Family Ties & Kitchen Life

Where does the time keep going? Suddenly it's been 9 days since my last blog post! I can't believe how fast my time here is going. I only have about 2 months left and there are so many things that I still want to do. I know it's only the 9th of March, but I already have my work schedule through the 22nd and my mom, grandma, and aunt will be here the 24th! This program definitely hasn't been what I thought it would be but, now that I think of it, I'm not sure what I really expected. It's so surreal to be able to hang out in Magic Kingdom after work or go to Epcot just to ride Test Track. I've had to keep reminding myself lately that my opportunity to visit the parks all the time won't last forever; I can feel myself taking it for granted! (And the weather, the weather is so perfect!)

One thing I didn't anticipate or prepare for were the weird, long hours I have been scheduled. Last Saturday (the 1st) I randomly had the day off. I was so exhausted, though, that I spent most of the day sleeping and relaxing. Last Sunday I worked until midnight, rode the bus home, and then had to leave at 9:30am the next morning to get to work at 11am on time!

Before we went to work on Sunday, Kelsey and I stopped at Beaches & Cream at the Beach Club Resort. Kelsey got a huge brownie a'la mode while I got a huge chocolate shake. We tried to soak up the sun a little bit and let ourselves slip into vacation mode for a few minutes. We took a resort bus to Magic Kingdom and rode the People Mover before I had to head down into the tunnels to get ready. I'm going to miss these little trips!

The front walkway to get to the lobby of the Beach Club Resort!

My Monday shift was another greeter shift, so I got to be out of the kitchen and talking to guests. At Cosmic Ray's, we get really really busy during lunch time. So busy, in fact, that we have to block off doorways in order to control the crowds. We have one dining room where we seat guests based on the number in their parties. In order to be seated, the whole party must be present with all of their food. I was assigned to the position where I stop the guests, ask the number in their party, tell the seaters, and wait for a table to open up. As you can imagine, people don't want to wait for a table, especially when they're hungry! Some people were not pleasant, while others were just grateful to get a place to sit. It's amazing how different people are!

Broccoli, cous cous, and salmon!

After my greeter shift, I spent some time in Magic Kingdom. I walked around aimlessly for a while before settling in to Columbia Harbor House for dinner. Columbia Harbor House is just across from Haunted Mansion and is well-known for its seafood menu! I had some delicious salmon, cous cous, and broccoli. I also got a great view!

The view from Columbia Harbor House

Last Tuesday was PIZZA DAY! Kelsey and I had been craving pizza the week before, so we planned to order in and pig out on Tuesday. I slept in and planned my classes for fall semester (boo, back to reality!) before my Disney Heritage class. In my class, I got to watch videos and hear audio files of Walt, which was so cool! It got even better, though when I saw Walt talking to my great uncle, Blaine Gibson! I was so surprised! My great uncle Blaine worked for Disney for quite some time. He really wanted to be an animator, but ended up doing much more with sculpting. In the video that I watched, Blaine was sculpting Abe Lincoln for Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln in the 1964 World's Fair. It was unbelievable! It's so cool to think that my relative knew Walt and got to be apart of both the golden age of animation and the building of Disneyland and some Disney World.

Picture from the clip I watched of Walt and Blaine!

Blaine and me in 2009

After class, Kelsey and I ordered our pizza for PIZZA DAY, watched Disney proposals on Youtube with Gemma and Sarah, and then watched Mary Poppins!

Me at the Beach Club with the BoardWalk in the background

On Wednesday Kelsey, Sarah, and I strolled around the BoardWalk and the Yacht and Beach Clubs before walking over to Epcot for the first day of the 21st Annual Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival! All of the themed, character topiaries were out and I took way too many pictures. It was nice to be there just to scope out where I'm going to be and take notes of where things are at so that I can be more helpful when guests need to find something.

Both Thursday and Friday I had 9 hour greeter shifts. Unfortunately, it was rainy all Thursday morning, so the expected attendance for Magic Kingdom dropped from 48,000 people to 30,000 people. Needless to say, it was very very slow. I've never seen Cosmic Ray's be so dead before! It was a long 9 hours even though I spent my time giving stickers to the few kids that came in (I've now realized that everyone loves stickers). Friday went by a bit quicker because it was pretty busy. It was a little bit wet that morning too, so I spent 2-3 hours mopping up the water that people dragged in. It wasn't what I expected to do as a greeter, but I suppose it helped the time pass!

