Earned my ears!

So I am officially done with training and have finally "earned my ears" so now I am by myself. Today I had training doing "Heart of House". World of Disney is unlike any other store I have ever heard of. There is 3 different areas: Cinderella's Closet, Ariel's Attic, and Belle's Basement (but really its upstairs). Cinderella's Closet has all the big box things, Ariel's has pretty much everything else, and Belle's is all clothes. What we learned was doing "picks" that start at 12:00pm and come every 2 hours. And you pick items that have been sold in last 2 hours so the floor is completely restocked. In addition, you carry around a phone and answer phone calls from the floor for a stock check. Its really nice because I know when I go into stores and they dont have something they dont go out of their way to look for it they just tell you whatever out is what they have. Overall I really liked it its kind of nice to not have to deal with customers and just focus on the task. I work a few shifts of heart of house next week so hopefully it goes well.

Also, over the summer a girl had these tank tops made and we could order them online for the college program. She finally arrived and I was able to get mine. We plan on "Drinking around the world" sometime this fall in Epcot. You get a drink at every country along the way and we are going to wear our shirts.

First Day By Myself

Yesterday was my very first day by myself and I haven't even finished training so I basically looked like a chicken with my head cut off running around in circles. But overall it was a blessing in disguise because I learned to just figure things out on my own or ask questions. Everyone I worked with yesterday was extremely helpful. I was assigned stock in the "Magic" Room which is basically all the frames, wedding stuff, ornaments, figurines, and home items. I had just had my stock training the day before (wednesday) and although that training day was my absolute favorite day of all I didn't learn much. My trainer paired up with her sister and her trainees, so there was 4 of us and 2 trainers. These ladies were the funniest people I have ever met. The most work I did all day was just laughing so hard my cheeks literally hurt. They knew everyone and everyone just loved them. I started at 5:30 am and we basically walked around the store put a few stuffed animals away, folded a t shirt, folded a towel then took some breaks. At 8:45 the new trading pins come out so of course we were first in line over there getting the newest and best pins. I got the cutest Dumbo pin and I was able to keep it all day! They were so nice too! She knew I was collecting the cupcake pins for myself and all day she made it her mission to find me one which she did! Overall it was my favorite day yet.

So yesterday was ok. Some parts were better than others. We would go from having nothing to do or having too much to do. And I spent almost my entire day running back and forth from the stock room with broken ornaments. I also went to the stock meeting which is everyday at 2:30 for a quick 5 minutes if you are able to go. They talk about little things that are going on and I knew the answer for almost every question the manager asked. So hopefully she noticed that and I can get on someones good side.

Now I am on to day 4 of my 7 day work week. Today is my last day of training and I will be able to take off my "Earning My Ears" tag on my name tag... but I think I will keep it on a little longer just so people are nice to me when I do something wrong.

Costuming Villain

All Disney movies feature a Villain and instead of calling this lady in costuming what I really want to call her, I will just call her the villain of my College Program. Last week I received my costume on my first day. It was approved by 3 other people including this lady. I also asked for a rain jacket (which they had hundreds of by the way) and she told me I couldn't have one. I'm sorry I thought we were in the middle of hurricane season but I guess not? Anyways I went back the next day and asked a different lady and she looked at me like of course you can have a jacket it rains everyday. So anyways this lady obviously has a huge problem for no reason. The next day I wore my costume to training, while getting a tour of the casting building I walked past costuming. She called me out in front of my entire training group and made me turn around and around in circles saying my pants were too tight. Lady my pants make me look like I aged 40 years and they are definitely not too tight but if you say so. I had no problem changing which I told my trainer but she literally approved the pants 2 days prior as well as 3 other people. But thanks for humiliating me I appreciate that. I got a new pair and when I brought back the old ones she was convinced they fit so much better. If falling off of me is so much better than I guess so. So for the past week I have been wearing the very extra large pants. I took a look at other peoples pants and they are definitely not as loose as mine. Anyways there is a point to this story. Today I decided to be a rebel and wear the pants I originally received thinking there is no way I will go to costuming so who cares. I get to work and everything is fine, my trainer takes me across the street to do some computer learning no problem. As we are walking back it begins to literally down pour instantly. The walk was about 100 yards and we were half way. We were soaked by the time we got back. They told us to wait in the break room until we dried off. I still hadn't dried completely so my trainer said thats ok we can just go to costuming and get a new one. REALLY!?! why do I have the worst luck! I insisted I was ok and basically refused to get a new costume.

