Bonds

Since Saturday, I've closed everyday and I officially have the hang of it. Now that I'm on the closing sleep schedule, I'm working days haha. Oh well, at least I can hang out with people now!

I went to Animal Kingdom again yesterday with the rest of my roomies. They all had off except me, but I worked that night so I joined them on an adventure to DAK. It was nice that we all could hang out together, that never happens! We got many group pictures and screamed our heads off on Dinosaur and Expedition Everest haha I had a bit too much fun on that - not too good for my slowly coming back voice.

I have today and tomorrow off! I'm waiting for a friend to get off work to go hang out at the studios and then tomorrow is Epcot with Janet! woo! I've been here for three weeks now, it doesn't feel that long. My friends here, I feel like I've known forever, it's so weird. I usually take forever to warm up to people, so that was a big concern for me, but there's people that I have know for less than a week and I feel like we're totally close. I guess we're all a little off our guard because we're in the same situation. I know I feel more free down here - I jumped into being my loud self pretty fast.

I'm having a good time down here - defintiely can't beat 80 degrees with it being 31 and snowy back home =P I still love all of you in MD!!

It's What Time?

I spent my second day off out and about. Ashly and I got up semi-early and met my friend Alex (he works at World of Disney also located in Downtown Disney) and his roommate Pat. We boarded the bus in the chilly weather to Animal Kingdom. We headed straight for Everest which I had never been on. After we rode it once, another roommate of theirs, Mike, appeared and we rode it again. The ride is pretty fantastic, I recommend it. We headed over to the safari and took a 2 week adventure. We took another 2 week adventure thanks to their roomie Joe (yeah, most of their apartment was in AK that day) who is a driver there. 4 weeks in the wild will make you hungry, so we headed to get some lunch, at which I ordered the "1/2 chicken" which I destroyed by the way.

After filling our bellies, we waited for Dinosaur which was quite thrilling. After that we rushed to the Finding Nemo musical and then Festival of the Lion King. Festival of the Lion King was absolutely amazing. I forgot how great it was. The dancing, singing, costumes, floats - all of it. I'll just say that the emotion presented through the dancing during "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" was kinda moving. I know Ashly and I felt it haha.

We headed back to good ole Chatham Square. Ashly and I met Stephi and soon departed for Downtown Disney to meet her friend Will. We hung out there for awhile, which was a bad idea since it was freezing. But I had a good time. I ended up purchasing a pretty amazing hat which was a good investment since it kept me warm. I ended up eating/dancing/singing/laughing a bit too much for my stomach was quite mad at me that night. I went straight to bed haha

The next morning I had work at 9am - a morning shift!! It was first shift off training, though I left my "earning my ears" on. I met the morning crew who kept warning me they were crazy, but I assured them it was alright and might have proven myself as crazy too. I got off work at 3:30 so I rushed home, changed and headed straight for Magic Kingdom to meet up with Lou, Cait and Ashly.

We met three princesses, had a nighttime castle photo shoot, caught a glimpse of the parade, and did some shopping. I even saw more backstage of Magic Kingdom. While waiting for my lovelies to finish up shopping, I got a call from Mike who had finally returned to the states! Welcome home Mike!

I worked my first night without a trainer and it was crazy haha. It was all CPs or ICPs working so it was kind of stressful, but we got the job done! I woke up Monday not feeling so amazing, so I spent the day in bed trying to sleep it all off. It worked fairly well, for I lowered my temperature from 100.2 to 98.9, woo! I did emerge to meet Elliott who was checking in a couple days later. But working was hard, the managers were extra tough since they were training a new intern. I did have a couple nice chats though - one with a girl who loves High School Musical and another with someone from College Park.

The next day, same thing. Not feeling amazing - better than the previous day, but still icky. I slept through most of the inauguration - Janet was watching it the living room. She'd see me every so often coming in the kitchen for a drink or food. I stopped to watch but after a bit left and passed out on my bed - 3 minutes before Obama's speech. Work was a bit easier this night, Elliott and his roomie Dave came and visited. I also met a UMBCer who knows a couple I know and then I also ran into two UMBC people that lived in the dorm I worked in. It was a small little world in the Pantry that night.

I finally hit my day off! I got up to the question "Do you wanna go to Waffle House?" I love Waffles. So 4 of us girls changed and met Elliott and 4 of his roommates and went to Waffle House. On the way back we met Cameron, who was moving it. It was a morning of introductions! We quickly left to go to the Disney Vacation Club preview where we learned about all the neat places we could go and got to see a sample room of the villas at the Animal Kingdom Lodge and the new Contemporary DVC resort that will be opening later this year. We got free ice cream too!

