Working Girl

After my first experience with pay laundry at my complex on Tuesday, Meg and I ventured to Magic Kingdom. We stopped at the Grand Floridian to see our roommate, Denise, hard at work. Once we got to Magic Kingdom, we got FastPass+ passes for Under the Sea, the Ariel ride, and the Jungle Cruise. FastPass+ is super slick. I didn't think I'd understand or like the new system, but it's super simple! We also rode Haunted Mansion, Carousel of Progress, Buzz Lightyear, and It's a Small World twice to see our roommate, Kelsey. While we were on Small World, though, the boats got a bit backed up, so we ended up being on the ride for about 5 minutes longer than expected. We were pretty sick of the music by the time we finally got out! We took a picture with Ariel too! She was so cute!

Yesterday I had to go to work. It was nice to feel confident in what I was doing and start meeting my co-workers. I spent most of my time preparing trays for Bay 1, the chicken bay. I had to plate half chicken meals, rib meals, chicken sandwiches, pulled-pork sandwiches, and chicken nuggets. It was so slow that we closed Bay 1 an hour early! It was raining/misting/drizzling all day and it only made it to about 50 degrees, shockingly cold for Orlando. ;) Side note: watching the weather on the news here is hilarious because it's "SO COLD". Hahaha!

I only work 3 more times until my family will be here on Saturday! Hopefully that will help the time go by faster! Tonight I have to go to work again, but the weather isn't great again, so we'll see what I end up doing!

I EARNED MY EARS!

On Saturday evening I officially "earned my ears"! I am no longer a trainee, I'm a full-fledged Walt Disney World employee! I spent most of my work day on Saturday reviewing everything I had learned on my training days. I had to remember what items were stored in each cooler/freezer, the hold times for each item on our menu, the specific plating for each dish, and every emergency procedure (among lots of other things)! When assessment time finally came, we found out our assessor was one of my managers, "Big Will". He is such a kind, giving guy! He was actually on Good Morning America the day before with Ty Pennington from Extreme Makeover: Home Edition for all of the work he does for Give Kids the World! Needless to say, I passed with flying colors!

I forgot to take pictures, but this is what the lobby looks like. It's absolutely stunning in person!

That night, I met Kelsey, Sarah, and Denise at The Art of Animation resort for dinner. If you've never heard of it or seen it, I'd highly recommend it. It's considered a value resort, meaning it's one of their cheapest, but it doesn't feel cheap at all! It's beautiful. My salmon sandwich was delicious as well and the fact that I got 20% off as a cast member wasn't too bad either!

Roy, Minnie, and me!

On Sunday morning, the Kelseys took over Magic Kingdom. We met Pluto, Gaston, and Princess Tiana, rode on the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and ate cream cheese pretzels and frozen Coke at The Lunching Pad! Gaston was an absolute hoot. He had us feeling his muscles, posing, and laughing at his egotistical ways. Tiana was perfect, exactly how you'd expect her to be!

That night was my first day of work without training. I was finally on my own, for better or worse! I was scheduled to work from 7:30pm to 1:30am! I scooped fries at Bay 1, the chicken bay, for quite some time. It got a bit busy for a while, but I was able to handle it! After fries, I got a short break and then began our closing procedures. For me that night, it meant gathering garbage, stocking the coolers and freezers, and disposing of the food waste. It was a long night, but not nearly as rough as I'd expected it to be!

Yesterday, Denise and I ventured to Animal Kingdom. She had never been on Expedition Everest, so that was our first stop of the day. It was great, as it always is, the first and second time. ;) Then of course we had to get the crap scared out of us at Dinosaur! Our last stop at Animal Kingdom was to see Pocahontas. She was so much fun to talk to!

Expedition Everest

Loving our lives on Dinosaur!

Pocahontas and me!

After Animal Kingdom, we rode a bus to Epcot to eat at the Electric Umbrella and meet Kelsey. We rode Test Track and Journey Into Imagination with Figment before we met Alice, Princess Aurora, and Belle. They were all adorable and had fun things to say! We spent some time in the World Showcase by eating hand crafted ice cream in France, shopping in Japan, eating caramel in Germany, and riding both the Maelstrom in Norway and the Gran Fiesta Tour in Mexico!

