The First Week!

Whew!! What an eventful week this has been.  I’m trying to think of where I should even begin.  Let’s go back to Wednesday.

Wednesday was Traditions.  Traditions is a class that all new hires of the Disney company must take.  I got assigned to the afternoon session so I didn’t have to catch the bus till 12:45 pm. It was kind of nice to sleep in and relax for a bit. All of my roommates had the early session so they had to catch the bus at 6:45 am.  Poor guys.  At Traditions, we had two facilitators give us an orientation of the Disney company.  We were taught what the standards of the company are and what we can do as individuals to make a difference during our time here.  My favorite part was when they took us into the Magic Kingdom!  It was my first time EVER in Walt Disney World.  It was beautiful.  We roamed around Fantasyland for a little bit, looking for examples of the Disney standards.  Lots of fun!

When we went back to the University, we had a little bit more to discuss.  Then, to our surprise, Mickey Mouse showed up to welcome us to the company and give us our nametags.  That was special. It feels to strange to finally have a Disney nametag.  We also received our cast member ID which allows us free admission into all of the parks here on property.

Thursday was my orientation at Epcot.  It was called Discovery Day.  There they taught us a brief history of the Epcot (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow).  We also got a quick tour around the park including a private boat ride around the World Showcase.  At the end of orientation, we got our assignments. I was super nervous.  The guy came and picked me up and handed me a paper that said “Welcome to Spaceship Earth.”  I will be working on the ride that is inside the iconic sphere in the park!!  It isn’t the most exciting ride but I was totally ok with that!  We were also given our training schedule for the next week.

After Discovery Day, I met up with some friends and we went back into Epcot to play!  The park was hardly crowded so we didn’t really have to wait for any ride.  I think my favorite was Test Track.  Super fun and super fast!  But I think my overall highlight of Epcot is the World Showcase.  Strolling through all of those country exhibits was absolutely breath taking.  I really want to eat at all the different restaurants there!!  You really do feel like you are in those countries.  we ate dinner in Morocco and later had dessert in France. Haha!  The evening ended with Illuminations: Reflections of Earth, the firework show there.  Absolutely amazing!

Friday was my first day of on the job training.  I met my trainer, Mayda, and we went to costuming.  I’ll try and post a picture of my costume soon. I basically just spent the day following Mayda around trying to remember EVERYTHING she taught me.  It is a ton to remember and I hope it all sinks in because I have my assessment on next Friday.  My favorite part of Training Day 1 was actually getting to practice a few of the positions.  I really enjoyed being the greeter.  You get to interact with so many guests AND you can pin trade!  So over the next week I have a lot on my plate trying to internalize all the procedures and information of Spaceship Earth.

The Day Has Come and Gone

First off, I decided that I was too busy preparing to come to Florida that I didn’t have the time to continue on with my 30 Day Challenge.  Perhaps in a little while, when things settle down a bit, I can finish it up.

So right now I am sitting in my apartment here in Chatham Square.  That obviously means that I made it to Florida and I am all checked in and whatnot.  Today is actually day two of the experience.  Let me back up just a little bit.

My parents and I went to Las Vegas Saturday (Jan. 29).  We went to the Mandalay Bay and saw the Lion King then then settled in for the night.  My flight was to leave Vegas at 6:30 am the next morning.  I woke up at 4:15 and got all my things together, said good bye to my mom, and headed out the door to the airport.  I made it through check in and security in about fifteen minutes and hunkered down in the terminal until Amberlie arrived.  Our flight schedule went like this: Las Vegas to Phoenix, Phoenix to San Antonio, and San Antonio to Orlando.  3 take-offs and touchdowns.  It was a really long day.  All the flights were smooth and on time.  We got to Orlando at about 4:45 pm local time.  We grabbed our cab and made it to the hotel.

After a little while at the hotel, we headed to Downtown Disney to meet the other participants who were to check in the next day.  It was great to finally meet a lot of them.  Afterwards, we went back to the hotel where I crashed.  Amberlie and I had to catch our shuttle to Vista Way at 6:00 am the next morning.

We were like the first people there and we couldn’t even go in to the complex.  We waited for a while and slowly for students began to trickle in.  At about 8 am they opened the gates and we all went to the welcome center.  While we waited, I met up with the three guys I was planning on rooming with, Kyrie, Scott, and Collin.  All of them seem to be really neat guys.  We basically got our first choice of apartments. We would’ve liked a three bedroom but they didn’t have it available in Chatham.  We’re actually pretty content in our two bedroom though.  We went through all the lines and everything then they sent us over to Chatham Square to put our stuff in our apartment and catch the bus over to the casting center.

That place was pretty amazing.  It was this HUGE building.  The doorknobs looked like the ones from Alice in Wonderland (Check out my Facebook).  There they had two cast members go to each CP and give us a sticker that said our work location.  I found out I’d be working in Future World at Epcot®. I’m pretty excited about that.  After that, it was just station after station of filling out and handing in paperwork to make us official employees of the Disney Company.  They gave us our training schedules and made sure we were in line with the Disney Look. We got to go home and got to relax/unpack for little while after that long casting experience.

There was a mandatory housing meeting in the afternoon.  I kind of zoned out completely during it.  All the information is in our manual and I don’t plan on doing anything stupid that could get me or my roommates terminated from the program.

I spent the rest of the evening just relaxing and visiting/making new friends.  I can already tell this is really going to be a unique experience.  It is nothing like I’ve ever done before.  I plan on living it to the fullest and taking as many opportunities that I can because who knows when I’ll get the chance again.

Disney Challenge Day 24

Day #24: A movie that makes you cry

I don’t usually get emotional but at the end of this movie, I felt tears streaming down my cheeks from behind my 3D glasses.  If the end of this movie didn’t make you cry then I’m sorry you had a sad childhood!

Disney Challenge Day 23

Day #23: A movie that makes you laugh

Ratatouille!

I’ve seen this just once but it really is hilarious!  I laughed soooo hard!!!  I was skeptical when I saw the previews but being the Disney fan that I am, I watched it and instantly fell in love.

Disney Challenge Day 22

Day #22: An underrated movie

A Bug’s Life

This show doesn’t get the recognition it deserves.  It has the most loveable characters and an excellent villain if I say so myself.  Disney/Pixar films really took off and this was one of the earlier ones.  That’s why I think it gets forgotten unfortunately.

Disney Challenge Day 21

Day #21: An overrated movie

TRON: Legacy

OK I might get some heat for this but I was completely unimpressed with this show.  Unless you’re totally into computer technology and all that jazz then you wouldn’t get it.  I sure didn’t.  I’m still confused.

Disney Challenge Day 20

Day #20: You favorite sequel

 

High School Musical 2

So the obvious answer to this day would be the Toy Story sequels but I’m a non-conformist so I picked my favorite after Toy Story 2 & 3. 

Most people don’t really like High School Musical 2 (or HSM all together for that matter) but this one has a special place in my heart.  Do you see those red mountains in the background?  Ya, that’s my home.  HSM 2 was filmed in sunny Saint George, UT!  Bumping into Zac, Corbin, or Ashley was kind of common since Saint George isn’t all that big and the cast would like to go out and play when they weren’t filming.