I Earned My Ears!

After my confectionery shift, yesterday I earned my ears and took off my little red ribbon from my name tag! Yay! I also sized a watch yesterday. It was nerve wracking to do it by myself for the first time, but I had another CM help me and the 2nd one I did by myself. I was so happy he happened to also be sizing a watch so he helped me out. I also got to watch the Electrical Parade twice, once at Firehouse and once at Tip board.

Before work yesterday I met up with Kristin & her family at MK. It was fun to get to run around and play with them for awhile, did Jungle cruise, country bears & the 3:00 parade. Had an amazing taco salad at Pecos Bills.. Unfortunately Pirates shut down right as we got in line so we missed that :( But they did almost everything in the park  by 5:00 pretty impressive!

In other news- I got a couple days off in April approved so we can go play in the parks when Mike comes to visit :)

1st day of Confectionery

Today i worked my first shift without a trainer in the confectionery. We get to wear these cute yellow skirts and blouses with a big ol marshmellow yellow hat and a white apron. They were way more comfy than the blue & brown plaid skirt I wear for shops. Confect was fun, but since its the only place with a different costume than MSE(main street east) you only rotate thruout the confectionery. So that seemed to make the day go by a little bit slower. However when you work behind the bulk counter, it can get pretty hectic before and after parades & fireworks and that really passes the time. Overall today was pretty good, and I worked with some of the people I particularly like to be with so that was fun!
Everyone is giving me a hard time about still having my "earning my ears" ribbon on. I was using the excuse of having not worked Confect. yet ..... soooo now that I don't have a decent excuse I might have earned my ears!!!
Two funny things that happened: the other day in Uptown I was crouched down on the floor talking to this cute little blonde girl and she had her pin lanyard laid out on the floor and she was telling me all about her pins, when it was time for them to go I said bye to her and as I stood up I noticed her dad had been videotaping her ( which means i was totally in it ((or you could at least hear me)) and that was totally weird!! haha
Today a woman asked me if she could take a picture of me ( real weird) but i said yes bc i figured whats the big deal im just wearing a yellow marshmellow costume! And then she told me they were working on a slide show.... hmmmm now im going to be in someones slide show!! Crazy.

Got off at 12 and home around 1:15 ish The A bus was full when it got to west clock and ppl were sprinting to it. Not many got on but luckily right behind it was an empty A bus. We were all very very happy about it. But it drives me nuts how ppl sprint to the bus when it pulls up (your not really allowed to stand where it stops,, you have to stay in a separate covered area so you dont get run over or something) & ppl who came off later buses from MK were trying to push infront of ppl who had gotten off before them. Its so annoying. Anyways I got on the 2nd bus (and got a seat!) and i was all discouraged about the people of the world and their need to get to seats first and no sense of order. when the guy sitting across from me insisted on giving his seat to a girl standing next to me (they were both in costume, and so both pry worked all day) but i just thought that was the nicest thing! And that CP restored my faith in common decency.
Goodnite!

Wednesday 2/23 - I wish i was bilingual

Yesterday went alright. The rotations were long, I only worked in 2 stores, and closing has seemed long everytime I'm there so far. So far I've had 2 or 3 Spanish speaking guests I've had at my register, and I really should have paid attention more in Spanish class in high school! I can't catch too many words... but we eventually figured it out.. money was the easiest because i can just point to the total on the screen, or if they need more I can point to quarters and say Dos! Not the best but it worked! However yesterday I was tasking in the Gallery and the girl working called me over because she couldn't figure out what the guests wanted. They spoke very little English and I had no idea what language they were speaking. Once vinylmations have been opened you cant exchange them because the whole point is that you pick a box from a particular set and you dont know which character you get. If you dont like it you can trade it with other guests. Some stores have a set on display you can trade for or they have a mystery box with numbers and they pick a number and they can trade theirs with the corresponding vinylmation. BUT these guests had the little key chain ones and we dont have those to trade in the gallery just the big ones. So the other girl and i were trying to explain that to people who dont speak english.. ay ay ay.....

These are some of  the big vinymations (3")

These are some of the little vinylmations

Week 3

My schedule for this week was:

Sunday (20th): 7:15-15:45
           I loved this morning shift opening the park was so fun. Its crazy to see main street with no people on it, and when they opened the park all of the guests came sprinting in! It was just like in Disneyland Fun movie. I was done at 345 and it was so nice to have the rest of the day to relax and eat dinner and stuff.

