Not too bad for a "Monday."

Tuesday and Wednesday were my days off and they were exactly what I needed. For practically the first time since I've been here I didn't go to the parks on my weekend. On Tuesday I slept in until 12:30, did laundry, and went to the outlet mall with my suitemate. On Wednesday all I did was sleep and clean the apartment because we have an inspection coming up.

I was scheduled to work from 4:45 to 10:45, which is an awesome shift because I go in late but I don't stay until an ungodly hour. The beginning of the day was kinda rough though. I got up at around 10:30, took a shower, and did some stuff around the apartment. I started thinking about home and how much I miss little things, like my mom playing her music really loudly as she cooks or my sister's sugar glider, which I've never even liked. Thinking about stuff like that made me get really emotional and I swear, that's becoming a bi-weekly thing for me. I even almost contemplated calling in to work because I felt like I wouldn't be able to keep myself together throughout the day. But then I decided that work would take my mind off of home, I need the money, and I don't need the point. So I pulled myself together and got on the bus to work.

Once I got there, I looked at my schedule and it said that I had a meeting to go to but it didn't say where it was or anything. I asked my coordinator what the meeting was for and where it was, and it turns out it was a CP welcome session. I thought it was a little strange for me to attend a welcome session since I've been here for more than a month now, but I won't argue with being paid to attend a meeting. It was only about an hour long and some people just went over what the college program has to offer, how they got started, and what we can do with the company in the future. I liked it only because it reminded me of why I started working for Disney in the first place; because Disney actually wants their guests to get everything they can out of their vacation and more.

After the meeting, I went back to CDS and got an assignment. It was a really easy day so I won't go into specifics about what happened, but my first assignment was to go on break for fifteen minutes, then I had to be Casey's busser for fifteen minutes to break someone, then I worked in Hub West for a while and then I did a trash run at Town Square Theater. Throughout this time I watched both of the Electrical parades, Celebrate the Magic, and Wishes since the crowd was too thick to do anything. It was kind of funny because during the parade a float broke down, I think it was Mr. Smee's, and the whole parade stopped for a little less than ten minutes. Snow White and the dwarfs were in front of me and it was funny just to watch Snow White dance around in circles over and over again when Snow White was probably thinking, "What is going on?" throughout the whole thing.

After the parade at one point I happened to walked around Casey's Corner and Chrissy was there! She had a friend with her and we talked for a little bit, then Chrissy suggested we take a photo together since I was in my costume. My hair is doing something weird in this picture, but here it is!

My last assignment was to pick up Hub East and it was so easy. I did a trash run that took probably twenty minutes and then I went back to CDS. At this point, it was 10:00 and I didn't want to get a new assignment because I didn't want to close anything else with so little time left in my shift. Instead I asked my manager if I could help anyone else close a zone and she sent me to Casey's Corner. Everything was done but I stayed in that area for about twenty minutes anyway. When I went back to CDS, I put my radio away, washed out my pan and broom, and went downstairs. That was pretty much my day.

When I got home from work, Erin, Chrissy and I decided to go to Denny's, which is becoming a thing of ours, and we talked for a long time. Me, Chrissy, and her friend have decided to go to Magic Kingdom before work tomorrow so I'm looking forward to that!

Overall, the day went much better than I had anticpated! It probably helped that I love doing streets.

Our apartment.

Today I had time to thoroughly clean the apartment so I decided to take some photos of it for anyone who may be wondering what it looks like. I used the panoramic setting on my camera so it's not completely accurate but you get the general idea of what it looks like. I live in Patterson by the way.

(Click the photo to make it larger.)

The first two photos are of mine and my roommates' bedroom and closet.

The photo above is of our living room, dining room, and kitchen.

The last two are of my suitemates' room and bathroom. They're lucky because they have two sinks whereas my roommate and I only have one sink located outside of where the toilet and shower is. Their closet is also bigger than mine, but I don't want to post too many pictures without their permission first.

That's my apartment for the most part!

Working things out.. or avoiding them for the time being.

I've been having lots of problems with my roommate so I talked to her about it and now I've moved into my suitemate's room for a little while. I believe this is a pivotal change in the dynamic of our living situation. 

I'll miss things like this.

