What Week Is It?

Holy cow, it's already been two and a half weeks since my last post?! Each day is blurring together, I hardly ever know what day of the week it is. Every day is wake up, take a bus to work, work, take a bus home, hang out with friends, sleep (optional), and repeat. Every. Day. But don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining at all - this is the life! I love work, I love my friends, and I love being here at Walt Disney World! I'm getting the opportunity to experience things that I couldn't do back home or at BYU. I can't complain!

Let's see, what's happened since my last post...

Oh! I bought a plane ticket to New York City in November! You can read more about this on my main blog HERE. I got my first new phone in years, and it just so happens to be my first ever smart phone - the iPhone 5. I went to a paint party with a bunch of friends from work, which was crazy awesome! I finally went off Disney property and took a visit to the mall, spending way more money than I should have. My Disney University class started last week! I'm taking Corporate Communications every Wednesday from 8:30am - 12:30 pm. I think I'm going to make a separate post going into detail about this course once I've gone to another class or two. I think that about sums it up. I know, it's not the most interesting blog post, but I promise that my life right now is a billion times more exciting than I'm making it sound! I can't believe September is almost over, where has the time gone?!

So far today, I woke up, took a bus to work, worked, then took a bus home. You know what that means?? Time to go hang out with friends!

Weeks 3 & 4

I've heard quite often that DCP bloggers usually stop posting after the first couple weeks of their program. That won't happen to me, I told myself. That is, until I had to work nine days in a row and on my days off, usually don't get home until o-dark-thirty in the morning. So now that I am lucky enough to have a day off and be at home with nothing to do, I figured that I'd do a bit of catching up. I don't remember every single day in detail, but I will try to cover as much as possible!

Last Tuesday, I finished my training and passed my assessment, so I "earned my ears"! I was so nervous to get into work the next day, because I wouldn't have anyone talking me through how to do everything. But I was worried for nothing, because it went great! Starting with this last day of training, I had nine days of work in a row. Holy cow! A couple of my roommates came to surprise me with a visit to Pinocchio's Village Sunday night as we were closing in the kitchen, and snapped a shot of me and a few co-workers! Another day, my co-worker CJ and I went to Wawa, which is apparently a popular gas station/convenience store on the east coast. It was great because we got slurpees at like 10am before our shift that day!

Finally, my nine day working streak was up! To celebrate, a big group of us from Pinocchio's went out to breakfast yesterday, and then hit up Blizzard Beach, which is one of the water parks in Walt Disney World. It was a ton of fun, and we all went off of Summit Plummet, a 125' vertical drop - it was awesome! Once we got home and showered, we headed to CJ's apartment to have dinner and play Cards Against Humanity. This game is pretty much the inappropriate, politically incorrect version of Apples to Apples, and it was hilarious! Today, we're all hanging out again! We're probably going someplace called the Fun Zone to go go-carting or play laser tag - either way, I'm stoked! I just hope that I can get over this cold that had just set in by tonight. Time for some throat spray, herbal tea, and pain killers - that should do the trick!

Also, last week I finished a huge project that benefits Stop CAID Now, an organization that helps children with rare autoinflammatory diseases. Click HERE to view the video!

Week 2: Hollywood Studios, Epcot & Training

Hollywood Studios on Monday!

It has been a full 40 hour work week for me, which is why I haven't blogged since Monday, but here is a recap for you all! So in the Pinocchio Village kitchen, there are several different stations that you can be assigned to throughout any given day. My training this week mostly involved learning how to work at each of these stations, which includes making salads, meatball subs, prepping pizzas, cooking pizzas, dish washing, cooking macaroni and sauces, and assembling orders. Each task is pretty simple, but having to learn all the different tasks is the hard part. Tuesday and Wednesday were my first two days of training in the kitchen - the people I work with are super friendly and entertaining, so I am thoroughly enjoying it so far! During training, we also get to try out most of the items on the menu. So far, I am a big fan of the macaroni and cheese and the mango gelato. Yummy!



Ashley and I at Club Cool in Epcot.

Yesterday I had the day off, so a group of us hit up Epcot. I rode Test Track twice, and it was amazing! I think it's my favorite attraction so far. We also went on Soarin' Over California, which was a lot more fun than I initially imagined - it is now in my top three, along side Space Mountain! Afterwards, we headed over to Germany (for those of you who don't know, Epcot is filled with tons of different areas that are based off of certain countries) and had a bite to eat in the Biergarten all-you-can-eat buffet! I had never had German food before, so I was a bit anxious about what I was getting myself into, but it was delicious! There was loads of meat and potatoes, and the desert was fantastic. Not to mention, a traditional German band played music as we ate! Once stuffed to our eating capacities, we headed out to complete Agent P's World Showcase Adventure. Basically, your group gets a cell phone that gives you clues as to where to go to complete certain tasks, all in an effort to save the world. And the entire game is based on Phineas and Ferb. Ideally, you go through each country, but it took us forever just to get through the UK, so we stopped after that and headed to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner. We then squeezed in a late night Walmart run before heading home, which was so much fun in and of itself. I have to say, this was probably the most entertaining night I've had here thus far!