Alice!

Belle!

Today I am finally doing laundry, cleaning, and catching up on sleep. I may also hop over to Magic Kingdom for the fireworks tonight just because I can. Just another day living the dream!

Training and Relaxation

Wednesday, when I last wrote, was my first day of on the job training. Since then, I've been overwhelmed with information, new people, and physical labor. Today I finally got a chance to relax!

On my first day of on the job training, I got to wear a red "Earning My Ears" ribbon on my name tag. Taking it off will be another milestone in my internship, another reminder that my time on my internship is limited!



My costume! The hat can be swapped for a hair net and in the kitchen I wear an apron!

My first day of training was 8 hours long. It consisted of a trainer, Renee, and two other kitchen trainees. In addition to online lessons, we learned how to make burgers and run "soup side". Cosmic Ray's is made up of 3 bays: chicken, burgers, and soup/sandwich. We also closed soup side and when Cosmic Ray's closes, it needs to look spotless. It looks like a brand new restaurant every night! The teamwork there is evident. It's interesting because college program employees always close. Personally, I'd rather work early and get done early, but it makes me feel good that my presence allows full time parents and students to go home and tend to their kids and their homework. We also got to taste test chicken side. It was awesome!

My second day of training, yesterday, consisted of a bit more information and physical labor. In addition to taste testing burger side, I learned how to work both burger and chicken side as well as fries, nuggets, and "take down". Take down consists of stocking things, trash/food waste, and other random odds and ends. Stocking wasn't too bad, but bringing out the trash and food waste was pretty gross. We have to push the food waste cans all the way out of the Utilidoors which is uphill and quite a walk away! For whatever reason, we got an hour long break, so my trainer said we could go ride Space Mountain if we wanted! I love Space Mountain, so of course I jumped at the chance to ride on it! After I changed, I got to come out of one of the "Cast Member Only" doors to get to the ride and go in when I was done! It was the best break ever!

The Utilidoors are so cool. The magic of the Utilidoors still hasn't worn off for me. It's amazing that there's a whole secret world beneath the Happiest Place on Earth! It's funny because right above the women's restroom in the Tomorrowland break room is Stitch's Great Escape, so every few minutes it sounds like it's thunder-storming above me! Another cool/weird thing about the Utilidoors is that I see tons of face characters with their wigs and makeup on, but without their costumes, so it seems as though these characters are casually enjoying their lunches or making phone calls. It's hilarious! Some casual characters that I've seen include Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Merida, Alice, the ugly step sisters, and Gaston.

Today I had a day off, so of course I spent my time at Walt Disney World! My park of choice today was Hollywood Studios. I spent about 4 hours just wandering the park. I rode Tower of Terror, voted for a singer at the American Idol Experience, and watched the Beauty and the Beast stage show. I also walked through One Man's Dream where my great uncle, Blaine Gibson, was kind of featured. I wanted to tell everyone around me about my connection! I was just so proud to see that his humble work was recognized in some way. I also found a bust of Walt in the park that he did. I wish he could give me a personal tour and share all of his Disney knowledge with me.

Tomorrow I have an assessment at Cosmic Ray's that will let me know if I've "earned my ears" or if I need a bit more training. Wish me luck!

Keeping Up with Kelsey

The last few days have been pretty exhausting. Since I last wrote on Saturday, I've done quite a bit and it's not slowing down anytime soon!

Rapunzel's little corner in Fantasyland

On Sunday I had "Food and Beverage Core" where I learned a lot about food safety, how to properly interact with people with disabilities, and I finally got my login to view my schedule. It was my roommate, Meg's, birthday that day and most of my roommates had already been celebrating at Magic Kingdom with her. I met them there and we rode Space Mountain and hung out at the park. It turns out Magic Kingdom was open until 1:00am and had Extra Magic Hours (only for resort guests) until 3:00am! We were exhausted, though, so we headed home for the night.

Cinderella's Castle!

