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So, I realize that its been almost a week since I last blogged, and I apologize! It isn't so much that I've been busy, but more that I'm lazy/we've been having internet issues. I'm actually standing in my kitchen right now, making lunch, and doing this blog with my lovely ethernet cord connected to my computer.
So, Monday was spent going to Animal Kingdom with all three of my roommates. However, once we arrived, we split up and Isabelle and I ended up spending the day together. We had a lot of fun. I rode Everest for the first time!! It was awesome, even if I didn't see the Yeti.
After we rode Everest, we wandered around for a little, and realized it was entirely too hot. Plus, we were starving, so we decided to get lunch. We were going to get something quick service, but it was over $10 for an entree, so instead we went to Yak & Yeti, which was also air conditioned(!). We had a lovely window seat, with a view of a bunch of trees.
Isabelle got some broccoli and beef thing, and I got chicken lo mein. It was actually really good, and the atmosphere is really cool inside the restaurant.
After we ate lunch, I was determined to do some shopping. So, I ended up getting my first Vinylmation!!!! It's a Marie one too! I was extremely excited.
After I was done shopping, we headed over to Epcot for about an hour, because Isabelle had to work that evening. That night, Michelle and I got Chick-Fil-A and hung out at the Vista bus stop for entirely too long. Pretty exciting, right?
Tuesday was my first day of actually being at my resort, and it was my orientation class. It was a relatively large group (for the resort) of about 16 people. There were all kinds of people, from management to management interns, but I was the only CP. We had a lot of fun, spending most of the day sitting in a conference room drinking complimentary Coke beverages. We also toured the resort, both on stage and backstage. I learned a lot of interesting things, and even saw our "train museum". The story behind the Vacation Club villas at my resort is pretty awesome as well. I also got my costume that day, and it is NOT attractive. I mean, not many costumes are (except ODV on Main Street at DLR), but this one is probably the worst. Morgan calls me Lumberjack Kayla whenever she sees me in costume. That night, Isabelle and I went to MK, and did all kinds of fun things. Scariest thing ever though was when Big Thunder stopped on the last incline. I thought for sure that we were going to die. It was so scary, but luckily we survived. I still have no idea what happened.
Wednesday was another day of E-Learning, and again, I finished about 3 hours early. I got a tour of my work location, met one of my managers, and learned a lot about my trainer. She was super nice, and loved to talk (just like me). We spent a lot of time just chit chatting, which was fun. I was the only person in Food and Beverage from my orientation group, so there was no one else training with her. Once my day was over, I waiting for the bus for over an hour, and it never came. However, it was supposed to have come twice in that hour. I was literally in tears because I just wanted to go home. One of the bus drivers, who happened to have taken his lunch right as I started waiting, saw me still waiting when his lunch was over, and was nice enough to take me to TTC. That situation was just more of an incentive for me to get a car.
Thursday was my first actual day of OTJ training, and I was working the salad station. Basically, I spent the night making salads and sandwiches. It was really fun, and my trainer was nice, which is always a good thing. At the end of the night, my manager told me that she thought I did an awesome job talking to the guests, and then made an example out of me, which made me feel really good. Especially considering the fact that I ultimately want to end up at Guest Relations.
Yesterday (Friday) I trained on the grill, which I'm definitely not a fan of. There are a lot of loud beeping noises, and when I mentioned it to my manager, she informed me that they never received my medical paperwork, so that was fun. The grill was definitely exhausting, but my trainer last night was hilarious. He was dancing around, and kept telling me how awesome I was doing. It wasn't too terrible, but the beeping was definitely freaking me out.
Today, I think I'm training in the dining room, which sounds like fun to me. Hopefully it is! Right now though, I need to get all my stuff together so I can catch the bus. My next day off is Monday, so I should have an update then or Tuesday. Oh, and I'm going to character auditions on Tuesday! I'll let you all know how that goes. They're for Vidia, the newest of Tinkerbell's friends.
So, I thought yesterday wasn't going to be very eventful, so I was going to wait until today to blog. However, I was horribly mistaken. Let me recap for you all:
Saturday
My morning was spent sitting around, waiting for Karl to be ready to go, so I could go get my coffee machine and mattress pad. Finally, at like 3:30, he was ready to go, and picked me up. After dealing with some serious hassles at JCP, I finally got my things, and we came back to Chatham. By that time, Isabelle was home, so we decided to head to Hollywood Studios for the evening. When we left, it was ridiculously hot and sunny outside. We got to HS, and made a beeline for Rock-n-Roller Coaster's single riders line. Ironically, we ended up sitting together anyways (I love when that happens). Afterwards, we realized how incredibly hungry we were, so we went to find some food. Isabelle has never had a Disney corn dog, so I was on a mission for her to try one. Of course, the only place to find them is in the back corner of the park. So, we get all the way there, and the place is closed! Then, to top it off, it starts pouring! We figured it would quickly pass, but we were horribly mistake. We were near the umbrella from Singing in the Rain, so we hid under it for a minute or so.
