Week Nine: Weather 101 and Force Extensions

March 20th (Monday): I woke up like 45 minutes late and the whole day went similarly. I worked from 10:30am - 8:45pm and everything just moved super slow and it was frustrating. I was mostly indoor at Dumbo and a little bit at Barn. On Barn we had a little old couple each cross themselves before riding and that was super funny/cute. I also had a super cute little kid with a birthday pin so I told him "happy birthday!" to which he replied "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!" and it was adorable.

March 21st (Tuesday): Day off! Woo! I spent the whole day at Magic Kingdom, the first half with Melissa before she went off to work at 4pm, and the second half with Alyssa after she got off work at 3:45pm. We used FastPasses on everything (except the People Mover and the train, duh) and got to ride Big Thunder twice, Space Mountain twice, Peter Pan's Flight, Mine Train twice, Dumbo three times, Barnstormer, Haunted Mansion, and Little Mermaid. We also watched Wishes from Dumbo with my coworker Jenna which was neat :) And when we were at Dumbo my coordinator gave us two FP's for Mine Train so that was super cool of her!! AND it took us like a good hour to get from MK to the TTC, so MK is the one spot where it's less convenient to drive to...

March 22nd (Wednesday): Also off! Yay! I went to Typhoon Lagoon with Alyssa and Alexa in the morning and we got to do pretty much everything but the body slides. I definitely prefer Typhoon to Blizzard but both are a blast. Wednesday night Alexa and I went and saw Beauty and the Beast at the Fork & Dine theater, so that was a ton of fun too. We both really enjoyed it.

March 23rd (Thursday): We had lightening in the area so we went "Weather 101" meaning that our attraction was down due to weather. So we had to unload the ride, have the guests exit or wait in line, and basically stand there until we got the okay to continue loading. Also I just had a bunch of little things go wrong and I got a cold so that wasn't so fun. I worked a lovely 8:30am - 8:15pm. Thursday night Alexa and Alyssa and I went to Target and I spend almost $100 #targetprobs

March 24th (Friday): I called in sick because I couldn't breathe and was on so many different medicines I thought it best I not operate machinery or talk to guests. So basically I did laundry and drank tea and water and watched movies in bed all day. I was supposed to work 3:15pm - 11:45pm.

March 25th (Saturday): We were SUPER short handed and had like four people call in sick so we dropped all unnecessary positions and even had leaders and coordinators step in to give people their breaks. At one point on Barn I was both standby and FastPass greeter (so I had to check both sides for kid heights and kids/parents ratios AND there was no merge combining FP and standby. On top of it all we were all force extended an hour because MK extended their hours. So my shift ended up being 2:45pm - 11:15pm.

March 26th (Sunday): I FINALLY got an email saying we're getting a new roommate. She moves in either Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, so we didn't even get 24 hours notice but it's fine. I just hope she's normal, but I had to clean up my room and move everything off her bed. At work our coordinator Beth was HYSTERICAL. She's one of those dry humor/no nonsense kind of people and she was in her prime tonight. We work with this one really annoying kid and he goes "hey you stole my thunder!" and she just goes "there was no lightening" hahaha YES BETH. I also saw a little girl with those shirts with their names on them and hers said "Marin" so obviously I went up and talked to her. Also I had a small child at Barn who was scared to ride but was definitely tall enough so I bribed her with paper FP's and that was super cute. I worked a weirdly short shift at 4pm - 10:45pm.

That's it for the week!! Just working on getting over this weird cold going around. PRAY MY ROOMMATE IS NORMAL.

Week Eight: Josh Gad Sighting & A Cold Week

March 13th (Monday): It was rainy on Monday but luckily I brought my rain gear. It wasn't that famous Florida downpour, but it was enough that I would have been pretty wet without my gear!! On the bright side we had the sweetest bus driver at West Clock (the bus to take you from the bus stop to the tunnels). Also I had to wait AGES for the CP bus to go home. I was off at 11:45pm and for some reason like four busses skipped West Clock? So the bus didn't come until 12:30am/12:45am and everyone was PISSED because there was literally no bus between 11:15pm and 12:45am-ish. So a bunch of people called Transtar dispatch to complain. I worked 3pm - 11:45pm.