We decided to hit up Hollywood Studios that afternoon. As I was doing all this I thought it was probably not best since I was getting over my cold. Oh well! We saw Voyage of the Little Mermaid and then headed to meet the Bolt characters. While getting our picture with them a parade of other characters came out, so we made the rounds. There were rare characters too! The Queen, Jafar, Tweedledee & Tweedledum! I was freaking out left and right. We were in the Animation building for probably 2 hours haha.

I spent tons of money (mostly for my mom!) in the store attached and then headed to see Janet working on the Sunset Strip. On the way we stopped in the shops where I purchased an amazing souvenir cup! I was thirsty and I got my discount so hush ;-)

After saying hello to our lovely Janet, we went on Tower of Terror and then Rockin Roller Coaster. Sometime after Rockin Roller Coaster, I think after I got really excited about the coloring book I purchased, I lost my voice. I didn't talk for awhile, and that made it worse haha.

The next day we got up and met up with a big group to go to Wal Mart and get some food cause Ashly and I were out! My voice, still gone so my introductions were awkward. It was quite deep and raspy haha. After Wal Mart we went to the block party where Chip and Dale and Goofy and Max were in attendance. We got our free pizza and met some more new people! A few decided on a soccer game - I photographed. I bounced early to get some more free pizza for the rest of our working roomies.

Later that night a couple of our new friends, Elliott and Charlie, came over to watch the Dark Knight. Well we weren't paying attention to that, so we walked over to Charlie's to get Donnie Darko, came back realized we weren't focused enough for that either, so we put in Nightmare Before Christmas. By this time, most of the apartment was home, so we all chilled (and colored!).

I spent yesterday doing laundry and such since I had to go to work and all my costumes were dirty haha. I was supposed to work 5:15-11:15 which I was stoked about since it was the only night I wasn't closing. I got extended to close haha. It was interesting at work, I still lacked a voice, I may have frightened some =P

So today, my voice is a bit better, but still a little raspy. I feel fine, except for when my cough reeks it's head. I'm a little antsy today, but I can't go anywhere since I have to catch my bus in less than 3 hours. Maybe tomorrow! I've been here 2 1/2 weeks now - time is starting to fly. It's crazy!

Merchantainer

Tuesday night was day 1 of on the job training over at the pantry. I spent the day chillin out to see how much energy I would need for my 6pm-12am shift. I met my new trainer Ronda and she talked me through tons of stuff. The 6 hours went by pretty fast, and Ashly - my darling bedroommie came and met me at the pantry to walk me to the bus! She is a doll!

Wednesday morning I headed over to the Magic Kingdom to do some shopping. I headed over to pirates first to see if I could find Alexa working, but no luck =\ I spent some money in their gift shop then headed back to the Emporium to spend some serious dough so I could get the blanket they were offering/I had been thinking about for 5 days haha. Mission accomplished.

I decided to get a little treat since all the shopping made me parched. I sat on the side of Main Street and enjoyed my coke float. While sitting there I ran into the Mayor and had a nice little chat with him. I decided to venture back to my room so I could take a little nappy. On my way out I ran into Pinocchio. While waiting to hang out with Pico, I saw Mary Poppins and one of the penguins! Too bad they had to go before I could say hi. Then I said hello to Daisy and then scampered away.

Wednesady night was my last night of training with Ronda who is so incredibly sweet. She told me over and over that I'd be great, it was nice support! I got a 92% on the exam, so I'm officially out of training =D

Today I had off and I spent most of it doing nothing. I went to Wal Mart and did laundry and then just chilled. Tomorrow is Animal Kingdom!

Earning My Ears

I added a couple pics to my last entry since I ran out of time when I wrote it.

Sunday I had my first day at Mickey's Pantry. It wasn't until 3:30 so I spent the day taking pictures of my room and unloading all the ones I had taken haha. There is only one other new CPer (Stephanie) in my store which is kinda sad, but at least I'm not alone! We went over the basics a bunch, which is basically be nice - go above and beyond. We got our pin lanyards - yeah, I get to trade pins!!!! Our trainer, Peggy - who was so sweet, gave us a brief overview of the store and some helpful hints. After some e-Learning we had our break. I'm definitely going to eat a full meal before shifts or run to McDonald's haha the sandwiches in the vending machines, not so good - the chicken parmesan sauce tasted a bit like salsa =P

After our break, Peggy sent Stephanie and I out on the floor. I was a bit nervous, but I had a couple conversations. It's rough though because most people don't want to talk to you. They say hi and immediately look away, it kinda hurts haha like why don't you wanna talk to me! It got easier, and I handed out some stickers to kids, I know - I interacted with kids! Crazy!!

