Earning my Ears

My training began the day of Traditions which was on Thursday, January 15, 2015.  For Traditions, we learned what it means to be a Disney Cast Member for the company.  We got our blue company IDs and name tags.  We also got to take a tour through Magic Kingdom to apply our newly acquired knowledge.  It was really interesting, and it was in that moment that I realized I get to work for this awesome company.

On Friday, I had my welcome to operations class.  This class basically trained us on how to be a cast member in Disney Parks and Resorts.  It was really long and tedious but the instructors tried to make it fun.  The one thing that got me through the class was that I got to go play with my roommates after.  After class, I took a bus to Ticket and Transportation Center and then to Hollywood Studios.  My roommates met me there and from there we went to ride a few rides.  We rode Rockin Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror before heading over to Magic Kingdom for a little bit.  I was starving by the time we got there, so Michele and I went to Cosmic Ray's to get the glorified and overpriced chicken nuggets.  After eating, Michele and I went to meet some characters at Pete's Silly Slideshow in Storybook Circus.  Donald was by far our favorite...he was ready to take us home with us!  After playing with the characters, we rode Dumbo.  After riding Dumbo, we decided to take a little trip under the sea with our friend, Ariel.  She was lovely and said the next time we go to the beach we should look for seashells for her collection.  Once we were done swimming, we headed over to the front of the castle to watch Celebrate the Magic and Wishes.  I ate a Mickey ice cream bar during these....it's casual.  After the shows we went to check the wait time for Big Thunder Mountain.  The wait was too long for us, so we headed to meet some more princesses.  We met Cinderella and Rapunzel, two of my favorites, and they were so sweet.  I told Cinderella I was going to help her in her castle in a few months and she was really excited to hear that.  After visiting some princesses, we went to Mickey's PhillarMagic before heading out of the park.  What started as a long, tiring morning ended as fun filled night.

On Saturday, I had another class.  This time it was more specific towards my role.  It was how Food and Beverage Cast Members help create magic.  It was a short class, but very informative.  After class, I went back to my apartment and ate some lunch.  After eating, Mollie, Anne, and I went to Animal Kingdom.  We thought we were going to ride some rides but we just ended up meeting some characters. After a short time at Animal Kingdom, we went back to the apartment for dinner and then we went back out to Downtown Disney.  Just another casual day in Walt Disney World.

Sunday was my last day of training before I started my on the job training.  Sunday was my "Once Upon A Time...Is Now" class which was basically my orientation to Magic Kingdom.  My favorite part about that day was walking into Magic Kingdom before the park opened.  It was completely empty and it was beautiful.  We even got to ride Haunted Mansion!  After our tour around the kingdom we branched off into our roles where we had another meeting and got our on the job training  schedules.  After receiving our schedules, we ate lunch and then went to get our costumes!  I LOVE my costume! It was a really long day, but once I got home it was game night with the roomies! We played Disney Headbandz and it was the funniest game I've ever played.  Still cannot believe how lucky I got with my roommates. :)

Monday and Tuesday were basically the same thing.  They were both on the job training and I met my trainers.  On those days it was Ruthie and Devin. They were so amazing, and I'm so glad to have had them as my trainers.  We did taste panels for dinner on those days and I definitely need to go back to the Crystal Palace on my own for dinner.  Each night we were greeter/door opener so we got to watch Wishes and Celebrate the Magic.  Crystal Palace has the best view for both, so I am really excited to be working there for the next month and a half.

Wednesday was assessment day! My friend Ally and I went into work early that day.  Ally was my training partner for the last few days, and we've become great friends too!  We seated some people, greeted and opened the door, and they even started training us on the podium to check people in.  We also did our taste panel for breakfast on this day.  After working for a few hours, it was time to review for assessment.  On this day, Devin and Dee were our trainers, and they were fantastic as well.   Janice, one of our leaders, was going to be giving us the assessment.  I now know everything about the Crystal Palace and Main Street USA, so if you have any questions about either of those places, feel free to ask me.  I am proud to say Ally and I both passed our assessment and earned our ears!  We celebrated by going to play in the park and eating dinner at Tony's in Town Square!  Neither one of us had been and it was delicious. We will definitely be going back.

Fried Zucchini Fingers. They were AMAZING

My Chicken Parm

All in all my training was successful.  Sunday will be my first day at work and not training so it'll be interesting to see how that goes.  Since Wednesday, I've been playing in the parks with my roommates and that's been a lot of fun! I'm going to do a separate blog post on all of our adventures these past couple of days.