Lesson learned: bring an extra outfit so I can avoid the awful lady in costuming at all costs.

Turkey legs and Magic Kingdom

So today I had my first day off. After sleeping in, catching up on my tv shows, taking a nap, I finally decided to venture out to Magic Kingdom in the rain. Of course we got on the wrong bus and went to the cast entrance and got in trouble but oh well we are new what do they expect. While walking through the utilidors I saw Sleeping Beauty walking through which was kind of exciting. When we finally got into the park our first stop was to get turkey legs. I was really excited but overall they weren't  that great. I ate maybe a quarter of it and threw the rest away. After that we went on Thunder Mountain Railroad while the firework show was going on which was by far the coolest thing ever. After that we decided to wait in line for Peter Pan even though it was about 45 minutes. Time really goes by fast there because then it was after 10 and the park was closing. We stopped in The Emporium on the way out to say hi to our other roommate and do a little pin trading. I got the cutest stuffed animal Pascal from Tangled and I just couldn't say no to him. We finally made it home a little after midnight and now its time for bed. Tomorrow we have a day off again and plan to go to one of the housing events that is grocery bingo. If you win you get a couple bags of groceries so wish me luck!

 Barely made a dent in the turkey leg

my new best friend... love him!

First Day of work

So today was my first day of work. I started at 8:15 and my trainer was this little old lady named Ethel. She was really sweet. At first I put the go backs away to get me more familiar with the store and all the rooms ( if you haven't been to World of Disney its the most gigantic store ever! theres like 11 different rooms and its like a giant maze. Theres the Princess room, the Snow White room, Carnival Room, Map room, Bird room, Rotunda, North Hall, South Hall, Villain Room, the Enchanted Dining Room, and the Adventure Room... and that doesn't include the 4 different stock rooms... this place is literally gigantic) anyways after that we had a store meeting before the store opened. They talked about being prepared for hurricanes because a big storm is coming... all I was thinking was great what does this mean I'm from California when it sprinkles we all think life is over. So I am slightly freaked out but hopefully all will be ok. After that the store opened and I went straight onto a register. Of course my first customer wanted to ship all their stuff home and I had no idea how to do that. Overall the day went by really quick and I stayed on the registers like all day. I got off at 5 and as soon as I got home I took the bus to Walmart to get some food. That part sucked because you have to carry all your stuff on the bus then all the way to your apartment. Overall I am exhausted and I really can't wait to go to sleep tonight. I have tomorrow and Monday off thank god. I really am not ready for the real world and a full time job...

Disney University

Today I had training at Disney University which was really cool. They do your cash register training there which is really nice to learn without any distractions. Its a giant room filled with cash registers and you get to basically play with it and scan items and do fake transactions... honestly everyone thought it was boring but I had so much fun reminded me of the days when I had had a barbie cash register. During our lunch break I went to the exclusive cast member only store. I got a lanyard to hold my I.D.s and a cast member pin. Afterward I went to another store Cast Connection which has like old or slightly damaged stuff, it was huge!!! They had everything there and its all over 75% off.

This is the model they made for the set of Alice in Wonderland. They have really cool pictures and models all over the building but I didn't have time to take that many pictures.

I have my first day of actual work tomorrow training and actually getting to be on the cash registers. Wish me luck!

First day of training...

So today was my first day of training... the bus never came so I had to take the next one which was 30 minutes later which also meant I was late for my very first day of work... awesome right? They let it go because all of us were late and it really wasn't our fault. There was 6 of us and 2 trainers, we did online video training for the first hour or two then took our lunch break. Its amazing how many behind the scenes cast member areas they have that you don't notice! Behind World of Disney there is a little cafe that connects with one of the food court areas. The food is so cheap too! I got an entire meal and a cookie that is normally $4 for less than $4 total which was awesome! I feel like I will never want to make my own lunch anymore. After that we finally went to World of Disney for the first time. We helped participate with the Bippity Boppity Boutique Princess Parade... they invite all the little girls and boys that get made over to participate in a parade throughout downtown disney... all the cast members come out and watch them as they walk to the Carousel and take a ride... it was so cute! After that we took a tour of the back stage area of World of Disney its huge!!! its amazing there is even another break room in there also. I also got a sneak preview of the Halloween stuff! After that we just walked around the store and pin traded with people and passed out Mickey stickers to kid. It was an extremely long day and I was exhausted but I think it will be pretty fun. My next training day is on Saturday so hopefully I will get to learn more things.