Monday (21st): I had off! I was pretty lazy this day, I hung around the house with the other roomies that had the day off. I wrote a short little paper I had for my C& I class. When Katie got off work we ran over to the Studios and did Tower of terror and Great movie ride, had a churro & shopped around. (we only had 2 hours but it was nice to be there for a little bit. Toy story mania had a crazy line of 80 minutes so we skipped that)

Tuesday (22nd): Went on an adventure to Kinko's to get my paper I printed, turns out its not far away but its hard to look for things and watch the road haha. Drove to costuming after that and got my confectionary costume for Thursday. Finding that skirt went alot better than the brown skirt! A friend from class was having a bbq here at Vista. Katie & I went and tried LION. It was alright, not bad, not amazing. But that was interesting!

Wednesday (23rd): Is today!I went for a short little run and then I went to the pool this morning to read some Pride & Prejudice for about an hour and it was just beautiful! I work 16:45-0:15 tonight. So I'm thinking i'm closing, I just hope they dont extend park hours and then I'll have to be there later. But we shall see.

Thursday (24th): Confectionary 16:30-0:00
Friday (25th): shops 18:00-0:00
Saturday (26th): shops 18:45-1:15

Day 11 - First day off Thurs Feb 17

I had my first day off after all of my training was complete! Yay! :)
I did some laundry, went for a short little jog (it was beautiful out!!!) and then Katie & I went to the outlet mall to get her some hiking boots for work (wilderness campground front desk). Then drove to Disney U to park and took the bus from west clock (my first bus stop i get off at for work. I take the A bus from Vista to West Clock and then a Cast bus from west clock to the back of Fantasyland) and took the cast bus to the utilidor to go play at MK. We did Pirates, Big thunder, and Laugh Floor. We had lunch at Cosmic Rays. The chicken nuggets and fries were good but the birds at the Parks are more rediculous than I remember. They were flying around everywhere and one brushed my head!!! EWWW a big ugly crow! I now have a bird phobia! another one came swooping and as i ran away from the table it pooped right next to Katie's food hahaha. At that point we decided we couldn't eat anything else and went to watch the 3:00 parade on Main Street. The music was stuck in my head for the rest of the day!

After the parade and a few purchases ( one of those cool cloth covered balloons, some magnets for Katie's collection, and some mickey mouse key covers) we took the monorail to EPCOT. We walked world showcase and explored some countries and shops. Saw part of a funny improv show and lots of characters. Got our pics with Daisey too!

We rode Maelstrom in Norway and it was a little creepier than i remember haha Our feet were tired so we took the monorail back to MK walked back down the utilidor to the bus stop got off at West Clock walked back to the car, got only slightly confused at a wierd intersection on the way home, learned CR 535 & SR 535 are slightly different roads and made it home in time to watch WallE with Yuliana. It was a pretty successful day i think.

We only stood in line for Daisy we creeped and "paparazzied" the princesses!

 Aurora

 Belle & Beast

Aladdin & Jasmine

Good Life Skills

Today I worked 11-7:30, my last day of training - specialty day. I learned excellent life skills like cotton candy making, name stitching on ear hats and watch sizing. It was pretty cool and the day flew by. Cotton candy making is relatively simple. Except i'm pretty sure i will accidentally create purple instead of blue or pink and thats not good! Watch sizing seems tedious and the kid next to us dropped a  pin from his and he couldnt find it, so that seems scary. Stitching hats was really fun, so far I like all the rotations in the chapeau.
Tomorrow is my first day off YAY we're gonna go play in the parks i think

1 week mark

Well i've successfully lived here for 1 week! It seems like so much longer! Today I trained in the Confectionary and it was real fun! We did registers and pulled fudge and cookies from the case. It was crazy busy tho so it was a little overwhelming at first but it was ok. I had an awesome trainer today his name was Paul and he was soo funny & nice. I also passed my merchandise knowledge assessment today. So i can work yay. I also thought i started at 1:30 and i really started at 1, so i think i got a half point already GRRR (even though i was there by like 1:08 or something. so idk i'm gonna have to pay better attention to schedules so i dont get in trouble. The being late started the day off bad.. but it got better and turned out alright in the end. It doesnt seem to take that long to get to work but its taken me and hour to get home everyday ... idk why it takes longer at night :S

Pre checkin & Day 2- Day 8 Catch up

Just wanted to catch up on our trip down here & the first week of the CP, since I've been to busy/tired to keep updated more often.