After we realized that wasn't going to work, we booked it for the merch cart nearby, which had cover! The guy working the place was actually on the CP, and from Puerto Rico. He was super funny, and we hung out with him and chit chatted for like an hour. During this time, lightening was striking the building we were at, and it was SUPER loud. I didn't like it one bit. After the hour passed, we realized that we REALLY needed to eat, so we set out to find some food. Everywhere we went was either closed or super busy, so instead we ended up going on Star Tours. Mind you, we are completely drenched by this time. After Star Tours, we went to Min and Bill's Dockside Diner, and got Frankfurters in Pretzel Rolls, which were definitely interesting. After we finally ate, we walked onto the Great Movie Ride, and had a guide that didn't seem to like us. We realized once we were done there, that we should probably head home. By the time we walked to the bus, and actually got on it, we were so wet it didn't even matter anymore. However, as soon as we got home, I took a shower and went straight to bed. This rain is super exhausting.
Today (Sunday)
Today was spent at the Magic Kingdom with Michelle and Morgan. We had a ton of fun, and they got awesome first visit buttons. Of course, my morning started off with me meeting my new roommates: centipedes. Yuck. I took a picture of one (there were five), ran down to housing, and asked what they were, if they were poisonous, and how to get rid of them. They are SO gross!!!! Luckily, the bug people are coming tomorrow to spray. I do not like being in my room now.
On with my story though! So, today started with a lovely boat ride from TTC to MK, and it was SO pretty.
Then, we got home, and hopped on another bus to Wal-Mart. That was an adventure in itself. I made new friends, so that was good! Talking to random people is pretty fun. But now, its almost four, and I'm exhausted! Tomorrow I think Morgan and I (and possibly Isabelle) are going to hit the parks!
So, I ended my post with us hopping on a bus to Casting, and that's where I'll start.
Day 1
Once we got to Casting, we found out our work locations, and stood in a lot of lines. I'm going to be working at Roaring Fork at the Wilderness Lodge. I've never been there, but about four different people that I encountered at Casting said it's their favorite resort. I'm pretty excited to be in a resort dedicated to the Pacific Northwest though, even if it looks nothing like Washington. Casting took a few hours, although I'm not exactly sure how long. It felt like it wasn't very long to me, but some people told me that we were there for over 3 hours. I guess I was just having fun! During our time at Casting, I met some awesome guys that asked me if I wanted to get lunch with them after we were done. Of course I said yes, I was starving! I had packed snacks, and then taken them out of my purse right before Casting! So, we went to Olive Garden for lunch, but first I helped them unpack their cars. They live in Vista, and even though the apartment isn't very nice, their roommates were all pretty cool. We also went to JCPenneys and Starbucks (the last time I had one!) and ran some other errands. After I got home, Karl and I went to Costco (YAY!) and got dinner at a place called Crispers. It's basically Panera, only not as good. It started to rain while we were eating dinner, and then the thunder and lightening started. It was terrifying. I don't think I'll ever get used to that. Rain I can handle, super loud thunder and REALLY close lightening, not so much. We also went to Dollar General, to get some hangers. It was in an incredibly sketchy area, but I survived. Then, I came home and went to bed. I was so exhausted, and I still am today.
Day 2
Unlike all the other groups, we didn't have our housing meeting until day 2. It really wasn't bad, just making sure everyone understands the rules and everything. I was used in a lovely example with my roommate about getting kicked out if you threaten someone. It was incredibly ironic, considering the example consisted of her eating my food, and me blowing up at her. It was pretty funny, and we were laughing pretty hard. After the housing meeting, the boys and I went to JCPenneys again (Freddy needed to return some things), Whole Foods, and Wal Mart. While we were in Wal Mart, I heard some really loud thunder, and called my mom because I was so freaked out. Then, Isabelle and I went to the pool party, which wasn't very fun. Although, I did get free pizza! After being at the pool party for about 45 minutes, we decided to head to Downtown Disney and check it out. We wandered around, and got our tickets for Toy Story 3. Then, the boys met up with us, and we wandered some more. I bought an apple pie carmel apple and gummy worms. They all loved them! Honestly, those are my favorite things to eat at Disney. After awhile, we decided to take the ferryboat over to Saratoga Springs, because I've never been there, and Isabelle's mom was staying there. The boat driver was not nice to us, and refused to let us board. In the end, we did get to board, but we didn't see Isabelle's mom. So, we walked around Saratoga for awhile, and then took the bus back to DTD and headed home for the night.