There is nothing more comforting when I'm tired after a long day of work than when the security guard at the gate of my apartment complex kindly says "welcome home."
It seriously makes my night.

"You're the kind of person we look for as an ideal cast member."

I had a really great day today!

I had to work at 3:00 so I got there an hour early because the bus schedule made it so that I had no choice. I talked to some coworkers for the duration of that hour and then I got an assignment after clocking in. My first assignment was a task; to clean the windows at Tony's Restaurant. A coordinator was standing there when I got it and he told me to help do parade clean up instead. So I just watched Celebrate A Dream Come True and then swept around a little and talked to guests afterwards. It was really easy.

I went back to CDS to get a new assignment and it gave me "Guest Interaction." I didn't even know this was a task, but I was glad to take it. I met so many great people while doing it. My favorite thing to do is walk up to guests who are taking pictures and offer to take a photo for them. They're always so pleasantly surprised and appreciative. Literally all I did for three hours was talk to people and sweep the streets. I loved it.

At one point I was by the castle and a couple came up to me asking how to get to the ferry and when I told them to go down Main Street, they said they didn't know where that was. A parade was going on at the time so it was hard to see the actual street from where we were standing, so I decided to just walk them over to Main Street. I asked them how their vacation was, where they were from, etc. and they were really appreciative of the fact that I took the time to walk them there rather than just giving them more detailed directions.

I continued to sweep after that when I got a call on my radio from a coordinator. He told me to come back stage and when I did, he handed me a Four Keys Fanatic Card! It's my first one and it said "Great job showing guests the exit when they did not understand where it was." That was when I was told I was an ideal cast member. Although I feel like what I did was small, it's really nice to be shown appreciation for it.

At the very end of the day I thought I would just task for a while longer before I had to clock out soon but after Celebrate the Magic, I was told that my position was dropped. When I went to get a new assignment it said I had to be Casey's Trasher because it was a rotational bump. I was okay with that assignment because I was leaving soon and I like beingTrasher. Since I only had an hour of my shift left and I had 15 minutes of walk time, I asked my manager if I could just come back and clock out if no one came to bump me out on time. She said I had to stay there no matter what because it was so busy, so I did.

I had a cute guest interaction that is worth mentioning too. I went to empty a trash can and a family was standing next to it. A little prince was playing with the opening of the lid and when I came over he just watched me do the trash. He tried to touch the trash can because he was interested and his mom said, "Don't touch that. See how miss Chelsea is wearing gloves? It's because she doesn't want to touch it." I love when people actually take the time to read my name tag. While I was changing out the trash, the prince held the door open for me and shut it too when I put the can back inside. It was the sweetest thing. So I got some Mickey stickers out of my pouch, got down on his level, and told him Mickey wanted me to give one to him. I also gave some out to the rest of his siblings, but his expression changed instantly when I showed him the sticker. He grabbed it out of my hands and stared at it in awe. It was so precious.

When 8:45 came, I was impatient because I wanted to leave but I stayed anyway because that's what I was told to do. Then at 9:00 I wasn't sure if I should say anything to my manager so I decided to wait a little longer. At 9:05 I called a manager on the radio and told her I needed to clock out and she told me to come back to CDS because someone was going to pick up my assignment. She then said that I should have come back 25 minutes ago so that I could get my walk time and I told her that another manager told me not to. She was really apologetic and said she appreciated that I didn't make a big deal out of it because apparently a lot of people do. She extended my time for me and I left soon afterwards.

I went to my locker and got on the bus where I happened to meet up with Erin. We had a nice conversation and then when we got home, I took a shower right away. While I was doing that, Erin made dinner! She made baked ziti the night before so she heated that up in the oven and we ate that with salad once Chrissy got home. It was so nice to eat some real food that I didn't have to pay for and we had such a nice time talking together too.

Now we're sitting in the living room talking and browsing the internet. I was planning on going to sleep a little earlier but its 1:30 already.so I guess that's out of the question. I have one more day of work and then it's my weekend! I already know that I'm going to sleep forever, do laundry and my nails, possibly clean since our inspection is coming up, and go to the outlets. I'm looking forward to it.

Hopefully tomorrow is as good to me as today was!!

Restrooms aren't so bad anymore.

