to see Bill Nye. We ate lunch at the Electric Umbrella before heading out.
I drove the family to the airport, and it was really sad. On my way home, I went to Cast Connection, then headed back to my apartment. I have tomorrow off, which is awesome because I've been going pretty hard the last week or two without much of a break.
'Til next time!
I drove the family to the airport, and it was really sad. On my way home, I went to Cast Connection, then headed back to my apartment. I have tomorrow off, which is awesome because I've been going pretty hard the last week or two without much of a break.
'Til next time!
Saturday, May 23, 2015
Day 125: I Saw A Movie Today, Guess Which One?
I had today off, so I got to spend the whole day with my family! We went to Animal Kingdom in the morning. We did Expedition Everest, and ate lunch at the Quick-Service location with the best name, Restaurantosaurus.
Me and my mom saw Finding Nemo the Musical while my sister and her boyfriend rode Kali River Rapids. We met up to see Festival of the Lion King, which never gets old. The tumble monkeys were my family's favorite part, just like me. It was getting kind of crowded at Animal Kingdom, so we decided to head back.
I wanted to go to Downtown Disney, so we ended up heading to the theater to see any guesses, Pitch Perfect again. But this time, we went to the dine-in theater. I had never been to one of those theaters, so that was pretty neat.
We also went to Goofy's to get some rice krispy treats and marshmallows. I stopped by World of Disney to get an Alex and Ani bracelet, and my mom found some gifts for people back home. My family leaves tomorrow, but we're heading to EPCOT before then!
'Til next time!
Me and my mom saw Finding Nemo the Musical while my sister and her boyfriend rode Kali River Rapids. We met up to see Festival of the Lion King, which never gets old. The tumble monkeys were my family's favorite part, just like me. It was getting kind of crowded at Animal Kingdom, so we decided to head back.
I wanted to go to Downtown Disney, so we ended up heading to the theater to see any guesses, Pitch Perfect again. But this time, we went to the dine-in theater. I had never been to one of those theaters, so that was pretty neat.
We also went to Goofy's to get some rice krispy treats and marshmallows. I stopped by World of Disney to get an Alex and Ani bracelet, and my mom found some gifts for people back home. My family leaves tomorrow, but we're heading to EPCOT before then!
'Til next time!
Friday, May 22, 2015
Day 124: My First Comedy Show!
Today I had my first strollers shift from 11am-5pm. Today was also the 24 Hour Day at Magic Kingdom. Because we were open for an entire day, there were 2 day parades and 2 night parades. My shift crossed over both day parades, so those of us on strollers also did PAC (Parade Audience Control) during the shift.
We got there at 11, and set up for the first Festival of Fantasy parade at noon. We were on the River Walk, directing traffic into Frontierland, and guiding guests to the other lands. Once the parade started and people couldn't cross over the parade route, more and more people came down towards Thunder and Splash. After the parade, we took down the stanchions, and took a break then went to do strollers.
I was doing strollers at Country Bear Jamboree. It was kind of nice, because I was in the middle of the action. I got a lot of questions from guests, took some pictures for them, it was pretty cool. Then we basically repeated what we did before, we set up and tore down for the parade, but this time I was out in the direct sun guiding traffic. Luckily it wasn't that long.
After my shift ended at 5, I headed to the Art of Animation resort. My family and I wanted to go see a comedy show so we looked on Yelp! and found one that kind of interested us. It was in downtown near Universal, and it was really funny! It was kind of like Whose Line is it Anyway, just a bunch of improv games with a lot of audience participation. Definitely gonna go back!
'Til next time!
We got there at 11, and set up for the first Festival of Fantasy parade at noon. We were on the River Walk, directing traffic into Frontierland, and guiding guests to the other lands. Once the parade started and people couldn't cross over the parade route, more and more people came down towards Thunder and Splash. After the parade, we took down the stanchions, and took a break then went to do strollers.
I was doing strollers at Country Bear Jamboree. It was kind of nice, because I was in the middle of the action. I got a lot of questions from guests, took some pictures for them, it was pretty cool. Then we basically repeated what we did before, we set up and tore down for the parade, but this time I was out in the direct sun guiding traffic. Luckily it wasn't that long.
After my shift ended at 5, I headed to the Art of Animation resort. My family and I wanted to go see a comedy show so we looked on Yelp! and found one that kind of interested us. It was in downtown near Universal, and it was really funny! It was kind of like Whose Line is it Anyway, just a bunch of improv games with a lot of audience participation. Definitely gonna go back!
'Til next time!
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Day 123: Magic Kingdom, From Open to Close
Today was my first day of On the Job Training from 6:45am-3:30pm. I have training with a fellow CP, Ashley. Matthew is our trainer for most of our training, which I prefer over having multiple trainers.
We started by moving the trains out of storage with some other trainees. The track crosses over the Walt Disney World Railroad track so we have to wait for the all-clear to move them around. Once we sent them through, it was almost time for the walk-down. The walk-down is something we do to prevent guests from running through the park. We meet them in front of Frontierland, and we 'mosey', we don't walk or run towards the attractions.
After that, we went to a break room to do some reading. Basically we re-read what we did during the storage portion, and read some more about basic operations which probably won't make complete sense until we do it. We rode Thunder to learn where the lifts and safety brakes are, then we took our break in the Mouseketeria again.
We went into rotation for a little bit to learn some positions. We did greeter, which consisted of checking heights and making sure that all children were accompanied by adults. We also answered a lot of questions. It was super hot today. The heat index was 115! We drank lots of water and tried to stay indoors most of the day if we could.