March 14th (Tuesday): This day was SUPER busy and since it was busier than expected, the park extended hours from closing at 11pm to closing at midnight. So we were all force extended an hour. It was okay though because #overtime. I ended up working from 10am - 9pm. Also it was pie day so we got free pie at work!! ALSO when I was working inside the tent at ringmaster I got to be in someone's live stream? Don't know if they are Instagram famous or YouTube famous or what, but I was in it! So that's cool! Alyssa and I FINALLY had work schedules that lined up so she drove me home and we went to Chick-Fil-A. Also we all got free hand warmers because it was cold and we're not supposed to put our hands in our pockets. 

March 15th (Wednesday): I had Wednesday off and so did Alyssa so we got up REALLY early and went to Be Our Guest for breakfast! We had 8:35am reservations and both got breakfast sandwich things to eat. For breakfast you order up front on screens, get a buzzer thing, pick a table, and then when your food is ready they bring it to you. The breakfast prices look expensive but they also include a pastry tray and drinks. So I got hot chocolate as my drink and we both ordered the grey stuff cupcake in addition to breakfast.

Honestly, I thought dinner was much better and more worth the price. After breakfast we used my paper fastpasses and got on Space Mountain then drove to Universal!! We started at Islands of Adventure and rode Dragon Challenge and Jurassic Park (in 50 degree weather). We went to Moe's on CityWalk for lunch, then did Mummy and Gringotts at Universal. Gringotts had a 105 minute wait, but we got to skip basically the whole thing because one of my coworkers works there part-time and got us through (THANKS ALYSSA!!!!!).

After that we went to Hollywood Studios and did Star Wars Launch Bay where we were stalked by Stormtroopers, watched the Frozen show (SO GOOD) and watched Fantasmic! Shoutout to this awesome PhotoPass Cast Member who we were watching while waiting for Frozen - this family asked if he could get everyone in the picture so he starts yelling at other guests to get in the photo and this family ended up with a "family photo" with like 50 people hahaha. It was amazing. Also we finally found Brooklyn at work!!

March 16th (Thursday): It was pretty chilly again today and since it was cold, the fireworks didn't go as high and the sulfur smell didn't drift away very fast. So it smelled like sulfur for like three hours. Also the fallout was pretty bad (the pieces of firework that fall back down, mostly looks like cardboard). I worked from 3:15pm - 11:45pm.

March 17th (Friday): Friday was good, nothing remarkable happened EXCEPT I SAW JOSH GAD TO HAVE A GOOD NIGHT AND HE SAID "THANKS, YOU TOO!!" AND I WAS LIKE OMG I'M TALKING TO OLAF. So that was super awesome. They were leaving right after the park closed, probably just walking the park without encountering the crazy fans. I didn't actually know who it was until one of my coworkers told me haha. I worked 3:30pm - 11:45pm.

March 18th (Saturday): I was off again today! I went to Epcot for Flower & Garden with two coworkers, Jenna and Beatrice, and we ate lots and lots of food and tried some drinks.

Then Jenna and I went to Animal Kingdom and watched Festival of the Lion King! We were there a little late so we got to sit in the FP leftover section! Also I went to see if Corey was driving that day and the Cast Member at greeter let us in through FP even though there was a 75 minute wait! Corey was driving the accessible truck so we also got to ride the special truck, front row. That was really cool, he did a fabulous job.

Then we went to Yak and Yeti for dinner and since Jenna is a Landry's member, we got in in like 5-10 minutes! Everyone else had to wait 60-70. So we call it our VIP day.

March 19th (Sunday): Sunday was good, honestly nothing too exciting happened. I did have one adorable kid wearing a birthday button so I said "happy birthday!!" and he gives me this big smile and says back, "happy birthday!!" and it was so cute. I worked from 11am - 9:15pm.

Week Seven: Cheerleaders Take Over & I'm Visited By Friends

This week was busy busy busy. A few friends from home were in town so I was splitting time hanging out with them and working late night shifts.