Before work today I decided to leave a little earlier because I needed to go to costuming. The annoying thing about doing custodial work is that when I wash my costumes at Patterson's laundry, they don't really get clean because they need to be treated. Since I don't want to spend money on cleaning something that could be cleaned for free, I'd rather take the extra time to go to costuming.

The thing is, I thought today was Sunday.

I thought I was scheduled 3:00 to 9:00 so I got on a bus that came around 12:00. It wasn't until I was halfway through the bus ride that I realized I didn't have to be to work until 4:00. I decided that I would take my time at costuming but it hardly took any time at all; probably ten to fifteen minutes. So I got on the bus after I got clean costumes and went to the Utilidoors. After changing into my costume, I went upstairs and decided to call my sister while I waited for the time to pass. I actually got a little emotional when that happened because talking to my sister made me really miss my family so I started tearing up a little bit. No one noticed though because I was wearing sunglasses and I was standing away from everyone else, but it still sucked feeling this way. I felt like going back to the apartment right then, but obviously I couldn't. So we talked while I waited and then I clocked in.

My schedule said that I was doing restrooms all day and I was really hopeful that I wouldn't get City Hall because it's huge and insanely busy. As luck would have it though, the white board said "Female 1 - Chelsea" on it which meant I was getting City Hall. A manager was standing nearby so I asked if there was any way I could switch with someone else but she told me that it was based on how long everyone's shifts were. I accepted the truth and hesitantly logged into CDS to get my assignment. Much to my surprise, it didn't say that I had to go to City Hall! Instead it said I had to go to Casey's, which I was totally okay with. My manager then told me that I had to pick up some other restrooms at 6:45 because that's when the cast member in charge of them had to bump out for the parade shift. I felt so much better about how the day was going to be because those four restrooms are much easier to handle than City Hall is alone.

It gets better too! When I got to Caseys, everything looked great! Everything was stocked, the floor was clean, and the sinks were dry. There was hardly anything for me to do. The time went by quickly throughout the day and nothing was very challenging for me. I usually really dislike doing restrooms but now that I'm getting a good handle on them, I don't think I'll dislike them as much anymore.

I was originally supposed to get off at 10:15 but I was extended until 12:30, which was okay because I need the money. I seriously need to take some time to relax on my next two days off though because it seems like for the last two weeks I've been so fatigued. I always go to sleep around 4:00 AM and then I get up 10:00. It seems like I always fall asleep on the bus on the way to work.

Speaking of being tired, it's 3:00 AM now so I should probably get to sleep soon. But on an unrelated note, my sister's birthday was this week and I sent her a few things since I know how much she would have loved being here! (My sister took the second set of photos because I forgot to before I wrapped them.)

Mickey ears, Mickey treats, Mickey stickers, a Mickey tea strainer, and even a note signed by Mickey himself! Her mouse ears say "Lemur" because that's her favorite animal and she tries to incorporate the word into everyday conversation. It's really cute. Just thought I'd say a little something about that :)

But anyway, it's time for bed. Until next time!

Because no one's ever made this observation.

You're a cute little girl who loves bows and dresses but then you play your music and it's like, "fuck yo shit, get dat pussy, smokin on some weed."

-- My roommate on my life.

A magical moment was made for us yesterday!

Chrissy, Erin, and I were at Hollywood Studios last night and we decided to ride the Tower of  Terror. Erin wasn't happy about it because that ride terrifies her but the wait was only twenty minutes so we had to. We got through the line quickly, were loaded into the elevator, and rode the ride. I love going down because your butt goes off the seat and it freaks me out!

So we got off the ride and were ready to wait for Fantasmic when the cast member who unloaded us pulled us to the side and told us to wait. He had a really serious tone so naturally we thought that maybe we did something wrong. I thought maybe something had flown out of my lap on the ride since I had a lot in my lap and he just wanted to retrieve it, but that wasn't the case. When he unloaded everyone else, he came back over and said "Did you guys do anything that maybe you shouldn't have done in there?" When we said no he said, "Come on guys, we have cameras all over in there." He stood there for a while looking at us and I could tell something was up, so I said he was bluffing. He tried to keep his menacing composure but once I had convinced Chrissy and Erin that he was lying, he said, "Who loaded you onto the ride?" I said that I thought his name was Jay and he said, "He wants you to ride again." So we went back downstairs on an elevator, skipped the line, and rode the ride again in the first row!!