Day 3
Waking up at 6 to catch the bus for Traditions was not my favorite part of that day. We got to Disney University, and everyone was split into three groups. My group had Morgan, Freddy, and Karl in it, so that was good! It was different than Traditions at DLR, but it was still fun. Some things were the same, like Mickey's appearance. Everyone was so excited to get their nametags, and I really didn't. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited to be here, but I already have two of those nametags at my house. It was cute though to see the reactions of people. There were some tear jerker moments during Traditions. Talking about Walt always seems to make me tear up, although I'm not sure why. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that one man made all of this possible. So, after Traditions, Isabelle and I headed out to Epcot, and went on a few rides. I was so excited, considering I've only been there once, a long time ago. We went on Spaceship Earth, the Seas with Nemo, and Journey into Imagination with Figment. Needless to say, all three of those have changed greatly since I was last here. We also walked the World Showcase, and I got some delicious school bread in Norway. I highly suggest trying it some time! At 7, we went to dinner with Isabelle's mom at the Flying Fish. Oh. My. Gosh. That is probably my new favorite restaurant. I had their steak, and it was so delicious. I don't know what they do to it, but it was yummy. After dinner, we wandered around the Boardwalk, and then caught a taxi with Isabelle's mom to DTD, so we could catch the bus back to Chatham. One we got home, we crashed.
Day 4
Yesterday, I had to wake up at 6 again, to go to Disney University for Food and Beverage Basics. In other words, listen to some trainers talk for an hour and then do online classes. We had five classes to do, all of which I've already done. So, I was out of there by 10:30. Then I went home and took a lovely nap, considering that was day three without coffee. Once Isabelle got home, we went and found her shoes for work. She's working at the Haunted Mansion, which I'm pretty jealous of. After we got her shoes, we headed to Magic Kingdom for about an hour and a half. We went on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority, which we both love, and the Astro Orbitors. As we were boarding the Astro Orbitors, the fireworks started. I was terrified. I plugged my ears, and attempted to get out of the park as quickly as possible. As I was walking under the railroad, I saw a young boy covering his ears too! At least I'm not alone! Don't get me wrong, the fireworks are lovely, but they are entirely too loud for me. After we were done at MK, we needed to get to DTD for Toy Story 3! So, we took the bus to Wilderness, and then caught the bus from there to DTD. Of course, as soon as we got off the bus at Wilderness, the DTD bus drove off. We had to sit at Wilderness for about 20 minutes, and finally got on a bus and took an extremely long ride to DTD. Once we got there, we got to our theater (at 11:20) and the only seats available were in the very front. Yeah, we sat in the third row. I also fell asleep during the movie, which always seems to happen when I see 3D Disney movies. The movie was great, and I definitely cried at the end. Karl refused to give us a ride to Chatham, and I honestly don't blame him. So we had to wait forever and a day to catch an extremely packed bus home. Once we finally got home though, at 3:15 (!), Isabelle and I both fell asleep immediately.
Day 5
So, that brings us to today, which has been incredibly uneventful. I woke up at eleven, watched a bunch of HIMYM, and tidied up my room a little. Oh, and spent a few hours writing all of this. I really wanted to go to the parks, but everyone I know either didn't want to go or had training. Maybe tomorrow though. Karl says he's going to take me to JCP tomorrow, so I can pick up my coffee maker and mattress pad. I'm so so so excited to get my coffee maker! It's only 5:15, but I'm really tired still. Even though I woke up at eleven, that was still only about eight hours of sleep. I have a lot of catching up to do, sleep wise. If you guys have any questions for me, feel free to ask. I don't even have my resort orientation until Tuesday, so the next few says will probably be dull.
I didn't forget about all of you! I'm just super exhausted, and want to go to bed. However, I have Friday - Monday off, so I will give you an awesome update then! I hope. I have my Food Basics class at 8 tomorrow morning though, so I'm going to head to bed now. Update soon!
I'm officially here! I can't believe it! Last night was definitely chaos, but I'm here now and that's what matters. This morning, I headed over to Vista, for check in, at about 7:30 or 7:45. Michelle, Morgan, and I waiting for about twenty minutes, and then they let us in. When it came time to choose apartments, the only options were Chatham or Vista. They also didn't have any one bedrooms. Needless to say, I was a little distraught. However, I'm in a two bedroom with Michelle, Morgan, and Isabelle (who I happened to meet in line after our apartments were assigned) at Chatham. We totally didn't plan on rooming together, but I ended up with Morgan and Michelle anyways. I thought that was pretty funny.