March 6, 2017 (Monday): I worked from 9:15am - 8:15pm and the day was pretty good, but we were struggling to hit our numbers. Basically everything was a little too slow and it was frustrating. That pretty much sums up Monday.

March 7, 2017 (Tuesday): I was off Tuesday and two friends from high school were in town staying at Saratoga Springs!! I took the bus to their hotel and we spent the day at Universal Studios. Super fun day, we did both parks and since it was one girl's birthday, her parents bought us all Express Unlimited passes!! Those are the Universal equivalent to Fastpasses but with even shorter waits and you have to pay for it. For the unlimited one it's $100. So expensive. But yeah, we did all the big ones including Ripsaw Falls where we got totally soaked and decided not to do anymore water rides.

Then we went to the Mexican restaurant on CityWalk for Amy's birthday and it was super tasty! They have guacamole made right in front of you where you can choose any ingredients you want more/less of. So it's SUPER fresh. We also hit up the chocolate emporium for little desserts.

 

March 8, 2017 (Wednesday): I was also off Wednesday and we went to Cocoa Beach! It was a little windy but the UV was high so though it wasn't very hot, we still got fried. We ate lunch on the pier then went back to their hotel where we spent some time in the pool and hot tub.

We also got dinner at Yesake in Disney Springs which is a food stand selling build your own udon bowls and stuff like that. We also went to the Coca-Cola store to the rooftop bar where you can buy trays of soda samples from around the world. So we bought a tray for like $14 or something that had 18 different samples of sodas and soda floats. That was pretty fun, but most of them were kind of gross.

March 9, 2017 (Thursday): Thursday I worked from 4:15pm - 12:45am but before work I went to Epcot because some OTHER friends from home were at Disney for their brother's baseball tournament. So we did Soarin', Living with the Land, the ride in Mexico, and Mission: Space (intense training). Work was good, I had a super funny pair of drunk grandparents go on Dumbo that couldn't figure out how their seatbelt worked. Then after work I went to IHOP with my coworkers and got home at 3am!

March 10, 2017 (Friday): I again worked from 4:15pm - 12:45am and before work went to Amy and Meredith's hotel to hangout at the pool before work. So that was nice before taking the bus over to MK. Friday night we hosted an event from 10pm - midnight for the cheerleaders who competed over the weekend, so that was easy. Most of them tend to be crazy and spoiled and rude, but luckily they tend to take over rides like Space Mountain and Mine Train instead of our Circus rides ;)

March 11, 2017 (Saturday): I worked AGAIN from 4:15 - 12:45am and it was literally like the worst day of work for everyone. Somehow every Cast Member had a rough day and was a little off, so our efficiency was way down for the day. Everyone was trying super hard, we just had so many little things go wrong. But I went grocery shopping before work which was nice, and had two little kids give me hugs so that was cute.

March 12, 2017 (Sunday): I worked from 3:45pm - 11:45pm and it was much better than the day before! I slept until noon which I haven't done in ages, but the train is finally up and running again at MK and we now have Fastpass kiosks open in Circus! YAY!!!! Also a family rode Barnstormer like five times at the end of the night and were our very last guests on the ride, and this little four year old came up after and gave me the biggest hug and it was so cute I wanted to cry.

And that's it for the week!! I put in my extension application to extend through July 27th, which is crazy exciting (fingers crossed for me!!) and this week I'm off Wednesday and Saturday, then Tuesday and Wednesday next week.

Spring DCP Extension Applications!

Applications just came to extend our program, so I literally JUST submitted my application to extend. Extension applications are live from March 6 - March 10 and are apps to extend through July 27, 2017. The application looked nearly identical to the initial application you put in for the DCP with general info, education, five most recent jobs, and an optional resume. On the extension app they have the following options for roles:

• Current role / Current location
• Current role / New location
• Attractions (includes Main Entrance Operations locations)
• Bell Services Dispatch/Greeter
• Bus Greeter
• Character Attendant
• Character Performer (must have attended March 6 OR March 8 audition)
• Costuming Operations
• Custodial
• Housekeeping
• Lifeguard
• Sales
• PhotoPass Photographer
• Quick-Service Food & Beverage
• Recreation Attractions
• Seater
• Vacation Planner
• Watercraft