We talked to Jay again while we waited for an elevator to become available and he was really nice, despite the theme of the ride. The first time we got on the ride, he leaned over to me and said "I don't mean to alarm you, but you have something in your hair." It was pixie dust. I just said, "I know! Doesn't it look pretty?" And the second time we rode the ride he said, "You still have stuff in your hair." And I said, "Ugh, I know. Will you get it out?" like I was fed up with having it there. He even tried to get some of it out!

The whole experience was a really nice unexpected surprise! I think the ride is overall kind of lame, although I'm always scared to ride it at first, but the cast members made it so much better for us!

A long but easy day.

I was scheduled to work from 6:30 PM to 2:45 AM yesterday, which I was okay with for the most part because that meant I had most of the day to do what I wanted. I decided to stay at the apartment because I've been sick for the last couple of days and I figured my body needed time to rest.

I set my alarm for 4:35, fifteen minutes before the A bus was supposed to come at 4:49, got ready, and left. I usually plan to leave an hour and a half before my shift starts just for good measure. While I was getting my stuff together I called my sister and I left five minutes before my alarm went off since I was ready.

I waited at the bus stop for about fifteen minutes and when I saw that the A bus had arrived, I got on. Then about ten minutes into the ride, I noticed that the bus wasn't going to Vista; we were closer to Downtown Disney. I then noticed the piece of paper in the window that said "F2." I was on the wrong bus. It turns out the marquee on the outside of the bus said that it was the A bus, but the marquee wasn't working and since I was talking to my sister, I hadn't seen the paper in the window or the fact that the other CP's on the bus weren't wearing Magic Kingdom costumes. I asked a cast member where the bus was going and she said to Downtown Disney, then back to Vista. That meant I would have to waste at least twenty minutes getting back to Vista in hopes that the A or B bus would be there, and then I would have to spend roughly 40 minutes on that bus too.

I called a couple people who had a car and who I knew started their shift around the same time as me to try to get a ride, but they didn't answer. When the bus got to Downtown Disney, I asked the bus driver what I should do. He told me to stay on the bus and go back to Vista, so I did and it wasn't all that bad. The driver and I had a conversation the whole way since it was just us and he was really, really nice. We got back to Vista after twenty minutes and I found out when the next A bus came, then waited for five minutes. At this point I only had an hour to get to work so I was kind of nervous because the bus stops at two resorts and then I have to take the bus from Westclock to the Utilidoors. I like to be to work thirty minutes before my shift too so I wasn't so happy about this. I swear, when you're pressed for time it seems like the bus literally crawls to work. I felt like the bus driver wasn't even trying to drive.

Surprisingly, I arrived at Westclock only thirty minutes later, got on the bus to the Utilidoors, and still had twenty minutes to spare. I went to my locker, then walked the five to ten minutes to where I needed to clock in and felt extremely lucky not to have been late.

I was scheduled to work streets so I was excited about it because I love having that job. But naturally, as soon as a coordinator saw me, he told me I was doing restrooms until 9:00. I wasn't thrilled about this because A.) I hate restrooms, B.) I had done restrooms for my entire shift the day before at TTC, and C.) I was scheduled to do restrooms all day the next day. The nice thing was that it was only for three hours and I had to do Crystal Palace, First Aid, and Baby Care, which aren't busy. It seemed like the time flew by and I was able to be a little more thorough than usual with everything since it wasn't busy. Before that, I was called to go clean up a Code U at Crystal Palace. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that a Code U means urine. This was my first Code anything so I went over there and cleaned it up quickly.