Mom, dad, Mike & i left home around 6am on the 4th. Mom & I drove first and we ate at Panera in Perrysburg OH. the drive was pretty decent for awhile but then it rained for about 9 hours straight, and at some points it was a full-out downpour!! It made the day pretty miserable. Luckily we made it all the way to Valdosta, GA and we all went straight to sleep. We did see some cool places that would be fun to stop at sometime, like the Colonel Sanders Museum haha Since we made it to Valdosta on Friday, we only had a few hours to go on Saturday! Yay! So we stopped at the FL welcome center for a few pics. When we got to the hotel Mike & I took the boat to Downtown Disney to eat at Earl of Sandwich, mom & dad went to Epcot to set up their annual passes. Then we checked in while mom & dad went exploring Mike and I went swimming!
The next morning we went to the Polynesian for breakfast -  mike & I had PINEAPPLE MACADAMIA NUT PANCAKES! delicioussss! Then we took the monorail to MK since it was drizzling all morning there was nobody there! It was pretty empty and we walked on everything. So after we did some big stuff like Space Mtn, big thunder, Haunted Mansion etc.. and headed over to AK to do Expedition Everest before our dinner reservation at Yak & Yeti. Dinner was very good! I had honey chicken and it was definately a good choice.
So skipping passed check in day:
Tuesday (1:30-5:30) I went to my first C&I class and it was really cool. Its at Patterson & I drove myself there & Everything. I just learned im not very creative person! Uh oh! I have had training everyday.

Wednesday was Traditions class and that was really fun we got our first peek at the utilidors under Magic Kingdom.

Thursday (9:30-6)was a class at Disney University called Merchandise Tier 1, we did another tour and had 2 really cool leaders for that.

Friday (My birthday) (8:00-3)I had the Merchantainment class at DU. We got to play on real registers (that obviously are not hooked to the system theyre just for practice) After class I went to dinner with mom & dad at Crystal Palace on Main Street for dinner, it was a delicious buffet and we met pooh, tigger, eyore & piglet! It was really fun & we got to walk around MK at night! We caught a little bit of wishes & The magic, the memories & you show- which was awesome! My roommates also bought me a cake, happy birthday mouse ears & really cool mickey mug AND peanut m & ms! It was so fuN! And they sang to me in English & Spanish!

Saturday (7:15-12:15)I had to be at training @ 715 which was rough after having fun all night on Friday. This class was all walking around MK and learning history & stuff which was super interesting but it was really chilly! We got in to MK before it opened and there was NO ONE on main street. It was so cool!
Sunday (10:00-6:30) was my first day of actually working in the park. I’m still training/earning my ears but it was really fun myself and Arielle took turns using the register and our trainer took us to the different locations we would be working at and we rotated around all day. Its all beginning to make sense and I don’t feel like I will be lost in the utilidor forever! (if I get lost now I’m pretty sure I could eventually find my way out!)
After work we went to the House of Blues in Downtown Disney, and it was pretty fun.. just a DJ but it was pretty cool.

Today Monday the 14^th – I have to train again but today in the confectionary (1:30-9:30) I get to learn to make cotton candy! ( I think or maybe that’s Wednesday… I forget)
I was supposed to finish training on Tuesday… but I have class… so I don’t have to work Tuesday now.
Wednesday I have specialty training (11:00-7:30)

Hopefully I will remember to print out my schedule for next week after work today!

In other news Mike has a plane ticket to come here in April!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Im excited!

Day 1

"Sleep with that mouse and get that princess castle" --Dan

That was the first note I pulled out of my box today from my favorite brother! All of my new roommates got a kick out of it and therefore made it one of our "house rules" lol

Mom & I picked up Maura from her hotel (double tree) on hotel plaza blvd. around 715 this morning. I had already walked mike out and got some breakfast (bagels & muffins) with mom at Port Orleans. We got to vista and the line for check in was much shorter than we had anticipated! 