After work on Friday, I watched the fireworks pre-show, Celebrate the Magic, in which the castle comes to life! It's such a cool show and it's amazing what a bunch of lights and some great music can do!

Rapunzel's Lanterns!

Last night I worked in the kitchen at Cosmic Ray's. Tonight is actually my last kitchen shift since I'll be starting at Flower and Garden on Wednesday! It's pretty bitter sweet to be leaving since I've met some great people and gotten used to the kitchen and Cosmic Ray's now, but I'm also excited to spend more time at Epcot and switch up my responsibilities a bit.

I'm hoping to spend some more time in the sun this coming week! I don't quite look like a Floridian yet!

Fabulous First Week of February

Yikes! It's been over a week since my last post! So sorry to have kept you out of the loop for so long, but I've been a busy, busy bee. I started working more and more independently and my family came to visit for the week! Saying I'm exhausted would be a major understatement, but I've been having such a great time! Sorry about the novel, but I've got a lot to share!

Friday, January 31 & Saturday, February 1
I was completely worn out on both of these days. I worked 17:45-1:00 on Friday and 17:45-00:00 on Saturday. All of our shifts and bus schedules are listed in military time, so I've been doing my best to get used to it and even changed my phone to it in order to get more practice in. It's coming much more easily now and I'm not as worried about being late or misreading things! My Fri and Sat shifts were both 6+ hours (which isn't a lot here) but they were late and my feet had had enough by Saturday night. It didn't help that I was excited to see my family on Sunday morning! Just knowing they were in Florida on Saturday night made work a little more enjoyable, even if it did feel like it was taking forever!

Sunday, February 2
After a bit of sleep, I met up with my family in Magic Kingdom. It was so nice to see them again; I hate being apart! Once there, my dad got his hair cut at the Harmony Barber Shop where he even got a sticker for not crying!

We then spent some time in the sun and high 70s watching the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party! Then of course we rode on Space Mountain, the PeopleMover, Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, and Pirates of the Caribbean and visited Kelsey at Peter Pan and Sarah at Storybook Circus! I also took this selfie while my family used their FastPass+ on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

Jungle Cruise

Haunted Mansion

After lunch at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe, my stomping grounds, we did a bit of shopping since I have such a great discount right now! We also watched a bit of Dream Along with Mickey. Later that night, we ate dinner at Liberty Tree Tavern. It's a buffet/family style restaurant where they bring as much food as you can eat to your table. On the menu for us was steak, pork, turkey, sweet potatoes, green beans, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, and "Johnny Appleseed Cake". It was so good and one of my favorite table service dinners of the week. As we finished our meal, the firework show, Wishes, was just starting. The combination of music, fireworks, and lights is really amazing. I'd definitely recommend you see it at least once. When Wishes ended, my mom and I sprinted over to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad to take advantage of the short line. If there's anything we learned on this trip, it's go on the rides when fireworks are happening. The lines are always short!

In addition to the firework show, we watched the Electrical Parade from Liberty Square. It wasn't too busy in that area and music and lights were great! I had never seen it before and was pretty impressed! Then I rode Space Mountain one last time before I had to head home for the night. There were Extra Magic Hours that night, so my family was able to stay in the park for an extra 2 hours longer than me!

Aren't we cute?

Monday, February 3

Because it takes my buses just about an hour to get to each destination, I woke up early to meet my family at Hollywood Studios, formerly MGM. I was able to get there early enough to get my own FastPass+ to match what my family had already set up. It's a pretty slick system. That day we rode Tower of Terror, Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, Toy Story Midway Mania, and Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular. We also ate at the famous Pizza Planet from Toy Story! In the Indiana Jones show, they choose audience members to be apart of the show and, of course, I volunteered!

Getting ready for the show! (I'm in red!)

Rock 'n' Roller Coaster with my bro!

When I was finished being an Indiana Jones sensation, I had to run over to Magic Kingdom for work (pinch me!). That shift wasn't my usual kitchen shift, though. It was a greeter shift and it was magical. As a greeter, my job was to hand out menus, answer questions, direct line traffic, and, as the name implies, greet. It was fantastic. I was able to talk with people, wear the Cosmic Ray's front of house costume, and even practice my Spanish knowledge. Most of the Spanish included words like "over there", "here", "all of them", and assorted menu items like green beans, chicken, hamburgers, and kids meals. I was shocked by how many families know little to no English, but still make the trip to Walt Disney World. The shift was also fun because I got to sing the Cosmic Ray's signature birthday song to a few people, visit with guests, and interact with the little "princes" and "princesses" that I saw. It was a great experience and it seems as though I'll be scheduled as greeter ever so often, so I'll be looking forward to those shifts!