I also got my sticker that says Earning My Ears and once I pass training I get to take it off. I kind of like it though because then when you mess up its like oops! sorry I'm still learning... I'm thinking about never taking it off

August 22nd

Finally have internet in my apartment! I no longer have to go sit by the pool to use the free wifi there. Normally sitting by the pool sounds nice but not in this weather. Anyways today we went to our first housing event. Its a free event at our apartment complex and the theme was Time for Tea. Alice In Wonderland, the Mad Hatter, Mary Poppins and her penguin were all there. There was a D.J., a tie dyeing area, and free Chick fil A, soda, and chips. It was my first meal here that wasn't cheap college food which was nice. After that I went to Downtown Disney with my roommate to pin trade! It was our first time ever doing it and we had so much fun. We spent literally hours walking around the stores and asking to trade pins with people. I got some really cute Minnie Mouse pins that I am most excited about.

First Week

So I have been in Orlando for exactly one week! I decided to make a blog so everyone can stay updated with my program. So far I absolutely love it here! It has been so much fun and there is so much to do. My only complaint is the humid weather and the crazy afternoon thunderstorms. Here is a brief update of what I have been up to!

Monday August 13th: Left for Orlando at 7:30am. I flew with one of my roommates, Danielle, which was really fun and we got to know each other. We didn't get to Orlando until 7:00pm. We took the Disney Magical Express to get to our hotel at the Pop Century where we met up with another one of our roommates, Lindsay. We immediately left for Downtown Disney where we met up with other Disney College Program participants. It was really fun and everyone is so friendly and nice!


Tuesday August 14th: Went to breakfast with my two roommates at the hotel then went to Downtown Disney to meet my actual roommate Juliette for the first time. We went to dinner at Captain Jacks and then hung out with other people from the program.

Wednesday August 15th: CHECK IN DAY! We arrived at 7:15 in the morning and the check in process started around 7:30. It was fairly quick, we got to pick our apartment complex and building. We are living in Vista Way. It is the least popular building for some reason but I am really enjoying it. Its the biggest complex so it has 2 pools, a gym, a media room where you can watch tv or rent movies, a computer lab, and my favorite part unlimited freshly baked chocolate chip cookies! Our building is directly in the middle of the bus stop and the pool which is nice. We live on the third floor and have huge vaulted ceilings. It is a 2 bedroom 2 bath apartment with a kitchen, living room, and dining room. After we checked in we went to the Casting Office to find out where we will be working! I will be working at Downtown Disney at The World of Disney, which is the largest store in Disney World. We then finished our paperwork and went home to finally move into our new home. We then had the rest of the day to get settled, go shopping, and most importantly take a nap. We went out that night with some of our new friends that we met. Overall it was really fun but a long exhausting day.

Thursday August 16th: We went to our housing meeting in the morning which basically went over the rules and the services the apartment complexes provide. Afterwards we just hung out and finished unpacking. Later that night we took a party bus to downtown Orlando for a paint party. There were a lot of other CPs (College Programers) who also went. It was a lot of fun!

Friday August 17th: Didn't do a thing! Relaxed and just hung out at our apartment complex.

Saturday August 18th: TRADITIONS! This was a 5 hour orientation at Disney University. We finally received our passes and most importantly our name tags! We also got to go in the Utilidors which is the underground tunnel system underneath Magic Kingdom. This was probably the highlight of being here because it is something very few people know about. After Traditions was finished we finally got to go to the parks for the first time! We went to Magic Kingdom first and watched the fireworks show Wishes.

Sunday August 19th: Woke up early and went to Animal Kingdom and The House of Blues at night. On Sunday nights its from for College Programers!


Monday August 20th: Went to Disney Hollywood Studios.

Thats all for now. I start training tomorrow and my 40 hour work weeks start after Thursday. I really hope I enjoy it and I have only heard good things from people who work there. I will keep you all updated and I hope you enjoy my blog.