Monday was pretty relaxed. Kelsey and I took the bus to 2 cast member only stores. One called Property Control and the other Cast Connection. They're both located in the back of Magic Kingdom's cast parking lot. Property Control is hilarious and so cheap. It's made up entirely of the parks' reject items, so most everything is broken or damaged in some way. Things that can be salvaged or that aren't damaged are hard to come by, but when they are found, they're extremely discounted. It's amazing! Cast Connection is much less discounted, but discounted none-the-less. It also has groceries which is extremely convenient.

Yesterday I finally had my Once Upon a Time... Is Now! class. It's a class specifically for new Magic Kingdom hires where they give you a tour of the park and officially welcome you to the Magic Kingdom family. It was pretty cool to be there before the park opened without any people! Later in the day I received my costume. It turns out that I got placed in the kitchen at Cosmic Ray's, so my costume looks like a chef's outfit. Stay tuned for pictures. ;) I also found out yesterday that Cosmic Ray's Starlight Café is the 2nd busiest fast food restaurant in the entire world and THE busiest in the United States. How crazy is that?! Apparently one New Year's day Cosmic Ray's made over a million dollars in PROFIT. So that's what I'm getting into!

Today is my first day of on the job training. I met another girl that's in the kitchen of Cosmic Ray's too, so I'm glad I'll know someone back there! I won't be done working tonight until 11:00pm, though, so it'll be a long day!

Chillin' in Chilly WDW

Today was another cool, exhausting, yet wonderful day at "The Happiest Place on Earth!" I visited both Animal Kingdom and Epcot. I also made another, always exciting, trip to Walmart.

My roommates, Sarah and Kelsey, and I woke up at the crack of dawn and headed out for Animal Kingdom. Our intention was to get to Expedition Everest as quickly as possible, but we accidentally made a wrong turn when we noticed that a Cinderella doll had fallen out of a stroller! Kelsey used the "Disney Scoop" to snatch the doll up without missing a stride and returned it to the woman pushing the stroller. Because of our detour, we ended up in Africa instead of Asia, so we went on Kilimanjaro Safaris. Of course we saw a bunch of animals, but the giraffes were probably the best because the whole tower of giraffes passed by within 5 feet of us. It was amazing!

Expedition Everest from afar

Then we made our way to Expedition Everest, fully expecting to wait in line for hours before getting on the ride. It took 10 minutes to get on, so we rode it again! It's such a fun ride! We continued to make our way through Asia and then Dinoland U.S.A. where the DINOSAUR ride is located. I don't want to spoil the ride for anyone, but my roommates and I are in college and were still so scared. (Feel free to laugh at our ride picture below)

Kelsey, me, and Sarah scared (almost to death) on DINOSAUR

After all of that excitement, we were pretty hungry. On our way to find food, though, we ran into Dug from Up! The picture is a little blurry, but Dug was so much fun! He was spastic, loving, and friendly, just like you'd expect him to be! He gave us lots of hugs and licked our faces a few times. I'm so glad we got to see him! We also stopped at It's Tough to be a Bug! We finally stopped at Pizzafari for lunch and then caught the bus back to our apartment complex where we hopped on the bus to Walmart to buy a cake for my roommate, Meg's, birthday tomorrow!

Kelsey, Dug, me, and Sarah

When we got back from Walmart, I showered and we decorated our dining room to surprise Meg when we got home later, since she had already left for Epcot with our other roommates, Denise and Gemma. We got on the bus to Epcot and after a bit of a delay (the buses are wonderful, but are sometimes late and can take a long time getting from place to place), we finally made it to the cast member entrance. It was so cool getting to use my ID to get into the "Cast Members Only" areas! I felt so official!

In Epcot, we rode Spaceship Earth, the ride inside the infamous ball, Test Track, and The Seas with Nemo and Friends. Spaceship Earth always inspires me and it's always fun to see your face on an animated body! Test Track was AWESOME. It's totally redone, but it's super cool. We waited in line for over an hour, but the time went by quickly as we hung out together and played a free version of Ellen's Heads Up app. Once inside, we got to create our own cars! Mine is shown below. The ride was awesome as always and I wished I could ride it again! The Seas with Nemo and Friends was adorable and the sea life after the ride was neat too. We left Epcot just as the fireworks show, Illuminations, was starting, so we got a fireworks send off!