The rain started coming down when we got bumped to our next assignment. We went up to Tower and waited for the rain to pick up, and soon we went 101 (downtime) and watched them close down the ride for rain. We keep the trains moving but no one can ride on them, which makes it easier to restart once we're clear for weather. We went back up in about half an hour. We stood near wheelchairs for a few minutes, then went to the Unload position. We got to push some buttons, check restraints, and get people in and out the ride efficiently.
After my shift was over, I returned to Magic Kingdom for the night with my family. We went on Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain. To kill time before our Space Mountain fastpass and before conquering all 3 mountains, we went to Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor, where I got my joke read again. We went to the Confectionary and got a caramel apple to snack on during the Electrical Parade. We stayed to watch Wishes at my favorite spot, right between Casey's and the Plaza. I went back to my apartment because I work tomorrow, but my family stayed behind to ride the Mine Train.
'Til next time!
We started by moving the trains out of storage with some other trainees. The track crosses over the Walt Disney World Railroad track so we have to wait for the all-clear to move them around. Once we sent them through, it was almost time for the walk-down. The walk-down is something we do to prevent guests from running through the park. We meet them in front of Frontierland, and we 'mosey', we don't walk or run towards the attractions.
After that, we went to a break room to do some reading. Basically we re-read what we did during the storage portion, and read some more about basic operations which probably won't make complete sense until we do it. We rode Thunder to learn where the lifts and safety brakes are, then we took our break in the Mouseketeria again.
We went into rotation for a little bit to learn some positions. We did greeter, which consisted of checking heights and making sure that all children were accompanied by adults. We also answered a lot of questions. It was super hot today. The heat index was 115! We drank lots of water and tried to stay indoors most of the day if we could.
The rain started coming down when we got bumped to our next assignment. We went up to Tower and waited for the rain to pick up, and soon we went 101 (downtime) and watched them close down the ride for rain. We keep the trains moving but no one can ride on them, which makes it easier to restart once we're clear for weather. We went back up in about half an hour. We stood near wheelchairs for a few minutes, then went to the Unload position. We got to push some buttons, check restraints, and get people in and out the ride efficiently.
After my shift was over, I returned to Magic Kingdom for the night with my family. We went on Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, and Big Thunder Mountain. To kill time before our Space Mountain fastpass and before conquering all 3 mountains, we went to Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor, where I got my joke read again. We went to the Confectionary and got a caramel apple to snack on during the Electrical Parade. We stayed to watch Wishes at my favorite spot, right between Casey's and the Plaza. I went back to my apartment because I work tomorrow, but my family stayed behind to ride the Mine Train.
'Til next time!
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
Day 122: Frontierland, Here I Come!
Today, I had "For Our Guests" from 7:30am-4pm. We had a big group, and I know this because everyone was commenting on how many people we had. There were 2 facilitators, one from Thunder, and one from Splash. We had a total of 9 trainees, 3 from Thunder, 6 from Splash. We walked through Frontierland a lot, mainly familiarizing ourselves with our land and what's in it. We started with a river ride on the rafts near Tom Sawyer Island. We walked through the whole Island, exploring all the tunnels and stairways. There's a training room on the Island, so we sat through a PowerPoint about Disability Access Services, Fastpass+, and a few other smaller things.
Throughout the day, we walked through the backstage areas of Frontierland, because these are the break rooms and the doors that we will have to use a lot. We rode Splash Mountain twice because it was really hot, rode Thunder once, and saw the Country Bears again. I actually saw CJ outside Country Bears while he was visiting Magic Kingdom with his family. We saw Festival of Fantasy one more time, but we were also responsible for keeping guests moving in the walkways, and not stopping to watch the parade or take pictures.
My boots that are part of my costume are really heavy, so it was super nice to get to take them off. My family flew in today, and they took the Magical Express to the Art of Animation, where they're staying. I drove to meet them at Hollywood Studios after my shift, where we played for a few hours. We got some good fastpasses, and got to ride Toy Story, Rock n' Roller Coaster, and Tower of Terror twice because the wait was non-existent. We had dinner on Sunset, and listened to Mulch, Sweat, and Shears on the way out of the park. I work tomorrow morning, so I'm staying at my apartment, but soon I'll get to sleep at the resort!
'Til next time!
Throughout the day, we walked through the backstage areas of Frontierland, because these are the break rooms and the doors that we will have to use a lot. We rode Splash Mountain twice because it was really hot, rode Thunder once, and saw the Country Bears again. I actually saw CJ outside Country Bears while he was visiting Magic Kingdom with his family. We saw Festival of Fantasy one more time, but we were also responsible for keeping guests moving in the walkways, and not stopping to watch the parade or take pictures.
My boots that are part of my costume are really heavy, so it was super nice to get to take them off. My family flew in today, and they took the Magical Express to the Art of Animation, where they're staying. I drove to meet them at Hollywood Studios after my shift, where we played for a few hours. We got some good fastpasses, and got to ride Toy Story, Rock n' Roller Coaster, and Tower of Terror twice because the wait was non-existent. We had dinner on Sunset, and listened to Mulch, Sweat, and Shears on the way out of the park. I work tomorrow morning, so I'm staying at my apartment, but soon I'll get to sleep at the resort!
'Til next time!
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
Day 121: Taking It Easy
Today was my second Disney University day. We were only there for a few hours this time, from 1pm-5:15pm.We did Welcome to Operations again, although it was slightly shorter than before. After that, instead of going to Welcome to Merchandise like I did last time, I went to Welcome To Attractions! One of our facilitators is a coordinator at Thunder, which is nice. It was pretty dry material, but tomorrow, I have my first day in costume!
'Til next time!
'Til next time!
Monday, May 18, 2015
Day 120: Magic Kingdom, Here I Come!