After we were done with check in, we had to wait like 45 minutes for a bus to take us to Chatham. While we were waiting, I asked a girl standing next to us if she would like to join our conversation. Turns out, she and I are friends on Facebook! You've gotta love things like that. Once we got on the bus, we realized that there was no way we were going to make it to Casting on the first bus. So, we dropped our stuff off, hung out for like five minutes, and then walked up to the front gate, so we could catch the Casting bus. Heads up: they were about 20 minutes late.
I'm going to finish this story tomorrow, as right now I just want to sleep.
So, I'm currently sitting at JFK, waiting for my flight to Orlando. I left my house at 5:30 this morning, and got to the airport around 7:30. It only takes about 45 minutes to get to the airport, but we stopped for breakfast. My big bag, which I was worried was going to be over 50 pounds, was only 48.5! I was so incredibly relieved! The flight here wasn't too bad, but I wish it had been a little shorter. I'm supposed to be in Orlando at 10:30, but I just found out my flight has been delayed an hour. I'm basically just not going to sleep tonight. I'm already running on almost no sleep anyways. Why not just add to it?!
Once I get to Orlando, I'm going to take the shuttle to my hotel for the night. That means I probably won't be to my hotel until like 1:30 or 2! Gosh, that's going to suck. Then, I'm going to have to be back up at like 5:30 or 6. Wow, that's going to be a lot of not sleeping. Hopefully, tomorrow will go rather quickly. I'm really hoping I get a one bedroom, or I might cry. I already know where I'm going to be working, considering the guy from Casting told me last week. So, that's one less thing to be anxious about. I'd just like to get to the current 89 degrees in Orlando. Not this nasty rain here in NYC. It's not very fun to look out at. Good thing JetBlue has free wifi in this terminal! If only they had beds, then I could take a short nap. Oh well though. I guess that's all I have for now. Hopefully I'll be able to post tomorrow.
Technically, by the time this actually posts, its going to be the thirteenth, but I'm dating it the twelfth because I have yet to go to bed. Today has been the longest and most stressful day ever. However, I'm all packed, and ready to wake up in five hours to get breakfast at Black Bear and then head to the airport! My flight leaves at 8:30, and I land in Orlando at 10:30. I can't believe I'll be in Orlando in about nineteen hours! Today, I had to say goodbye to Hope (my best friend), Saige, and Chloe (the two little girls I watch). That was definitely a hard thing to do. Luckily, I'll be seeing Hope in December, when she comes to visit. Well, I should probably be heading to bed, even though we all know I'm not really going to sleep. As for the ABCs, this is the last post. I apologize for there not being an X, but I couldn't think of anything!
W
West Side Diner
So, the West Side closed back in April 2009 from what I’ve heard. However, it was by far my favorite place to eat backstage. However, that might have something to do with the fact that one of the cooks was in love with me (no joke, Katie and Jaime will vouch for me on this). West Side was located under New Orleans, although I’m not sure how to explain it. If you know where the restrooms are in NO, then West Side was right down a set of stairs behind that CM only door. Anyways, the place was never very busy and the guys always made me way more food than I ordered. One day, Katie and I had our lunch together, and they made me an entire styrofoam container full of curly fries. Not only that, but I ordered a burger too! We couldn’t finish the food. It was ridiculous! Sadly, the place itself was basically falling apart, so it was closed when they began renovating the NOMK. I wonder what poor old Victor is doing with himself these days.
Y
Year of a Million Dreams
While I was at Disneyland, the theme was “Year of a Million Dreams.” The theme was actually about a year and a half long, but that’s beside the point. Every day, the Disney “dream squad” would make peoples dreams come true. All of the dream squad were current employees throughout the part, that all applied for the position. People from QSFB, Guest Relations, Attractions, Merch, and everywhere else you can think of managed to be apart of the dream squad for 18 months. Talk about a dream job right (no pun intended)? The biggest dream come true every day was definitely the Dream Suite being given away every morning. Who wouldn’t want that, right? There were a lot of other little things too, like dream fastpasses, or special Mickey ears. There were also special pins, with Tinkerbell on them, that you could receive. That was probably one of the coolest themes Disney has had in a long time.
Z
ESPN Zone
ESPN Zone is such a fun place to go! If you go, don’t sit on the dining room side. That part of the restaurant is way too boring. I’m not at all a sports fan, but I had a lot of fun every time I ate there. Plus, the food is good. Upstairs is an awesome arcade too. I would highly suggest at least checking the place out once. I’m sad to hear that they’re closing all of the non-Disney property locations, but at least you can still go to the ones at DLR and WDW!