Fifteen minutes before my restroom assignment was supposed to end, I took a fifteen minute self-break, then I went to CDS to get a new assignment. It told me I needed to take a 45 minute break and I won't argue with that. But I noticed when I logged in that I had been extended until 3:45 AM, so I wasn't excited about that. It was freezing outside and that meant I wouldn't get home until 4:30 in the morning. After my break I went to get an assignment, which said that I needed to break someone. I got on the radio and told them it was time for their break and they said they would meet me at CDS. The thing is, Wishes had just started and it took the person I was breaking an hour and a half to get back stage because the park was so crowded. I called him on the radio a couple more times throughout the course of that time, but he insisted that he was on his way. I told a coordinator that I had been waiting for a long time and he told me to get a new assignment. When I did, it said I had to break someone else but when he told me where to meet him, I couldn't hear him because his location was so loud and his accent was thick. I asked other cast members around me what they heard him say but after I had him repeat himself a few times, they weren't sure either. I told him to come back to CDS and he told me to come to wherever he was. I decided to go out and look for him but as soon as I got on stage, the parade started and the lights went out, making it too dark to find him. I went back to CDS and told him I was unable to find him, and he came back ten minutes later. I think he was angry with me but I wasn't sure because of his accent again. I'm usually good at deciphering accents but he spoke really fast too, so it was difficult. He told me to pan and broom in his area for the five minutes that were left of his break, so I did.

When I came back, I got an assignment for the Monorail zone, so I went to the AVAC by BDO to get a three liner and I began to do my trash run. After doing only three cans, I got a call for my fifteen minute break, so I went back to CDS and took it. I then went back to Monorail and did my trash run, which was really easy. After that, I went back to my zone to sweep up a little, then called a coordinator to tell him I had closed my zone. By this time it was around 1:00 and the park was dead because of the cold temperature. My coordinator told me to assist another cast member at BDO but when I called him on the radio, he told me he didn't need my help anymore. I went back to CDS and talked to my co-workers while I waited for an early release.(ER) My manager gave mostly everyone an ER at 2:45 and I managed to get a ride home with a co-worker, which I was so grateful for because it was freezing and I didn't want to wait for the bus. We clocked out and got on the bus to Westclock, then walked to the parking lot, where we saw this.

That's frost. I hadn't anticipated this kind of weather when I came down here.

We left the parking lot at around 3:00, went home, and I promptly took a shower to warm up. After I finished my shower at 3:45, which I was very hesitant to get out of, I called my sister and made some food since I was starving. I got into bed at 4:45 and I had the hardest time falling asleep because I was still really cold and my mind was restless. For about a week and a half now, almost all of my dreams have been about work. I'll dream that I'm at work doing a trash run or cleaning the restrooms for the duration of the night and when I wake up, mostly still asleep and fatigued, I'll think that I have to get back to work but then I realize that I was just dreaming. My nights haven't been very restful.

It's 10:00 now and I've been up for an hour, which means that I got around five hours of sleep. I was supposed to work 3:45 to 12:30 tonight but I just looked at my schedule on the HUB and I've been extended an hour and a half. I also have to go to costuming to get new costumes today so I have to leave in a couple hours. It's going to be a long day. It's supposed to be cold again tonight and I feel sicker. There's a silver lining though; I have two days off after today. Knowing me, though, I'll be in the parks for those two days.

A cumulative post of the last few days.

Not a lot of really interesting things have happened in terms of work lately. Things have gotten really redundant; I love doing streets because of the the guest interaction and I don't like cleaning restrooms because they're gross and can get lonely.

I've had a few really cute guest interactions. The day before yesterday I had two interactions that I really liked. For the first one, I had just started my shift and I was sweeping around the Hub when I saw a popcorn spill. I walked up to it and a woman on a bench started apologizing profusely for the spill. I told her that it was totally fine and I saw a little princess holding an empty popcorn bucket. I took the popcorn bucket over to the popcorn cart, replaced it, then went back over to the family. I got down on the princess' level and told her that Mickey saw she dropped her popcorn and he had asked me to replace if for her. She was so happy about it!! Any time you mention Mickey doing anything for a guest, a smile seems to immediately appear on their face and I love it.

While doing parade clean up later that night, I met a father and his daughter and she was the cutest thing ever. Her name was Peyton and she was five years old. Her favorite ride was the Haunted Mansion and I told her that she was brave for riding it because I thought it was super scary. She liked hearing that! We had a conversation for a while and then I remembered that I had Mickey stickers on me so I pulled them out and I told her that Mickey had given them to me himself and he had asked me to give them out to any special princess I met that day. The smile on Peyton's face was the SWEETEST thing! Her dad said that probably made her night! Guest interactions are definitely the best part of this job.

I've been going to the parks with my roommates almost every day that I've had off and it's been really great. Here are some photos from our adventures.

These pictures are from a day we spent at Magic Kingdom.

This waffle was SO good. If you're ever hungry, go to Sleepy Hollow and get the Nutella waffle. 