Today I officially begin my time as a Magic Kingdom Cast Member. I had Once Upon A Time... Is Now this morning, from 7:30am-4:00pm, which is the park orientation for Magic Kingdom. We did an early morning tour of the park mainly before the park opened. We got to ride Haunted Mansion as part of the tour, which was so cool!
About halfway through, we watched a training video and got split up by land. Our facilitator picked us up and took all the Frontierland Cast Members and we went to costuming right off the bat. We had lunch in the Mouseketeria. It was really weird- all the character performers were eating at a table together, in half-costume. I had heard the stories that it was kind of like Mean Girls with the 'popular' table, but I didn't think it would actually happen. It feels very high school to me.
After lunch, we did an area walk-through of Frontierland. Our group was a mix of Splash and Thunder CPs. We rode Splash Mountain (I got to see CJ when we got off the ride), Thunder Mountain, and saw the Festival of Fantasy parade. Right before we clocked out for the day, we saw the Country Bear Jamboree. I also got my new, updated training schedule today, which goes for the next two weeks.
About halfway through, we watched a training video and got split up by land. Our facilitator picked us up and took all the Frontierland Cast Members and we went to costuming right off the bat. We had lunch in the Mouseketeria. It was really weird- all the character performers were eating at a table together, in half-costume. I had heard the stories that it was kind of like Mean Girls with the 'popular' table, but I didn't think it would actually happen. It feels very high school to me.
After lunch, we did an area walk-through of Frontierland. Our group was a mix of Splash and Thunder CPs. We rode Splash Mountain (I got to see CJ when we got off the ride), Thunder Mountain, and saw the Festival of Fantasy parade. Right before we clocked out for the day, we saw the Country Bear Jamboree. I also got my new, updated training schedule today, which goes for the next two weeks.
Tomorrow, I have more Disney University training.
'Til next time!
Sunday, May 17, 2015
Day 119: A Fresh Start
Today was check-in for move in day. We had to meet at the Chatham classrooms to get our apartment assignments. I moved into Chatham with Tess, actually into the apartment right across the hall from Tess' original apartment. We have 2 bedrooms and 6 people so bunk beds in each room. That kinda stinks, but other than that, the arrangement isn't that bad. We have one empty bed in our apartment at the moment, but in the other room. I like my other roommates, although I haven't really gotten to talk to them much so far.
We are on the second floor though, so moving boxes was rough. I ended up unpacking most of my stuff but repacking what I won't use, and keeping a few boxes packed in my car because I'll only be in this apartment for two and a half months. We got mostly unpacked, and went to see Pitch Perfect 2 again. It was amazing, again. One of my favorite bands twenty one pilots released their new album tonight, so I listened to the iTunes preview before I went to bed. I have another early morning tomorrow, for my park orientation!
'Til next time!
We are on the second floor though, so moving boxes was rough. I ended up unpacking most of my stuff but repacking what I won't use, and keeping a few boxes packed in my car because I'll only be in this apartment for two and a half months. We got mostly unpacked, and went to see Pitch Perfect 2 again. It was amazing, again. One of my favorite bands twenty one pilots released their new album tonight, so I listened to the iTunes preview before I went to bed. I have another early morning tomorrow, for my park orientation!
'Til next time!
Saturday, May 16, 2015
Day 118: Last Shift at the Contemporary
Today, I worked my last shift at Contemporary. My shift was from 6:30am-3:00pm. I picked up Lorraine from Patterson bright (actually not bright, because it was still dark, but it's an expression, ok?) and early because we both had the same shift, and drove to work super early. I was on floorstock, while Lorraine floorstocked until we opened, then switched to registers.
I did my final leader meeting today with my manager Keith. He basically told me that the final evaluation just said that I successfully completed the duties of my role, but he thought that I did a really good job, and some other cast members had good things to say about me during my program so that was really nice to hear.
After the meeting, I went back on the floor. A guest approached me and told me that they were concerned about another guest they witnessed overflowing toilets downstairs and had followed him up to the fourth floor past the shops. They thought he might be missing his guardian, so they wanted someone to watch him. He was on the Skyview Bridge towards Bay Lake Tower, so I tried following him. I approached him and asked his name, if he needed any assistance. He didn't want to talk to me, and repeated that he was just going back to his room. He kept looking over his shoulder, so I couldn't really keep a close eye on him, We alerted the Bay Lake staff just in case anything happened, but it was a little bizarre.
Later, at the jewelry counter, we kept getting phone calls, but no one was on the other end. It was definitely a weird last day! Since Lorraine and I got off at the same time, we went out to Property Control, but there wasn't anything good. I came home and loaded up my car with a few boxes just to make it easier, for when I move tomorrow.
'Til next time!
I did my final leader meeting today with my manager Keith. He basically told me that the final evaluation just said that I successfully completed the duties of my role, but he thought that I did a really good job, and some other cast members had good things to say about me during my program so that was really nice to hear.
After the meeting, I went back on the floor. A guest approached me and told me that they were concerned about another guest they witnessed overflowing toilets downstairs and had followed him up to the fourth floor past the shops. They thought he might be missing his guardian, so they wanted someone to watch him. He was on the Skyview Bridge towards Bay Lake Tower, so I tried following him. I approached him and asked his name, if he needed any assistance. He didn't want to talk to me, and repeated that he was just going back to his room. He kept looking over his shoulder, so I couldn't really keep a close eye on him, We alerted the Bay Lake staff just in case anything happened, but it was a little bizarre.
Later, at the jewelry counter, we kept getting phone calls, but no one was on the other end. It was definitely a weird last day! Since Lorraine and I got off at the same time, we went out to Property Control, but there wasn't anything good. I came home and loaded up my car with a few boxes just to make it easier, for when I move tomorrow.
'Til next time!