The car that Sarah, Denise, and I created

Overall, it was a great day. It's still surreal to be able to go to the parks whenever I please and it's even weirder to not have to go to school. Tomorrow I start training for my job at Cosmic Ray's, so I'm off to bed! Thanks so much for keeping up with my journey! I hope you're able to live vicariously through me as I live in this fantasy world for a few months.

This is really my life right now!

First Day in the Parks!

I finally got to go to the parks today! I spent time at both Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios.

This morning I woke up and headed to Magic Kingdom all by myself. It was a bit of a bus ride to the monorail, but I was so excited to be there. It felt so weird to be there without my family, but I enjoyed being able to go wherever I wanted without having to worry about losing anyone!

After a few pictures of Cinderella's Castle, I made my way to Space Mountain, my favorite Walt Disney World ride! It was magical and I felt like I was seeing everything in a different light being a new cast member and understanding more about the company and how things a Walt Disney World work. Following Space Mountain, I ventured through the New Fantasyland on my way to Pirates of the Caribbean. The New Fantasyland is amazing. I can't wait to spend more time there!

Rapunzel's Tower

I went back to my apartment to meet my roommates since some of them had Traditions this morning. We ate lunch and decided to take a trip to Hollywood Studios with KJ, another participant that my roommates met at their Traditions. We rode the Tower of Terror, Rockin' Rollercoaster, The Great Movie Ride, and Star Tours!

I got to meet Goofy's son, Max!

Tomorrow we're planning on going to Animal Kingdom and Epcot!

Traditions Day!

I became an official Walt Disney World cast member today! My Traditions class, The Disney Company orientation, started at 8:00am and I needed to catch my bus at 6:45am. I also had to be dressed in professional attire... it was an early morning!

The classes took place at Disney University, near the Magic Kingdom! We were broken into groups of about 50 and signed in to receive our official Walt Disney World ID cards. In the class, we learned about "Working With Integrity", the 4 Keys to Success, and the main idea of The Disney Company: "We create happiness". It was moving, emotional, and a bit long, but the random surprises and knowledgeable instructors kept us on our toes.

After the main class portion, we took a trip to Magic Kingdom, but it wasn't just any trip. We came up to the backstage and entered the Utilidoor. From there, we took on the tunnels and made our way to Main Street USA. It was mind-blowing, definitely not what I expected, but still so cool. I even saw Ariel in sweats talking on the phone! It was hilarious! I can't take pictures back there, though, so you'll have to become a cast member to see it for yourself. ;) Then we headed back to Disney University to receive our official Walt Disney World name tags!

Earlier this evening, the college program held an Up themed welcome party in my apartment complex. A few of my roommates and I took a picture with Carl and Russell! We also took a few pictures in a photo booth that they brought in! It was a really fun time and we danced to the DJ for over an hour.

Carl, Sarah, Denise, me, Russell, and Kelsey

All of my roommates will finally be able to go into the parks tomorrow afternoon, but I think I'm going to take a leisurely trip to Magic Kingdom by myself in the morning just because I can! It'll be so weird to visit without my family, but I'm so excited to be able to go during my time off for the next 4 months. It's all still so surreal!

I've got some big EARS to fill!

The First Few Days

What a whirlwind! I don't think I've slept as well as I did last night in quite some time! Nothing could have prepared me for how much I did the last few days. I've been completely overwhelmed but insanely exited during every minute of my day.

I woke up in my shared hotel room on Monday, got ready (I wore SHORTS!), and repacked my suitcases. I journeyed across the street with my luggage, burning arms and all, to meet one of my roommates, Sarah, at Chick-Fil-A. She grew up in Florida, but has been living in Pennsylvania since high school. Lucky (or unlucky) for her, she gets to share a bedroom with me! Her family was nice enough to let me keep my luggage in their car while we walked over to check-in.

My roommate, Sarah, and I at Once Upon a Toy in Downtown Disney

Check-in took a total of 3 HOURS! Luckily I had Sarah and another roommate, Meg (from Ohio!), to keep me company for the long wait. During those 3 hours, I received my Program Guide (a planner with a ton of DCP info), my housing ID, housing complex, casting time, and WORK LOCATION! I am now living in Chatham Square (said like chat-um) and will be working in Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe! Ever since I got accepted as QSFB, my dad has insisted that I would be working at Cosmic Ray's, so I couldn't believe it when the cast member told me I would be working there!