It's delicious. 

Then we went to the parks a couple days later!

And then we went to Magic Kingdom before work on Valentines day to meet the princes and princesses!

Flynn and Rapunzel really liked the back of my dress.

We also met Aurora but I didn't like any of our photos with her.

There isn't much more to say about what I've been up to lately. Partially because I easily forget how my days have gone (specifically work days) and also because there isn't anything very interesting to say.

I'm very happy here, though, and I like my job a lot for the most part. I've met some really great people and have had a lot of awesome experiences so far! My feet constantly hurt and I've forgotten what sleep is but I wouldn't trade this for anything!

I got my first care package today!

It's SO nice to get something from home! I can tell my mom put a lot of time and love into the stuff she sent me, since most of it is all stuff that I love. And that Mickey card!!! How cute, right??

And my best friend wrote the cutest thing on facebook.

If only we weren't joking!

Honestly though, I have the best parents ever.

I'm really sorry.

I know I haven't been doing a good job at updating this blog in the last week or two. I've just been really busy with work and other things and it seems like all I do at my apartment is eat and sleep so it's really hard to find time to blog.

I promise I will update you all on how things have been soon; within the next week or so.

Just be patient with my please!

We don't club hop, we park hop.

Today was such a good day!

My two suitemates, Chrissy and Erin and I had the day off so around 2:00 we all decided to do some park hopping! Since I had never been to Animal Kingdom and they really wanted to go, we decided to make that our first destination. The first thing we did after parking in the Unicorn section of the parking lot was go to Guest Relations to get "We're Celebrating" buttons and "First Visit" buttons. Chrissy and Erin wrote on their buttons that they were celebrating their Disney College Program while I said I was celebrating a beautiful day!

Afterwards, we decided to walk around some of the shops, and it was really cute because all of their merchandise fits the theme of Africa, the safari, and the outdoors. I then realized that you could meet Pocahontas in Animal Kingdom and since I had never met her before, I really wanted to do that. So we found out where her meet and greet was and went there to get in line. It was at Camp Mickey Minnie, which was an adorable outdoor area where you could meet tons of characters from Mickey and Minnie dressed in Safari outfits, to Baloo from the Jungle Book, to Rafiki from the Lion King, and so on.

We got in line for Pocahontas, who had yet to arrive, and this performer came on stage and started singing improvised songs about the people around him! He began by singing about a little girl in purple boots and then he said that he would sing about any subject someone gave him. Some kids walked up to him and asked him to sing about their cat and their hometown, and the performer even made the songs rhyme! He sang a song about a guest who was learning to walk! It was great! Then Pocahontas came out and we finally got to meet her! Poca wasn't looking so great today for some reason; something was off about her, but she was cute nonetheless! I had her do a shout out video for my sister, Becca because Pocahontas is the only Disney movie she likes, then I got her autograph and we took a group photo with her!

Afterwards, we went to Kilimanjaro Safari because it was closing soon and that's one of the best attractions at DAK. I loved that ride!! I've read about how they make it so that the animals will stay where where they can be seen, and whatever Disney is doing to make that happen, they're doing it right. We saw so many animals! My favorite was the giraffes that we ran into. They walked and ate right next to us! I'll post some photos but they aren't the best quality because they're video stills.

I didn't even have to zoom in on this giraffe. She walked right passed us! 

When we were done with Kilimanjaro, we got drinks and walked to Festival of the Lion King. It was SO good! It was interactive so they had kids come up before the show and the singing and choreography was phenomenal. The music is prerecorded but a lot of the singing was live; it felt like a Broadway show. I didn't take very many pictures of it because again, I wanted video footage of some of it. This is the only picture I got that isn't blurry.

Since the park was closed after that show, we decided to leave and go to EPCOT. We drove over and the first thing we did was ride Spaceship Earth! It was the first time I had ever ridden it and I really liked how educational it was. My only problem with it was that it went from the Renaissance period to what looked like  the 1920's or something. But overall, it was a good ride!