You pick five of these options and list them from top choice to fifth choice. Personally I ranked them as follows: current role/new location, vacation planner, current role/current location, seater, and PhotoPass. I've heard if you put interest in your current role/current location you're almost guaranteed to get your extension in your current position so there's a good chance I'll stay at Circus! But we'll see. You can no longer put in location requests which is a huge bummer because I wanted to request Festival of the Lion King or Soarin' but oh well!! As long as I don't get moved to transportation or something which is now a part of attractions ;)

That's it for the app! Super easy, takes no more than ten minutes to complete. The biggest thing they look at when deciding whether or not to give you an extension is your record card, so make sure to keep it clean as possible!! You can have one reprimand and like four or five attendance points to still be in the clear.

UPDATE: I have been offered an extension in SAME ROLE/SAME LOCATION through July 27th, 2017, which I have accepted (and paid the $150 program fee for). My transfer date is May 14th but since I'm in the same role I'm guessing that applies to my move out date for housing? PRAYING FOR ANYTHING BUT VISTA, GET ME OUT OF HERE. All of my coworkers who put in for an extension were accepted on the same day (March 21st) and if you put ANY interest in same role/same location, that's what you got. One coworkers didn't put any interest in same role/same location and got offered an extension in same role/new location. Also my roommate got offered same role/new location for custodial. So since summer extensions are only extending for two more months, I'm guessing they don't want to take the time and effort to train you elsewhere. 

Week Six: Water Parks & Working Until 2AM

This week was a great week! Work was good and my days off were awesome.

February 27th (Monday): Work was good, I closed so I worked from 3:45pm - 11:45pm then went to McDonald's for a midnight snack with my coworkers Cassie and Tamara, in full costume. That was fun because there was a group of Tomorrowland QSFB CM's there that we bonded with. I would highly recommend going out with coworkers before/after work because it's a great bonding experience :)

February 28th (Tuesday): I worked from 3:45pm - midnight. Since it was Fat Tuesday we had like the entire state of Louisiana at Disney to escape Mardi Gras and it was super busy and super hot (like upper 80's with humidity which is normal in summer, but not February). I was scheduled to work until midnight even though the park closed at 9pm because we had testing. Testing is when maintenance comes in and tests your ride for something. So this time they rigged Barn up with equipment to test for G-forces, so three of us just sat there and sent planes until they were done. We had to power back up and reset the track twice, then power down at the end of the night. Luckily we got off an hour early, so that was cool! Also during the day I had a super cute little girl come give me a sticker.

March 1st (Wednesday): Today was my last day of class!! FINALLY! To end my marketing seminar we had a panel of marketing leaders across the different marketing departments (you can read more about my class in my other blog post) and can I just say how happy I am that that class is over? If anything it's turned me off of doing anything marketing related. After class I ran home and went to Epcot with Alexa for the first day of Flower & Garden Festival. Basically we just walked around and checked out the different food booths! I got an elderflower pineapple margarita and we rode Living with the Land (like always), found Mariam at work, and rode Soarin'.

After Epcot I took a bus over to Hollywood Studios where I met up with my coworkers from work, Tamara, Michael, Michelle, and Brittney.  It was Tamara's first time ever in Studios so we obviously rode Tower of Terror which was hilarious, and watched the Beauty and the Beast show because the line for Rockin' Rollercoaster was way too long for us.

Then we went to Taco Bell for dinner before going to Magic Kingdom and rode Mine Train, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder, and met Elena and Cinderella! We also watched Wishes from Big Thunder, then watched Once Upon A Time before heading home. Then I did laundry.

March 2nd (Thursday): Alyssa and I went to Blizzard Beach which was a BLAST. Unfortunately their big tube ride was down for refurb but we did basically everything else minus the two body slides. Alyssa did Summit Plummet but I refused ;) We went in the lazy river and the wave pool, and it was actually super relaxing not to be in the parks (even though I love the parks).

We were here from maybe noon to 4pm then went to Cast Connections to buy more discounted Disney stuff. After that we hit up Tropical Smoothie Cafe and Super Target, then went home. At night Mariam, Alyssa, Alexa, and I all went to 'Ohana for dinner which is delicious.