Friday, May 15, 2015
Day 117: The Second Good-Bye
I traded my shift away today so I had the day off. I went to Magic Kingdom with Becca for her last day at Walt Disney World. We made fastpasses for all her favorites, and Tess joined us for a few rides. We did Jungle Cruise, Space Mountain, and my future attraction, Big Thunder Mountain.
Because we got a later start to the day, we didn't really have time to do a whole lot. Tess and I needed new blue ID's because ours are expiring today, so we went to Access Control at Disney University to get new ones. Becca and I went back to the apartment for a few hours, then we headed out to take her to the airport. She flew home, and went right to Disneyland, and did 2 Coasts in 1 Day. She's crazy! Saying goodbye to Becca was super tough. I've gone to school with her for 2 years, and have grown pretty close to her. We shared a room for the entire program, so it'll be weird not to see her every day. I'll definitely miss talking about Disney, and Alabama football with her. But I'm excited for her and what she ends up doing back in California!
I came back from airport, and we had no Wi-fi because Becca was the owner of the router. So to kill time, I packed up the majority of my stuff, and keeping on my Indy streak, I watched Temple of Doom before going to bed early. Tomorrow is my last shift at the Contemporary, and it's an early one.
'Til next time!
Because we got a later start to the day, we didn't really have time to do a whole lot. Tess and I needed new blue ID's because ours are expiring today, so we went to Access Control at Disney University to get new ones. Becca and I went back to the apartment for a few hours, then we headed out to take her to the airport. She flew home, and went right to Disneyland, and did 2 Coasts in 1 Day. She's crazy! Saying goodbye to Becca was super tough. I've gone to school with her for 2 years, and have grown pretty close to her. We shared a room for the entire program, so it'll be weird not to see her every day. I'll definitely miss talking about Disney, and Alabama football with her. But I'm excited for her and what she ends up doing back in California!
I came back from airport, and we had no Wi-fi because Becca was the owner of the router. So to kill time, I packed up the majority of my stuff, and keeping on my Indy streak, I watched Temple of Doom before going to bed early. Tomorrow is my last shift at the Contemporary, and it's an early one.
'Til next time!
Thursday, May 14, 2015
Day 116: The First Good-Bye
Today I worked 6:30-3:00 doing Floorstock. It was pretty slow most of the day. For the most part, I stocked Fantasia all day, and watched the registers in Market when they needed it, for breaks or whatnot.
Something pretty exciting for me was I got a Four Keys card and got put on the wall for helping a guest find their bracelet. Remember the story I was telling about the guest before Mother's Day? My manager recognized me and Ana for helping the little boy out, and put our pictures on the wall with the story. That was pretty cool! I only have one more shift left at the Contemporary! It's pretty bitter sweet. I'm really excited to move to park operations and work in Magic Kingdom, but I will definitely miss my co-workers, and doing something I'm familiar with.
When I got back from work, I watched Raiders of the Lost Ark and went grocery shopping. That might have been a mistake, since I'm moving apartments in a few days, but I've put it off for way too long, and now I have almost no food. Becca and I went to Beach Club to visit Kerry, since she was staying there with her mom. We watched Scandal, even though I had no clue what was going on, it was still fun to spend a little bit of time with my girls.
I had to say good-bye to Kerry tonight, and it was really tough. I know people say that the College Program will bring you together with people, and create friendships that will last forever, but it hurts to meet these awesome people and get to know them for only a few months, then move back to our home states. Hopefully I'll get to see these amazing girls again soon, but we will still keep in contact either way!
'Til next time!
Something pretty exciting for me was I got a Four Keys card and got put on the wall for helping a guest find their bracelet. Remember the story I was telling about the guest before Mother's Day? My manager recognized me and Ana for helping the little boy out, and put our pictures on the wall with the story. That was pretty cool! I only have one more shift left at the Contemporary! It's pretty bitter sweet. I'm really excited to move to park operations and work in Magic Kingdom, but I will definitely miss my co-workers, and doing something I'm familiar with.
When I got back from work, I watched Raiders of the Lost Ark and went grocery shopping. That might have been a mistake, since I'm moving apartments in a few days, but I've put it off for way too long, and now I have almost no food. Becca and I went to Beach Club to visit Kerry, since she was staying there with her mom. We watched Scandal, even though I had no clue what was going on, it was still fun to spend a little bit of time with my girls.
I had to say good-bye to Kerry tonight, and it was really tough. I know people say that the College Program will bring you together with people, and create friendships that will last forever, but it hurts to meet these awesome people and get to know them for only a few months, then move back to our home states. Hopefully I'll get to see these amazing girls again soon, but we will still keep in contact either way!
'Til next time!
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Day 115: Universal, and Even Better.... Culver's!
I had today off, so I went to Universal with CJ and his boyfriend, Chris! Kriss was going with her brother and his girlfriend anyways, so I offered them a ride since I was meeting CJ and Chris there. I picked them up at All Star Sports, and we headed over to the Universal side of the park. We went on Mummy before CJ and Chris made it to the park. I met up with them, and rode Mummy again because why not, and then we saw the Horror Make-Up Show for at least the tenth time this program.
Chris had to go to work, so we went to Islands of Adventure to ride SpiderMan before he left. After that, CJ and I rode the Jurassic Park water ride because it was really hot out! We headed back to Universal, went on the Simpsons and my favorite, Men in Black. After that, we couldn't wait to get out of the heat, so we went to Culvers!! It was awesome, CJ hadn't been to Culver's since before he started on the program. Of course, I got it when I went home just a few days ago, but it was still delicious.