We met with one of the coordinators who went over more basics and do's and don'ts. After our run through with Ashly, we met back up with Peggy who went over the hand dandy merchantainment guide and did some scenarios with us on where to find stuff in Downtown Disney. We're going to study out maps haha. 6 hours had passed and it was time to go home!

I utilized our balcony that night for a phone call, it seriously is perfect for them. After a nice chat with one of my roomies, I headed to bed since I had 8am class over at Disney University. I learned I really can't drink caffeine after 4 or 5 because I didn't fall asleep until almost 1 and naturally woke up at 4:15. I loaded up on the coffee for my class.

I caught the early bus because I wasn't sure how traffic would be, so I got to Disney U an hour early. I wasn't the only one though, so we all chatted a bit. The class was Merchantainment where we learned a bit about the registers and all that jazz. We had great teachers who made it pretty entertaining. We got an hour for lunch and then more e-learning. Stephanie and I got done an hour early (woo!) so I headed back to the apartment to hear the game plan.

After I slipped into a coma for an hour, I ventured out into the living room where we changed our go to Epcot plan to a go to the movies/Downtown Disney plan. We saw Bride Wars which was cute and then headed to Ghiradelli to get ice cream for dinner, but changed our minds and went to the new T-Rex restaurant since there wasn't a line! We sat in the ice room which was pretty awesome. They had meteor showers every 30 minutes or so too - it's like Rainforest Cafe, just with dinosaurs. We had a good time with our waiter Chris. He needed our IDs so we could get our discount - he wore them the entire time we were there haha. It was a really fun evening. It's hard to believe I've been here less than a week - it feels so much longer, especially with how close I feel to all of my roommates.

Today I have my first day of on the job training - I'm a little nervous, but I just need to remember that they don't expect me to know EVERYTHING. I have my last day of training tomorrow night, then I guess I'm set free. It kinda sucks because the rest of my roomies work during the day, and I start tonight at 6. Lame! Oh well, I have Thursday and Friday off so hopefully I can get a park in there somewhere =P

Training, Training and More Training

Friday morning was Traditions. 5 out of 6 of us in our apartment had the early session, so we had to catch the bus at 6:55am. Traditions is a 4 hour long class about the past, present and future. I really enjoyed the first hour and a half. We had an overview of the company, sure I knew most of it already but it was still really interesting. The next hour or so was all legal information. I'm aware I can't steal and give out private information so this was a drag - I was ready to nap. After that we were told no sexual harassment is tolerated and more about what the company does and what is expected of us as cast members.

Success = Faith + Trust + Pixie Dust.

Traditions was awesome because we got our name tags!! YAY!! We also got our company ID, we are officially cast members.

After Traditions, the 5 of us ran back to the apartment, stuffed our faces for a good 15 minutes, changed and then made our way to Magic Kingdom. We saw the castle, which I took a million pictures of. We headed to Jungle Cruise, then Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion. We went through all the shops to scope out what we want to use our discount on.

We had a little extra time to kill until Janet was done her Traditions, so we waited in line for Space Mountain since it's closing for renovations in a couple months. We decided to head back to the apartment to eat and crash since our early wake up time was catching up to us. We went backstage to catch the bus home - it was sooo crazy. We probed a CP who had been here since the fall and learned some helpful tips. We inhaled food yet again and then we all were asleep by 10:00pm.

The next morning I had my first day over at Downtown Disney. I took the uber early bus,and luckily I did! A group of us got off at what said Casting thinking it was the Cast Services building. Nope! So we caught the later bus to where we were supposed to go, oopsy! We had an information session about Downtown Disney, and then a walking tour. Then we had some safety training, got our schedules and costumes! I don't have anything too wild and crazy =\ Oh well.

When I got back, again I inhaled food and caught up on my TV before the rest of my roommates came back. We headed over to Downtown Disney where I saw my workplace in full action! After a Wal Mart run, we came back, made ourselves some dinner and again headed early to bed. It's not all fun and games down here! Don't get me wrong, the weather is great, my roommates are fabulous - but we're all tired! More to come!