A few special guests stopped by during my greeter shift!

Tuesday, February 4

#model

Tuesday was a bit askew. We started at Hollywood Studios. Again riding Rock 'n' Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror. We glanced through the shops when my mom and I decided we needed to spend some time in Downtown Disney. So, we left and ate lunch at Earl of Sandwich and shopped at World of Disney until we made enough room for some Ghirardelli ice cream. After our little adventure, we went to Epcot and met up with the guys who had gone to Magic Kingdom. They ate lunch at Colombia Harbor House, a quick service restaurant that serves seafood! I'll have to check it out sometime! Once in Epcot, we walked around the World Showcase and checked out each country until it was time for dinner at Via Napoli. We ate delicious pizza, calamari, and pasta along with three amazing desserts. The food was great! Then, again during the fireworks, we raced over to Test Track to get on without a wait!

My dad's car

Dakotah's "car"

The car my mom and me designed

The great pic of us on the ride!

Wednesday, February 5

My family had already gotten FastPass+ for Fantasmic Wednesday night so, that morning, I headed to Hollywood Studios to get my own FastPass+ for the spectacular show. Once I got it, my dad and I met up with my mom and brother at Epcot. There we did Journey Into Imagination with Figment, Innoventions East, Innoventions West, and Living with the Land before heading over to China for lunch at the Nine Dragons. I have to say, the food was better than I had expected it to be! After lunch Dakotah and I had dessert churros in Mexico and then went back to Coronado Springs, where my family was staying, to swim for a bit since it was over 85 degrees! We met up with my parents again at Hollywood Studios where we rode Tower of Terror (yes, again!) and ate at Fairfax Fare before using our FastPass+ to get into Fantasmic! It was such a cool show!

This doesn't even come close to doing the show justice!

Thursday, February 6
I met up with my family at Animal Kingdom and, of course, the first thing I made them do was ride Expedition Everest with me! We also went on the Kilimanjaro Safaris and saw lots of animals (despite the cold!).

Once we had had enough of the animals (and cold, windy, rainy weather), we headed to the hotel to grab sweatshirts and make our way out to Epcot again. In Epcot we went on The Seas with Nemo & Friends and saw smiling dolphins. Kotah and I also designed and experienced our own rollercoaster at Sum of All Thrills in Innoventions East. It's an out-of-the-way attraction that's tailored exactly to your liking!

Cheese!

Then we had to do Test Track one more time before making our way to the Polynesian for the Spirit of Aloha dinner show. It was fantastic! I even got to go up on stage and learn how to hula! And, yes, we all got lei-ed.

Friday, February 7
Yesterday was quite a long day for me. We spent most of the day at Magic Kingdom and popped over to the Polynesian for lunch. At the Polynesian, Kotah discovered a new-found love for the famous Dole Whip. It's a pineapple and vanilla flavored, soft serve ice cream that can only be found in two places at Walt Disney World. The best place to get one is definitely Capt. Cook's in the Polynesian because it's in a self-serve machine as opposed to in Adventure Land in the Magic Kingdom when they simply hand you one they make behind the counter.

He couldn't even function, he was so excited. ;)

After a few more rides at the Magic Kingdom, I had to head down into the tunnels to work in the kitchen. It was an 8 hour shift from 6pm-2am, but I was cruising and ended up getting done at 1:30am! Woo! I was able to get a ride home with my fabulous friend, Vivian, who is also in the kitchen and got home around 2:30 since we had to change out of our stinky costumes and freshen up!

Saturday, February 8
When I got home, I took a shower, got ready, and headed over to Coronado Springs to see my family off. I got to the resort around 5am (still without sleep) and made it into bed in their room before 5:30am. WHEW! What a long, long day yesterday turned out to be! This morning I moped around the hotel room as my family packed their bags to head back to Minnesota (and 0 degree highs). I am so glad they were able to come and hang out with me and put up with my annoying Disney trivia/facts every day. I'm going to miss them; the parks just aren't the same when they're not here! Now, everyone wish them safe travels while I find myself some food and (FINALLY) catch up on some sleep!

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!

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!