Danielle was running a little late as we stayed much closer to Vista than she did. Check in was supposed to start at nine but they let us in about 830. We got name tags (unofficial paper ones) and then we got in a line to fill out paperwork. We waited for danielle several times to see if she could  catch up to us. We heard that if you have a group that wants to live together you have to be in line together. Well, Maura and danielle were already roommate matched in Disney's system. So in that case they did not need to be next to each other. Go figure. but no one told us. So at the next part of the line Maura went to the left and took care of picking out our room and i waited in a separate area. In the meantime Danielle (Maura Danielle and I had picked each other out of fbook) had found a 4th roomie for our (what we were hoping) for 4 person/2 bedroom apt, Katie. 

Turns out we wanted at 2 bedroom in Chatham and all that was left were 3 bedrooms in Vista Way or Patterson Court. AH we didnt have a plan B!!! ( Go figure bc we've been planning all kinds of little details for months) anyways we have a 3 bedroom in vista. Maura, Danielle, Katie & I. Plus Kelsie and Jules (who were previously matched) were also put with us. 

We were then assigned a time to take a bus to Casting and a time for Housing meeting. We took the 930 bus to casting, where we were told our role placements. I am Merchandise(which I already knew) in Magic Kingdom on Main Street East. Which I didn't know ahhhhh so exciting! We went thru several stations where we were finger printed, did background checks and turned in forms. We also got a few booklets on transportation, disney look, and we did our payroll. Since I don't have checks to void for direct deposit it was easiest to just get the payroll card. Which is like a Visa debit card we get paid on.

  Then we borded the bus back to Vista and had about an hour to carry things in to the apartment. We are on the first floor which is nice for moving in, but wierd bc i never want to leave my blinds open bc ppl are walking by! At 215 we had to catch a bus to The Commons (International program housing complex) for the housing meeting. 2ish hours later we took a bus back to vista and our first plan of action was to make a shopping list and second was to get FOOD. We went to the chick-fil-a just down the road bc we got coupons in our free tote bags we got today! WOOHOOO it was delish! Then we( maura, danielle, katie & I) went to Walmart and spent lots of money on odds and ends we didnt have room to pack as well as a huge dry erase board and bullitin boards bc thats all we are allowed to put on our walls! it was an adventure getting all of it back home since we all had driven in my car!

So we have been hangin out havin fun all night but i am exhausted now, just wanted to give a q uick update! goodnite!!!

I'm taking a vote!

SO, mom had this great idea that we need to get Mike some Mickey Mouse ears when we get there! YAY
But Mike thinks that he doesn't want to wear them. (I told him he only has to wear them in front of the castle and other important things for pictures hehehe) So to help us settle this, leave a comment on this post voting for me (mickey ears) or Mike no mickey ears!
hahaha thanks :)

Roadtrip begins .... TOMORROW!

This is one of the latest emails I have received. Aren't they so exciting?! Anyways here is a quick update:

1. Everything major is packed!!! There is just a few bags left to go in the back seat, mostly things that we dont want to freeze. But we also didn't want to drive around all week with tons of stuff in our car. We'd really be in trouble if something happened to one of our cars this week.

2. Pretty much all I have to do today is clean out the inside of my car, pack a bag for 2 days of driving, a day at the parks & check-in day and pick Mike up from his apartment.

3. Update on my C& I class- I received an email saying the book required for the class is really expensive and hard to find & to hold off on getting the book until they decide what to do.  I just received another email that says the book is available in the Education Office for $13 deducted from your paycheck! $13 for a book?! This is already the best class I've ever taken lol

4. I now have an account created for me that puts me into this Disney education portal. I dont really know what all it can do or what I use it for. So far I can see it has a calendar and lists of students and instructors. I'm assuming its somewhat like our Moodle. Something where you can see  all your info about classes and communicate with ppl in your class. I'm sure I'll be learning more about this in a few days, but its cool to have access to something new!

5. Had a "going away dinner" at Grandma Jackie's last night and it was DELICIOUS, ham dinner with mashed taters, cheesy taters, sweet potatoes, spaghetti squash, corn, beans, applesauce, rolls, 3 kinds of cheesecake, and strawberry shortcake! YUM
My brother Dan came over to have some leftover desert haha and I'm just starting to realize I'm not going to be seeing everyone for a very longgg time eek!