DCP Day 1 and 2

I got up at 4:45am January 7, 2009 to start my journey. I said some tearful goodbyes and made my way through security and then to my gate. On my way to the gate I encountered a UMBC advertisement which I thought was kind of like a "see ya later" sign. The flight was nice, not too long as compared to my previous flights of 14 and 12 hours =P

I landed in Orlando at 9:40am, found a man named Victor holding a sign with my name. We got my bags, which were a little damp from the rain back in Baltimore (which was 33 degrees by the way, while Orlando was 70!). I met a couple of college programmers waiting for their bags too, but I've yet to run into them again. Victor and I chatted on the way to Vista Way. I learned he's a fellow Lithuanian! He wished me good luck in Lithuanian when he dropped me off.

I got to Vista Way around 10:30 and was there until 2 doing check in stuff. A lot of lines but it wasn't so bad until I realized that I had a meeting at 3 and really needed to get food at some point. I got to my apartment (in Chatham Square) around 2:15 and luckily had two people notice me with 5 bags staring at the stairs wondering how this was going to work. Disney people are nice people =)

First roommate I met was Janet, who showed me the way to my room where Ashly was unpacking. We chatted a bit until it was time for our housing meeting where we were told all the dos and donts of living here. It was a long program, yet it was entertaining. We made our way back to Chatham and did some more unpacking during which I met my other 3 roomies Alexa, Steph and Cait. We all agreed to go out to Bahama Breeze for some dinner since most of us sort of skipped eating all day. Dinner was fabulous - the food and conversation was great. We realized we would get along really well.

We came back to more unpacking and decorating. A long day meant it was time for bed, since we had more check in stuff to take care of the next day - like learning our work location! I slept fairly well considering it was a new place. Ashly and I both woke up a half hour before the alarm haha. We made our way back over to Vista Way.

Ashly got her Animal Kingdom! I was placed in Downtown Disney in Mickey's Pantry. Apparently it's a store attached to a restuarant thats quite popular so I'll see a lot of action. I guess I have to get up on my kitchen utensil knowledge haha. I think it might be a sign that I need to learn to cook....I hope I get a cute costume!

After filling out employment eligibility and getting my training schedule I headed over to sign up for classes. They allowed me to participate in the Professional Development Study in Finance which is nice. I think I can take a lot away from that - learning the Disney way of finance. It sounds like it could be pretty interesting. That starts February 25!

I headed back to the apartment all of us minus Janet, who sadly had her check in, headed over to the Polynesian resort to soak up some sun. It's pretty awesome to have your feet in the sand in early January. We took the free ferry over to the Grand Floridian to see if we could work our way into the sauna, but sadly no go. We took the monorail to cathch the bus back so we could get some free food at our first DCP event. On the way back we met a few guys that live in our complex who have rock band. I can't find the one on facebook, but one of them fot a couple of my roomies numbers. I wanna play some rock band....I'm going through withdrawl.

It was a pool/block party where there was tons of free pizza (we got 3 free whole ones at the end), chips, drinks and cookies. Lilo & Stitch were there too! There was music and dancing and some contests. My roomies elected me to participate in the air guitar contest so that we could get a free blow up guitar for our living room haha. I was a little embaressed at first but had fun. It was a blast - I danced my little tail off. I picked up some new line dances! I learned the cupid shuffle, muddled my way through soulja boy, and picked up cotton eye joe.

After eating and dancing we headed back to the apartment to soon leave again to finally get some groceries. Yay food!!!! Most of us then checked in at home, giving tours of the apartment via webcam, and now it's time for an early bedtime since we have Traditions training bright and early tomorrow (we have to catch the bus at 6:55).

Down to the Wire

My last weekend in Maryland....craaaaaaaaaazy!

Yesterday a bunch of us went ice skating, which was a blast but at the same time it was a bit sad since it was the last time I would see a couple people. It was also my last time out dancing at the Promenade too. But everyone is excited, and no one has told me "don't go" so it's nice that everyone is supporting me, or maybe they just want to be rid of me, hmmmm =P

Packing is hard haha. I don't know what I'll need or want over the course of 4 1/2 months, so this leads to overpacking, which leads to frustration which then leads to me not wanting to do it. I'm getting there.

I'm excited, and still nervous but from what I've read on Facebook, we all are. I have to figure out what class I want to take which reminds me I have to find proof that I'm pursuing a finance certificate.

Anyway, I got a decent webcam for Christmas so hopefully I'll do video blogs too. I expect people to chat with me!

I can't believe it's actually happening! AH!

I'll close this entry here and get to packing!

TTFN =)