Now you may be thinking "What's a 'casting time,' Kelsey?" and that's a very good question! I found out during check-in that my casting time was 2:30pm, just an hour and a half after I was finished checking in! Sarah and I rushed over to Wendy's (since I was advised to eat before casting) and hurried back shoveling Frosty's into our mouths! Once we were back, she found her family and headed over to our apartment while I fed my hungry belly! After eating, I found the bus stop for casting. The bus pulled up not long after and I was off to casting!

The Casting Building

Casting took about 2 hours and, in that time, they took my fingerprints for a background check, scanned my driver's license and social security card, and gave me my schedule for the next few days. It turns out that I have Traditions, a class/tour that introduces new cast members to the culture and heritage of the Disney organization, on Thursday morning and I need to be at the bus at 6:45am! At Traditions I will officially become a cast member. I'll receive my official ID, nametag, and an all access pass to the Walt Disney World parks. Which means that immediately after Traditions, I will be able to go to Walt Disney World!

The Casting doorknobs based on Alice in Wonderland

During casting, I also found out when I will be training for my position at Cosmic Ray's. So this Sunday is my first official training day. On my second training day, on Tuesday, I will hopefully be receiving a costume and schedule! More details on that to come!

Following casting, I finally got to go to my apartment! Sarah's family was nice enough to bring my luggage up to my room for me, so all that was left was unpacking. I put everything away, made up my bed, and took about 2 seconds of rest before I was out the door again to meet Sarah in Downtown Disney so that we could drive to Walmart with her family.

I spent a few minutes hanging out in Downtown Disney and it was just surreal seeing all of the families, kids, and tourists around me. I realized that I'm so lucky to get to experience the magic every day for the next 4 months while the people I saw were probably just at Disney for a few days! It's also cool to think that I get to help make the magic happen for people like that for the next few months. What's more fun than making people happy?!

After my realization, Sarah picked me up and we were off to Walmart. Holy cow was that an experience! It was the most crowded, foreign Walmart in which I have ever stepped foot. I got what I needed, though, so I guess it did the job!

We finally got back to the room after 11:00pm and we were exhausted. I put my groceries, shampoo, and pillow in their appropriate places and hit the hay. I fell asleep immediately and slept like a rock the whole night!

Yesterday (Tuesday) my only obligation was a housing meeting at 10:00am. There they just explained their rules, policies, and expectations and psyched us up a little bit more for the Disney life! I spent rest of the day (or so it seemed) trying to get our WiFi to work! It turns out we needed a new router, so today I got a new one, hence, now I'm finally able to blog!

Above my housing meeting

Today I spent some more time at Downtown Disney with my roommates. It was sooo tempting to buy the entire store! I won't get my discount until tomorrow, though, so I had to control myself. Tonight my roommates and I are planning to go to the Polynesian Resort, eat Dole Whips, "watch" the fireworks (even though we can't get into Magic Kingdom yet!), and visit the quick service restaurant at the Grand Floridian Resort at which my roommate, Denise, will be working!

My roommate, Meg, and I at Once Upon a Toy in Downtown Disney

I'm having a blast and I can't wait for the next couple of days!

Hello Florida!

I'm officially in Florida for the next 4 months! I somehow managed to fit my whole life into 2 suitcases. Let me just say, Ziploc Space Bags are absolutely amazing! And, if you're wondering, I did not melt when I got outside into the 70 degree weather, but I definitely wasn't used to it!

I took a 3 hour plane ride, grabbed my checked bag, and took a shuttle to a hotel right across the street from where the Disney apartments are located. Tonight I'm staying with 3 other girls in the college program. It's been so nice to talk with them about their experiences with the program so far and what they're looking forward to about it!

Tomorrow is my check-in day. I'll move into my apartment, meet my roommates, and start becoming an official cast member! I should have time in the next few days to write a bit more about the specific details of becoming a cast member, but, for now, I'm going to head to bed. It's been a long day!