We talked about what we want to do after graduating from school while we were waiting for our food. CJ mentioned working at Cedar Point, so that's something I should look into a little bit for next summer. They might have something that I could do seasonally right after I graduate, who knows? The weather in Ohio might suit me better than Florida.
'Til next time!
Chris had to go to work, so we went to Islands of Adventure to ride SpiderMan before he left. After that, CJ and I rode the Jurassic Park water ride because it was really hot out! We headed back to Universal, went on the Simpsons and my favorite, Men in Black. After that, we couldn't wait to get out of the heat, so we went to Culvers!! It was awesome, CJ hadn't been to Culver's since before he started on the program. Of course, I got it when I went home just a few days ago, but it was still delicious.
We talked about what we want to do after graduating from school while we were waiting for our food. CJ mentioned working at Cedar Point, so that's something I should look into a little bit for next summer. They might have something that I could do seasonally right after I graduate, who knows? The weather in Ohio might suit me better than Florida.
'Til next time!
Tuesday, May 12, 2015
Day 114: Impromptu Trip to Magic Kingdom
Today was the first day off of my weekend, so of course I watched Netflix most of the day. I got a call from CJ who asked if I wanted to join him at Magic Kingdom, and of course I said yes. I hadn't seen Tess in a while, so I asked her if she wanted to meet up with us. She agreed that she would join us later in the night. CJ and I went on a few coasters, and Jungle Cruise because it had just reopened from refurbishment. It was excellent, as usual.
We watched the Main Street Electrical Parade from a table outside Casey's, then after the parade was over, we moved into the Hub to see Celebrate the Magic and Wishes! which is when Tess joined us. It was awesome except someone behind us was using the flash on their phone to record the whole show. That was super rude and annoying. I never understand why people do that. I get wanting to record the show if it's something you don't get to see that often, but the flash helps exactly 0, and it's really distracting to everyone in front of you! Rant over.
'Til next time!
We watched the Main Street Electrical Parade from a table outside Casey's, then after the parade was over, we moved into the Hub to see Celebrate the Magic and Wishes! which is when Tess joined us. It was awesome except someone behind us was using the flash on their phone to record the whole show. That was super rude and annoying. I never understand why people do that. I get wanting to record the show if it's something you don't get to see that often, but the flash helps exactly 0, and it's really distracting to everyone in front of you! Rant over.
'Til next time!
Sunday, May 10, 2015
Day 112: Another Day in Fantasia
Today I worked 3:30pm-midnight in Fantasia. It was Mother's Day, so it was kinda busy. There were a lot of ship-outs so it was a good thing I wasn't stocking tonight or I would have had a tough time moving all those packages to the docks. We also sold lots of magic bands tonight. One thing that was supposed to happen during my training was me becoming authorized to activate a Magic Band.
However, none of the new CPs were authorized, nor were a good chunk of the other cast members at our location. So any time someone purchased a magic band, it was an interesting challenge to find someone who could help us out. Apparently, while I was on break, someone came in and purchased 20 magic bands, which all had to be activated and set to "link later". Two cast members and our manager had to log in and activate all these magic bands together.
Once it slowed down, I pulled out my favorite game, Jenga. Throughout the night, a kid might stop and pull out a block or two, but for about 30 minutes straight, I got to play Jenga with a boy named Christopher, and an EHH cast member, Rafael. We each won one game, so after Christopher won, I gave him a magical moment card for being a "Jenga Champ". It was a well-earned gift. Once we shut down our registers, I moved to BVG, to straighten for the last 40 minutes or so. We each got a leftover chocolate rose from the Mother's Day pile. After I clocked out, I went to Ale House with Lorraine and Sydnee, where we talked about Disney tattoos.
'Til next time!
However, none of the new CPs were authorized, nor were a good chunk of the other cast members at our location. So any time someone purchased a magic band, it was an interesting challenge to find someone who could help us out. Apparently, while I was on break, someone came in and purchased 20 magic bands, which all had to be activated and set to "link later". Two cast members and our manager had to log in and activate all these magic bands together.
Once it slowed down, I pulled out my favorite game, Jenga. Throughout the night, a kid might stop and pull out a block or two, but for about 30 minutes straight, I got to play Jenga with a boy named Christopher, and an EHH cast member, Rafael. We each won one game, so after Christopher won, I gave him a magical moment card for being a "Jenga Champ". It was a well-earned gift. Once we shut down our registers, I moved to BVG, to straighten for the last 40 minutes or so. We each got a leftover chocolate rose from the Mother's Day pile. After I clocked out, I went to Ale House with Lorraine and Sydnee, where we talked about Disney tattoos.
'Til next time!
Saturday, May 9, 2015
Day 112: Trying to Help Make the Magic
Today I worked 3pm-11:30pm. I was at the jewelry counter for most of my shift. Today was the day before Mother's Day, so we were pretty busy, especially at the jewelry counter. I was scheduled to break out Sydnee who was doing gift wrap for Mother's Day so I had to do that too. She gave me a brief crash course on how to properly wrap a box, and I actually started to pick up on it quickly.
It got kind of busy while I was trying to cover for Sydnee and when it came time for her second break, she was staying behind to help finish up a box while I started on a new one, so we were both at the table. A kid came up to us looking distressed and was looking under the tablecloth and near our table for something. I asked him if I could help with anything, and he said that we had wrapped a box for his mom, but when they got back to their hotel room, there was a bracelet missing. I ran to my manager and asked if I could do a guest recovery, and she said it was ok. So I walked with the child to our charm bracelet station and we started making a new bracelet together. Another coworker of mine, Ana, came over and asked if he had lost something. She pulled out the bracelet from behind her back and he was so happy! It turns out he forgot it at the register. So we rewrapped it for him, and he was off, good as new.