March 3rd (Friday): I got up early and went to Epcot with Alyssa to explore more of Flower & Garden before work, and we checked out the butterfly house, rode Test Track and Living with the Land, and ate lots of food. I got a violet lemonade, a berry green tea mint julep (both non-alcoholic since I had work after), Beijing-style candied strawberries, and frushi (sushi but with coconut rice and fruit and without seaweed). Everything was delicious. I'll make a big blog post with pictures once Flower & Garden is over! Then I worked from 3:00pm - 1:45am. The park closed at 10pm and we had a DVC event from 10pm - 1am and that was actually super cool. They had a bunch of characters out in the parks like Chicken Little, Dr. Facilier (I might have spelled that wrong), Max Goof, Jane, and other rare characters. AND THEY PLAYED REAL MUSIC, NOT CIRCUS MUSIC!!! PRAISE! It was actually a super fun event to work.

March 4th (Saturday): I worked from 3:45pm - 11:45pm and it was a good day! A little girl and her dad came up to me because the little girl's name was Marin and she met me two weeks ago :) SO CUTE!! Also this little girl was telling me about how she met Elena and I asked her if Elena was nice and the adorable little savage goes "yes, but Elena was little too chatty." SERIOUSLY SO CUTE AND FUNNY. Her parents lost it hahaha.

March 5th (Sunday): I slept in today and work from 3:15pm - 9:15pm which is a super nice shift. Also my friends from high school are here so I'll hopefully get to see them tonight and if not tonight then for sure on my days off :)

Tomorrow I work from 9:15am - 8:15pm, am off Tuesday/Wednesday, and work 4:15pm - 12:45am Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The following week I'm off Wednesday and Saturday but I'm trying to trade so I'm off Wednesday and Thursday!

Global Marketing & Sales: Disney Exploration Series Seminar Class

If you've read any of my blogs from my first program in fall 2014, you may know that I took a seminar and LOVED it so I decided to sign up for another one this program!! I signed up for Global Marketing & Sales with the intention of networking and just learning more about the marketing department in general. Plus I had such a blast in my seminar my first program I thought they'd all be fun like mine was.

Well first of all, seminars are now set up in four week sessions instead of six, and there are two different sessions you can sign up for (one for February and one for March basically). Also, one my first program my seminar had three in-class sessions, and three park field trip sessions whereas my marketing seminar had zero field trips, and four in-class sessions.

My seminar consisted of one day general marketing overview, one day of strategy, one day of tactics, and a day with a marketing panel. Honestly I thought it was extremely dry, and that the material was information you can probably find online or something. What made my first seminar so cool was the fact that it was geared toward Cast Members and revealing some of that backstage magic!! The only interesting day for me was the panel of marketing managers. We had five managers from across the marketing departments, one from customer managed relationships (CMR), one from content management, one from strategy, one from analytics (CIMA), and one from another branch I can't remember. They all went over their duties, advice, and other valuable insight if you're looking to break into the industry.

Basically here's what I learned:

• Disney marketing is about telling a story
• Know your target audience
• Statistics and an understanding of math is just as important, probably even more important, than creative design
• Best majors to get into Disney marketing include general business, statistics/math, engineering, and an MBA (Master's in business)
• Don't be afraid to put yourself out there and network, that's the easiest way to get hired
• Regardless of where you get your start with the company (and whether or not it's a spot you're passionate about), always give 110% because you never know who's watching you
• There are MANY different departments and areas of marketing, stay open-minded and don't throw away any opportunities - you never know for sure what your niche will be unless you try different stuff out!
• Yellow Shoes is the content creation/creative side of marketing but even they need to be able to analyze and understand statistics and business
• Don't let fear of failure stop you from trying, it can only make you better

So that's basically the gist of what I learned, mostly advice from the managers we saw. There was also an opportunity at the end of the last class to talk to the leaders and network.

All in all I was a little disappointed by the class. It was very dry and set up much like a two-hour lecture. I would recommend it to people looking to get into the marketing department with Disney, but that's pretty much it. If you want to take something for fun, take Disney Heritage!