Busy Busy Busy

I last update 20 days ago....does not seem that long ago. I hate that time is flying by so fast. I have all these things I want to do and I'm afraid of running out of time. I'm not really wasting time either, I hardly sleep haha - I'm always off doing something.

The Pantry is like a little family. Peggy is my grandma, Rhonda is my mom, Bette is my aunt, Cindy is my cousin, Duron is my brother, Stephanie is my sister, etc. We all look out of each other and get along well. Bette even ordered me to go home and not find my roommates at Epcot because she was concerned I wasn't sleeping much. Oh the Pantry, I love you.

I've met some really cool people at work. I get excited when I meet a Marylander. Some guests aren't fun to talk to, they don't really wanna talk to me, so I'm not too chatty. One night there was a couple who were just a blast. Sure they may have been mildly intoxicated, but they still appreciated everything that I did for them that night. Whenever I can help someone or surprise them with an act of kindness, it makes me feel like I have done something with my day.

I almost yelled at one guest. He was being quite the jerk about the engraving I did on his bracelet. I was told not to touch the settings - just put in the name, hit the yellow diamond, then the green start button. Repeat if necessary. He was convinced it was crooked and ugh. I tried to keep my cool, and I think I handled it fairly well. He was just a jerk.

I met someone who is a campus rep for the college program. I really want to do that - I mean UMBC really lacks any form of knowledge about this program, and I really think its a fabulous experience. I also get to keep some perks =P

I really do love my job - 90% of the time I look forward to going. At the end of the day my back really hurts but it's worth it. I really enjoy what I do.

So what have I been up to the past 20 days besides working? Lots!

There was another welcome party - the House of Mouse Dance Party. I told some people I'd get some pizza for them, so I came prepared with foil and bags in my backpack. It, as always, was a blast. Not only did I get to dance - but Captain Hook and Smee came out and got down with us. Of course we got to meet Mickey and Minnie too! =)

The weather was finally getting out of its cold streak of course when I had to work, but Charlie and I still set out on an adventure to Disney's Hollywood Studios bright and early since I worked at 6pm. We headed to Sunset and got some Fastpasses for Rockin Roller Coaster and waited in line for Tower of Terror. That ride is just so amazing.

Everyone knows I'm big into characters, so of course we visited Chip n Dale. There was probably a group of 5 characters out but I knew time was limited so I chose them, and I'm satisfied with my choice. The character attendant ended up walking away, so we asked the family behind us to take our picture. Well the woman was fabulous for she captured everything. Dale ended up taking me away, taking my ring and proposing to me, of course after teasing everyone else. I gladly accepted hahaha it was definitely one of those magical Disney moments that I loooooooove.

We went back and used up our Fastpasses, enjoying the front car, which is really the best. On our way back to Muppet Vision we ran into a couple cops who pretty much made my day. One of them just blew his whistle, no words. The other had a huge bucket, flashlight and crazy shoes haha. We enjoyed seeing Sweetums and walking around the back parts of DHS. After lunch we set to find Janet and Cait - we found Janet! After talking to her for a bit, it was time for me to catch the bus to Port Orleans and then to Downtown Disney for my shift.

The next day Ashly and I met up with my co-worker, Stephanie, and some of her friends and hit up Disney Quest. There was so much to do there. It was a blast from the past since I did it before with my family back in 2001. Ashly and I kicked butt at the Astro Blaster, we were a darn good team! Elliott and Charlie were in the Downtown Disney Area so we met up with them for lunch and a ride to Wal Mart/home. I took the opportunity to get a group photo in front of the beautiful water of DTD on a beautiful day.

The next day was day 2 of my weekend, and a lot of us did have off, so we went to the Polynesian to soak up some sun since the weather was still being very kind to us. That resort is absolutely gorgeous! We did some shopping in their gift shop, 4 of us finding cute skirts/dresses which led to the idea of getting all dolled up and heading to Magic Kingdom. We did just that! Someone let us through the Fastpass line of Jungle Cruise....I think we should get dressed up more often haha. We played around in the Pirate store and then enjoyed some Dole Whip - my first time. It was absolutely amazing! We managed to squeeze in It's a Small World and Peter Pan's Flight before some made it to Space Mountain haha. I did not, but that's fine, I caught part of Wishes, which will seriously never get old to me. It is stunning.

I worked my first 8 1/2 hour shift on what actually was Valentines Day haha. It was surprisingly not bad at all - I was busy and left in a good mood. Maybe because Ashly informed me she was making a special dinner and dessert. I love my roomie, she is fantastic and loves to cook for people (that really is just bonus points). She made Chicken Alfredo and Cheesecake. Yum!

My next day off I decided to go to Buffalo Wild Wings with the girls. I've heard so much buzz about it and decided to check it out. I spent more time getting ready then actually there haha. It's a karaoke place and was way too crowded. A few of us left early for some Taco Bell and headed back to the apartment to just chill. It was still a fun night.

Day 2 of my weekend again, I did not waste! Elliott, Charlie, Cassandra, Joel and I set off for Magic Kingdom. It started pouring rain when we arrived, but soon cleared up for a beautiful day. The park was empty so I got a beautiful view of the castle. We hit up Haunted Mansion and Big Thunder Mountain (yay Big Thunder!). We also got Dole Whip again haha that stuff is amazing. On our way over to Space Mountain I caught site of Baloo and Rafiki. I called out to stop but no one heard except Charlie. We got really excited for Baloo - he was dancing with us while we were in line. We had to go through Rafiki first though. The cahracter attendant kept calling out picture poses for us, it was a blast. We get to Baloo - so not fun. One random picture and we were sent on our way. Lame!