After closing, I came home and got my new work schedule, which had my first week of training on it. I'll be extending to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad!! Woo hoo! I'm so excited to be a Thundercat, even though training looks like a lot of early morning shifts!
'Til next time!
It got kind of busy while I was trying to cover for Sydnee and when it came time for her second break, she was staying behind to help finish up a box while I started on a new one, so we were both at the table. A kid came up to us looking distressed and was looking under the tablecloth and near our table for something. I asked him if I could help with anything, and he said that we had wrapped a box for his mom, but when they got back to their hotel room, there was a bracelet missing. I ran to my manager and asked if I could do a guest recovery, and she said it was ok. So I walked with the child to our charm bracelet station and we started making a new bracelet together. Another coworker of mine, Ana, came over and asked if he had lost something. She pulled out the bracelet from behind her back and he was so happy! It turns out he forgot it at the register. So we rewrapped it for him, and he was off, good as new.
After closing, I came home and got my new work schedule, which had my first week of training on it. I'll be extending to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad!! Woo hoo! I'm so excited to be a Thundercat, even though training looks like a lot of early morning shifts!
'Til next time!
Friday, May 8, 2015
Day 111: Only A Few More Days
Today I worked 3:30-midnight. I was scheduled to work in market, and I was with Sydnee! It was really slow at first, and because we had no callouts from market, I eventually moved to market stock, and Sydnee moved to Fantasia. It kinda sucked even though market stock is my favorite position, because it would be pretty busy in the market, but because I was back in the stockroom, no one would grab me to help on register.
After closing, until midnight, my manager pulled me to the candy stockroom to help pre-wrap some display boxes for Mothers Day, which is in two days. We would be offering gift wrap and roses tomorrow and on Mother's Day for anyone who wanted it! He asked me to help because I was trained for Easter baskets- which made no sense to me. I can arrange this basket, but that doesn't mean that I can wrap boxes (here's a secret: I suck at wrapping boxes). So Lorraine came and helped out, and while they didn't look absolutely amazing, they looked pretty good.
'Til next time!
After closing, until midnight, my manager pulled me to the candy stockroom to help pre-wrap some display boxes for Mothers Day, which is in two days. We would be offering gift wrap and roses tomorrow and on Mother's Day for anyone who wanted it! He asked me to help because I was trained for Easter baskets- which made no sense to me. I can arrange this basket, but that doesn't mean that I can wrap boxes (here's a secret: I suck at wrapping boxes). So Lorraine came and helped out, and while they didn't look absolutely amazing, they looked pretty good.
'Til next time!
Thursday, May 7, 2015
Day 110: Hollywood Studios and Starlit Splash
Today I had the day off! I had requested this day off back in March because that was when it was announced to be the date of Starlit Splash, the spring program party! Typhoon Lagoon would reopen at night only for CPs, with a DJ, character meets, free food, swimming, did I mention free food.
Since we had the day off, Becca, Kriss, Kerry and I went to Hollywood Studios for the last time together. We had lunch at 50s Primetime Cafe where Becca works. It was so much fun! Our waitress got into it and made Kriss sing "I'm a Little Teapot" because she had her elbows on the table. We all got dessert after our meal. I got the Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake, which according to the waitress, no one had ever finished by themselves. I took that as a challenge. I got maybe 3/4 of it down before I absolutely felt like bursting. She laughed before we headed out.
We had fastpasses for Tower of Terror, Star Tours, and Toy Story! Some of my favorites. On the way out, we decided to have our graduation ears embroidered. They all say our last name and underneath it, "DCP 2015". We took a picture in front of the Chinese Theater with our ears on, to remember that day.
We then headed to Starlit Splash. I mainly went for the free food. I don't really enjoy swimming, and the others wanted to be back at the apartment in time for Scandal, so we loaded up a plate with food, got a free tshirt, and turned around and headed back to the apartment.
'Til next time!
Since we had the day off, Becca, Kriss, Kerry and I went to Hollywood Studios for the last time together. We had lunch at 50s Primetime Cafe where Becca works. It was so much fun! Our waitress got into it and made Kriss sing "I'm a Little Teapot" because she had her elbows on the table. We all got dessert after our meal. I got the Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake, which according to the waitress, no one had ever finished by themselves. I took that as a challenge. I got maybe 3/4 of it down before I absolutely felt like bursting. She laughed before we headed out.
We had fastpasses for Tower of Terror, Star Tours, and Toy Story! Some of my favorites. On the way out, we decided to have our graduation ears embroidered. They all say our last name and underneath it, "DCP 2015". We took a picture in front of the Chinese Theater with our ears on, to remember that day.
We then headed to Starlit Splash. I mainly went for the free food. I don't really enjoy swimming, and the others wanted to be back at the apartment in time for Scandal, so we loaded up a plate with food, got a free tshirt, and turned around and headed back to the apartment.
'Til next time!
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Day 109: Graduation Time!
Today we all graduated from the Disney College Program! Even though I will be here through the summer, my original program was scheduled to end in May, so I could attend the Service Celebration in May, and again in July for my extension.
The Celebration was held at Chatham Field, where the Housing events were held. We approached the field, and received our graduation ears! They are so cute, just plain black ears but with a gold tassel on them! Then we went to get our Certificate of Completion. After that, we got in line to meet Minnie and Mickey in their graduation attire. We grabbed some food and sat down at one of the tables.
All of a sudden, I see a hat bobbing through the crowd with the Alabama 'A' on it. On instinct, I look at Becca, and we both know who it is. It's Kent Phillips! We met him at the beginning of our program, because he was instrumental in creating the College Program, and is a Bama alumnus! So we got a picture with him, and caught up for a minute.