Today was my first non-training shift, which is odd considering I haven't finished my training yet... But it went well! I spent four hours mixing different kinds of cheese for the pizzas, then another three hours washing dishes. Yay (imagine me saying this feebly, with a dash of sarcasm). And right now, I'm ditching a pool party to stay here and blog in my comfy bed, because I am too tired to move even an inch. Tomorrow (Saturday) is day three of training, then I have Sunday and Monday off. Whoo hoo!!

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Day 6-8: Disney University & Training

On Saturday, I had my food and beverage class in Disney University (DU). For those of you who don't know, DU is the building where collegiate classes and seminars take place, as well as lecture-based training classes. My class didn't start until 1pm, so I was able to sleep in, which is always nice! But despite this, I was still struggling to not fall asleep as they showed us video after video about food handling, storage, and safety. After three hours of this, we went into the computer lab to complete a couple more learning modules and register for the Hub. In a nutshell, the Hub is the online information center for Disney Cast Members. Then we all got our shoes for our work locations! Hideous as they are, I am just grateful that Food & Beverage (F&B) doesn't have to pay for them like everyone else. Once we were done, I hopped on a bus, headed to Wal-Mart to pick up some food, then headed home to sleep. However, my roommates were going out to the parks, so I thought I would join them, despite the fact that I had to get up early the next day for training! We hit up Magic Kingdom, rode a few of the attractions (they were less busy since it was about 10pm and everyone was watching the firework show), and then browsed through the shops. Finally, after waiting an hour for the bus, we made it home at about 2am Sunday morning. It's safe to say that I didn't prioritize very well that night.

Yesterday, I woke up at 4:30am in order to get ready and catch my bus at 5:30. Work didn't start until 7:15, but it takes an hour to get to Magic Kingdom, and you never know when a bus is going to be late! After our leaders introduced themselves, we split into groups and got a 3 hour tour of the Magic Kingdom. Once we were nearing the end of the tour, they took us all through the fast pass line to the Haunted Mansion. Sweet! Now I can say that I got paid to go on an attraction! After this, we split up based on work role. I went with the F&B cast members to receive our training schedules, get our costumes, and complete a couple more computer-based training modules. I found out that I will first be trained in the kitchen for a few weeks before being cross-trained to work out front. That's nice because I can pick up a wider range of shifts in other locations and always work indoors in the air conditioning. My costume is super plain (black pants and a white shirt), but it's only for a few weeks! However, I have no idea what I'll be doing in the kitchen. Dishes? Cleaning? Cooking? I mean, we do have pb&j sandwiches on our menu, so that I can do!

Once I got home, I crashed at about 6pm, woke up this morning, and began to blog since I have the day off. I think I'm going to hang out here for awhile and hit up the parks in the late afternoon. Hollywood Studios, perhaps?

Day 3-5: Kitchen Sink, Traditions, & Magic Kingdom

I'm starting to understand how people begin to stop blogging once they enter the DCP. I haven't even started training and I barely have time to blog, but I am determined to make time! We all had the day off on Wednesday, so two of my roommates and I caught the bus to the monorail. From there, we visited each of the Disney resorts that the monorail stops at: Polynesian, Grand Floridian, and Contemporary. I loved the Polynesian because I truly felt like I was on a Hawaiian vacation! Not to mention the Lilo and Stitch music that played throughout the hotel! Next up was the Grand Floridian. Right from the start, it was as if I was walking through the doors and onto the Titanic - I truly felt like a million bucks! Finally, we hit up the Contemporary for lunch. The coolest part about this resort is that the monorail drops you off inside the resort!

Thursday was Traditions, which is basically an orientation of the Disney company. We watched some informational videos, got a short tour of the tunnels under Magic Kingdom, and received our nametags. Not to mention the fact that Mickey made a surprise visit to our class - it was amazing! And because this was our official first day of work, we received our cast member IDs that get us into the parks for free! Later that night, we met up with a group of friends and headed to Beaches & Cream in the Beach Club resort to take on the world famous kitchen sink! It was a huge bowl filled with eight scoops of ice cream, all the toppings, and an entire can of whipped cream! We ordered three kitchen sinks between the 18 of us, and finished them all in under 15 minutes! Then we walked around the boardwalk before catching the bus and heading home.

Today, we had the day off again and took advantage of our free admission into the parks! I didn't get to the park until a bit after noon, but I was able to ride the Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain, Jungle Cruise, and Pirates of the Caribbean. Roller coasters are definitely my thing, so Space Mountain is currently my favorite attraction. I was also able to experience the infamous jumbo turkey leg and pineapple dole whip. I wasn't able to finish the turkey leg, but I'm sure the caloric intake was still ridiculous. After I got home and took a nap, we headed over to the Patterson pool to meet up with some friends. Unfortunately, the swimming was cut short as the lightning and thunder started up after about an hour, but we were still able to hang out for another hour before going home.

And tomorrow is my first day of training, so wish me luck!

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