We found the rest of the group and headed over to the Studios since the main event of the day was Fantasmic! We had time for Muppet Vision and to grab a quick snack before we met with Janet and Alexa for the show. We had amazing seats thanks to Janets expertise of the area =) Fantasmic is honestly breathtaking. I can't wait to go again.

The next day was Ashly's birthday. I unfortunately had to work during her birthday dinner, BUT they all came to DTD for some ice cream at Ghiridelli. We all laughed and had a good time =)

My class starts on Wednesday and I'm REALLY excited. I think it's going to be really interesting. I'm not getting credit for any of this and I really don't care. This experience is incredible and it will look fabulous on my resume.

Boo Boo comes to visit in about a month!!! YAY!!

I DO Work!

I've received comments hinting that I don't work. I haven't written too much about work because well, it's not that interesting. But here it goes.

I work in a small store, we sell kitchen things. I love my cast mates - I feel like I have a few new moms and aunts among them haha. There ar a couple girls from Brazil, one from Taiwan, one from Peru and one from France. It's cool working with international kids but sometimes accents make it difficult. It's difficult with guests too. At least once a week I have a guest come up to me and go "oh Maria! Espanol?!" I have to tell them no and they look so upset and confused.

A big question I get, besides "where are the bathrooms", is about the waffle makers. Everyone wants a Mickey Waffle maker, and I have to break dozens of hearts and tell them they are discountinued.

I have noticed how outgoing I've become and how naturally bubbly I am at work. I'm only naturally bubbly when I'm excited or really happy about something. I do love my job, though I hate working outside on the cart. The cart doesn't allow me to wander or start discussions as much. I answer directional questions and say hello to those passing by but it's not the same. I spend my days just circling the pantry, helping anyone who needs it.

One day I talked to a girl about High School Musical for a good 20 minutes. Another day I helped a guest inside the pantry and out on the cart the same night (he was grateful and nice to talk to), and another day I helped someone pick out mugs. One night, I said hi to a kid who was being carried by her mother. She smiled back - her mother told me that her daughter hates strangers so I must be special. It gave me hopes that one day I will be good with kids haha.

I've been working for about 3 weeks now and I feel like I've learned a lot. I've learned a lot about customer service, how to handle stressful situations, how to work well on a team, how to deal with people etc. They are skills I can definitely take with me. I think it's a different set of skills you learn when working for Disney than any other company.

So that concludes my work portion for now :-) I will continue with my basic overview of what I've been doing.

Wednesday I went to Hollywood Studios in the afternoon with Charlie who I had met the previous week at the welcome CP block party. He's good friends with Elliott, who is good friends with Ashly, and thus I met him haha. When we arrived, a woman comes up to us and asks if we are going in, we said yes, and she hands us two Fastpasses for Toy Story Mania. This is the new ride that always has an hour wait. We thanked her a million times and gleefully entered the park.

We walked around and made our way to Rockin Roller Coaster which had quite the short wait. I noticed we could meet Prince Eric and Ariel so we went and checked that out. Prince Eric is never out! It was awkward though haha. We headed to the Pixar Studios section to get ready for Toy Story Mania. We had extra time and saw we could meet Buzz and Woody so we did just that! They were tons of fun, and Charlie almost started a fight between them haha.

We got done meeting the characters at the perfect time since it was now our Fastpass time! So we got in line and hopped on the ride. It was tons of fun - I think it's the same as the one in California. After our 4-D aracade adventure, we headed to Tower of Terror and then got some Mickey Ice Cream which we enjoyed on the side of Hollywood Blvd.

I hadn't seen Wishes yet, so we hopped on a bus and headed to the Magic Kingdom where we arrived just in time for the firework spectacle. I have to go back and see it again from a proper viewing spot, but it was still really enjoyable. After our adventures in the park, we were both a bit hungry so I decided to make pancakes for dinner. I failed - Ashly came to the rescue making pancakes and eggs! Yay Ashly!!!

The next day I went to Epcot with Janet. I hadn't been to Epcot since my arrival and it's her favorite park so it was perfect! On the way in we met my favorite pair - Chip-n-Dale. We got our Fastpasses for Soarin and then wandered around FutureWorld. We rode the Living Seas and checked out all the fishies, dolphins and manatees. We also rode Jounrey Into Imagination, which has Figment back! We spent a good amount of time in the store, and also Mouse Gear haha yay shopping! After using our Fastpasses at the peaceful Soarin, it started to rain. We hung out at Test Track for a bit, and then decided to venture into World Showcase anyway. We met Donald Duck in Mexico!

We wondered through the eleven countries, stopping in Japan to eat. I was pumped the shaved ice things were still there. SO good!! We finished walking around the world and decided to head back since Illuminations would not be fun in the rain. We turned in early that night since we both had work and had a long day of walking. I mean really - walking around the world is exhausting =P

I had day shifts the ENTIRE week! So my nights were open for fun. I was full of energy when I got back from work on Friday. I wanted to go to Illuminations since I missed out the previous night. None of my roomies were home, so I called up Charlie and we set off on our adventure. I say adventure because finding the way to onstage from where the bus lets off really is an adventure.

Saturday was dinner and a movie night in our apartment featuring Ashly's fabulous lasagne and Donnie Darko as the film. Sunday night was Wal Mart night - SO crowded. We ended up missing the bus by 15 seconds, but oh well. We had to wait an hour, but at least I wasn't alone. We got back late and I made a big pot of spaghetti to share - there was enough for my dinner today, yay!

I'm having a fabulous experience here, and I'm excited for my class to start. Mine doesn't start until the end of February, but my roomies start this week. I'm the only one I know doing one of the Professional Development Studies. Hm.

One more day of work, and then my weekend. I know one day is devoting to shopping since my huge discount ends soon. Who knows what other adventures could come up =)

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