I had to go to work at 3pm, so we headed back to the apartment so I could get ready for work. I was floorstocker today, but we had a huge staff. No one called in and we had so many people on the schedule. I asked if I could get an ER, considering most of my roommates would be leaving me soon, and I wanted to see them as much as possible. They asked me what time, and when I said 'any time is fine', my coordinator pushed for me to give her a time. I randomly said 7pm, so that's how I got an ER for 5 hours before my shift was supposed to end. My roommates wanted to go see a movie, so we decided on the new Avengers movie!
I went with Becca and Alayna to the AMC at Downtown Disney. The movie was really good, except I would randomly smell this super sweet smell drifting towards me. During the credits, I could see a puff of smoke coming from the row in front of me. Becca saw it too, and wanted to report the guy in front of us for smoking indoors.
She ran to get security while I followed the guy. Basically, she came back and told me that they said there's nothing they can do if someone is vapeing in the theater unless they see it happening themselves. They gave us free movie passes for our inconvenience, and since Alayna doesn't have an AMC near her, I received her ticket. Yay for free movie passes!
'Til next time!
The Celebration was held at Chatham Field, where the Housing events were held. We approached the field, and received our graduation ears! They are so cute, just plain black ears but with a gold tassel on them! Then we went to get our Certificate of Completion. After that, we got in line to meet Minnie and Mickey in their graduation attire. We grabbed some food and sat down at one of the tables.
All of a sudden, I see a hat bobbing through the crowd with the Alabama 'A' on it. On instinct, I look at Becca, and we both know who it is. It's Kent Phillips! We met him at the beginning of our program, because he was instrumental in creating the College Program, and is a Bama alumnus! So we got a picture with him, and caught up for a minute.
I had to go to work at 3pm, so we headed back to the apartment so I could get ready for work. I was floorstocker today, but we had a huge staff. No one called in and we had so many people on the schedule. I asked if I could get an ER, considering most of my roommates would be leaving me soon, and I wanted to see them as much as possible. They asked me what time, and when I said 'any time is fine', my coordinator pushed for me to give her a time. I randomly said 7pm, so that's how I got an ER for 5 hours before my shift was supposed to end. My roommates wanted to go see a movie, so we decided on the new Avengers movie!
I went with Becca and Alayna to the AMC at Downtown Disney. The movie was really good, except I would randomly smell this super sweet smell drifting towards me. During the credits, I could see a puff of smoke coming from the row in front of me. Becca saw it too, and wanted to report the guy in front of us for smoking indoors.
She ran to get security while I followed the guy. Basically, she came back and told me that they said there's nothing they can do if someone is vapeing in the theater unless they see it happening themselves. They gave us free movie passes for our inconvenience, and since Alayna doesn't have an AMC near her, I received her ticket. Yay for free movie passes!
'Til next time!
Tuesday, May 5, 2015
Day 108: Last Day of Class
So, as the title suggests, today was my last day of Human Resource Management. All we did was our group presentations. We had to pick a company to discuss multiple aspects of their HR policies. We picked Nike.
When I got to class, I informed my professor that one kid in our group wasn't responding to our messages and we never received his portion of the project. We covered for his part, but we just wanted the professor to know that we had to do that bit very last minute.
We presented fourth out of six groups. It went very smoothly, and I felt that we did good enough on the presentation to receive a good grade. We got out of class early because all we were doing was group presentations.
I had the rest of today off, so I just watched some Netflix and began packing up some random stuff because I'll be moving apartments soon enough.
'Til next time!
When I got to class, I informed my professor that one kid in our group wasn't responding to our messages and we never received his portion of the project. We covered for his part, but we just wanted the professor to know that we had to do that bit very last minute.
We presented fourth out of six groups. It went very smoothly, and I felt that we did good enough on the presentation to receive a good grade. We got out of class early because all we were doing was group presentations.
I had the rest of today off, so I just watched some Netflix and began packing up some random stuff because I'll be moving apartments soon enough.
'Til next time!
Monday, May 4, 2015
Day 107: The Long Road Back
Today I had to head back to Florida after a few days with my family. It was definitely a sad day. I know some people say that they were glad to go home, but were ready to get back to Orlando. Unfortunately, I don't think I'm one of those people. Going back was really hard for me. I don't get homesick a lot, I just don't like the idea of having to work in the hot summer away from my family.
At O'Hare, I stopped to get some Garrett Mix popcorn before heading over to my terminal. This is the best popcorn ever, no questions. It's a mix of caramel and cheese popcorn, but Garrett does it best, for sure. Rebecca had to work but was able to pick me up after her shift ended. I had some time after my flight landed, so I just read a little bit and munched on the delicious popcorn.
When I got back, I had to meet with my group members for a group project in my HR class. We met in the Patterson computer lab to go over all the work we had done and to combine it all. The project is due tomorrow, but one of our group members never showed up. We tried calling him and he ignored the call. I don't think he's in our group anymore. Fantastic, that means more work for us to do! We now have to cover for his work that we lost, to make sure our presentation is complete.
After our group had planned everything for tomorrow, I went to Buffalo Wild Wings with about 10 of my coworkers. A few of them are finishing their program soon, so this will be one of the last times I get to see them. It's so sad :(
Tomorrow I head back to work for about one week, then I'm switching into attractions!
'Til next time!
At O'Hare, I stopped to get some Garrett Mix popcorn before heading over to my terminal. This is the best popcorn ever, no questions. It's a mix of caramel and cheese popcorn, but Garrett does it best, for sure. Rebecca had to work but was able to pick me up after her shift ended. I had some time after my flight landed, so I just read a little bit and munched on the delicious popcorn.
When I got back, I had to meet with my group members for a group project in my HR class. We met in the Patterson computer lab to go over all the work we had done and to combine it all. The project is due tomorrow, but one of our group members never showed up. We tried calling him and he ignored the call. I don't think he's in our group anymore. Fantastic, that means more work for us to do! We now have to cover for his work that we lost, to make sure our presentation is complete.
After our group had planned everything for tomorrow, I went to Buffalo Wild Wings with about 10 of my coworkers. A few of them are finishing their program soon, so this will be one of the last times I get to see them. It's so sad :(
Tomorrow I head back to work for about one week, then I'm switching into attractions!
'Til next time!
Sunday, May 3, 2015
Day 106: A Little Rain Can't Keep Me Away
Today was kind of a busy day! This morning, I went to an old car museum with my mom, dad, and grandpa. It was super cool! They're running a promotion right now where your entry ticket will be entered into a raffle. If the Cubs win the World Series, they're auctioning off their DeLorean (in Back to the Future Part II, the Cubs win the World Series). If the Cubs don't win the World Series, they're auctioning off their prop hoverboard from the movie. They had some cool old cars, as well as cars from the movies. They had a 'real' Lightning McQueen, a Mystery Machine, Grease Lightning, and so much more.
After that, I went to see some more baseball! The team I interned for last summer, the Beloit Snappers, was playing a team that is pretty close to home for me. One of the full-timers wanted to see an away game, and knew I was in town, so we met up for the game! It was really awesome to get to catch up on things and watch some baseball.
It started raining before we got there, so the seats were all super wet. Eventually we just decided to own it and sit in the wet seats like most people. Unlike most people, we both forgot our umbrellas. Whoops. The game went into extras, so by the time I got home, I just watched a movie with my family and went to bed.
'Til next time!
After that, I went to see some more baseball! The team I interned for last summer, the Beloit Snappers, was playing a team that is pretty close to home for me. One of the full-timers wanted to see an away game, and knew I was in town, so we met up for the game! It was really awesome to get to catch up on things and watch some baseball.
It started raining before we got there, so the seats were all super wet. Eventually we just decided to own it and sit in the wet seats like most people. Unlike most people, we both forgot our umbrellas. Whoops. The game went into extras, so by the time I got home, I just watched a movie with my family and went to bed.
'Til next time!
Saturday, May 2, 2015
Day 105: The Happiest Place on Earth
You literally cannot keep me away from the sport that I love most. That would be baseball. All last summer, I interned with a minor league team and I will be home with my family for about 4 days, with one of them being spent at Wrigley Field, the happiest place on earth.
My sister was supposed to drive home from school to meet us at the game, but something came up last minute and she couldn't make it down. One less person, we were still ready to head out around 10. My mom, who works night shifts, hadn't been getting a lot of sleep so she decided against going as well. Once a group of four, now down to 2, my dad and I headed towards the North Side to cheer on the Cubbies. We headed to a bar near Wrigley that's called the Houndstooth, and it's themed to my school, the University of Alabama. We watched some college baseball there, before heading to our seats.
Unfortunately, we lost but the team is still doing better than they have in the last 5 years so I can't complain. We got home kind of late, but in time to watch the Bulls in their playoff game. It was a fun day full of sports, and tomorrow will be more of the same!
'Til next time!
My sister was supposed to drive home from school to meet us at the game, but something came up last minute and she couldn't make it down. One less person, we were still ready to head out around 10. My mom, who works night shifts, hadn't been getting a lot of sleep so she decided against going as well. Once a group of four, now down to 2, my dad and I headed towards the North Side to cheer on the Cubbies. We headed to a bar near Wrigley that's called the Houndstooth, and it's themed to my school, the University of Alabama. We watched some college baseball there, before heading to our seats.
Unfortunately, we lost but the team is still doing better than they have in the last 5 years so I can't complain. We got home kind of late, but in time to watch the Bulls in their playoff game. It was a fun day full of sports, and tomorrow will be more of the same!
'Til next time!
Friday, May 1, 2015
Day 104: Home For a Few Days!
Today I finally got to go home for a few days! Once I found out that I got my extension, pretty much the first time my family did was book a flight home for me for a few days so that I could see them! Considering I would be working in Florida through the summer, I definitely needed to see them for a few days before things got really crazy.
Rebecca drove me to the airport pretty early, around 7 our time. My flight was due to take off at 9am, so I would have time to get through security and get to my terminal without cutting it close. My flight was close to 3 hours long, and my dad was supposed to come pick me up. I called him when we were taxi-ing to the terminal so he would be able to get me. As I was walking through the airport, I called him again to let him know where I was, and he said he would see me in a few minutes when I was outside. I turned the corner, and he was waiting for me inside the airport! It was awesome to see my daddy again after months of being away.
We went home and stopped at Culver's on the way. Yum yum, it really does taste like home. I saw my doggies and their wagging tails before I even stepped foot in my house. I hung out with them for the night, and watched Interstellar with my parents before falling right asleep in my bed. My amazingly comfortable bed.
'Til next time!
Rebecca drove me to the airport pretty early, around 7 our time. My flight was due to take off at 9am, so I would have time to get through security and get to my terminal without cutting it close. My flight was close to 3 hours long, and my dad was supposed to come pick me up. I called him when we were taxi-ing to the terminal so he would be able to get me. As I was walking through the airport, I called him again to let him know where I was, and he said he would see me in a few minutes when I was outside. I turned the corner, and he was waiting for me inside the airport! It was awesome to see my daddy again after months of being away.
We went home and stopped at Culver's on the way. Yum yum, it really does taste like home. I saw my doggies and their wagging tails before I even stepped foot in my house. I hung out with them for the night, and watched Interstellar with my parents before falling right asleep in my bed. My amazingly comfortable bed.
'Til next time!
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