After that ride, we walked over to World Showcase because we were hungry. We originally wanted to get a snack or something quick, but then we decided we wanted to eat at a full service restaurant in Italy. We ran into some problems at a few places because we didn't have a reservation, but one restaurant told us to come back at 8:30 and we would have a chance of being seated. Since it was only 6:00 or so, we walked around to the other countries and Chrissy and I got some delicious funnel cakes in the America pavilion. Erin and Chrissy then said that they wanted to ride Figment, something I had never heard of until they told me about it.  We walked over to the attraction and when we asked about it, a cast member told us it was closed for the day. Since it's such an unpopular attraction, they close it down a few hours before the park closes.

Then we went to the Mexico pavilion to look for a restaurant because we didn't feel like waiting until 8:30. Unfortunately though, the only good restaurant was booked for the night. In an attempt to kill time, we walked around the pavilions a little more and when we got to Germany, we decided to meet Snow White! I've met Snow White before and the first time, she was okay; maybe she wasn't feeling well that time. But this time she was perfect! We thought she would just kind of walk over to us and make conversation since we are three adults, not little kids. But she walked over twirling her dress and she said, "Oh look, princesses!" and she asked if we were there to find our true loves. When we said no, she asked if we had already found them, to which we all said no again. Then she said, "Wanna know a secret?" and we said yes. She said, "Promise not to tell?" and she walked us over to the wishing well and told us to repeat after her. She then sang "I'm Wishing" from the beginning of her movie and we echoed her. Once we were done, she said we were sure to find our true loves now. She was so sweet and polite, just like in the movie. We took some photos and then left, extremely happy with how the meet and greet went!

The second photo is of us at the wishing well. I like how you can see the band aids on my feet.. not.

After walking around some more, we went back to Italy and asked if we could be seated at the restaurant we were looking into. When they said they were still full at that time, they suggested another restaurant called Tutto Gusto Wine Cellar, which had the same menu. We walked over and they had availability! I love that all of the cast members in each country are from that country. Our waiter was so cute with his Italian accent and his big smile. I decided to get lasagna and it was delicious! We also told him it was my birthday because we heard them sing "Happy birthday" in Italian to other people! I got a free chocolate mousse that was set in a chocolate shell or something and a candle on top. The food was really good by the way if you're ever at the Italy Pavilion and you want something to eat. Of course I took photos of what I ordered!

Afterwards, the park was closing so we walked around the different countries again and headed towards the park exit. Chrissy talked about how much she wanted to be friends with a character and she did her best Goofy impersonation. She walked like Goofy for at least twenty minutes and sang Princess and the Frog songs in her most soulful voice. It was really funny! And while we were walking, a custodian walked passed us and you would think he would have said something about the way Chrissy was walking or talking but he looked at me and said "pretty dress." I don't know why but I thought that was the sweetest thing ever because he didn't have to say it and he genuinely meant it. I wish I would have stopped to talk to him but it didn't occur to me until after it was too late.

We left the park soon after and went home! Overall it was a really great day! I think it helped that we didn't have to take the CP buses at all which can be kind of a buzz kill because they're so inconvenient. I also really love hanging out with Chrissy and Erin. A lot of the time I'm not in the best mood because work is really tiring or overwhelming, but days like today make it all worth it.

Wishful thinking.

Sometimes when I'm on the bus home at night after a long shift, I like to pretend that I'm on my street and almost to my parents house, not my apartment. As a result, I get a little happy but then I take a look around and see exhausted cast members in themed costumes and I remember where I really am.

I'm not ungrateful for being here; just homesick.

"They're really throwing you to the wolves."

Yesterday I had work from 4:45 to 10:45 and I was feeling a little nervous about it because it was my first day of working on my own.

I took a bus and got to work an hour early, as I usually do and decided to go to Costuming with my co-worker. We ran into a cast member who had trained us and he made me feel a little better about working b myself because he said that everything becomes repetitive after a while.

After costuming, we went to CDS and clocked in. My first assignment was a small one-- take over another cast member's position with recycling. So I got on the radio and told the cast member I had her break and went to meet her. She had already collected all of the recycling so all I had to do empty the recycling into dumpsters and clean out the liners they were in. It took all of ten minutes and I was grateful for the simplicity of the task.

I then went back to CDS to get a new assignment, hoping I would do something easy like be a breaker. As my luck would have it, the computer said "Chelsea Ebner/Casey's Trasher." A cast member who had also trained me was standing near me and when I told him what my assignment was, he laughed in a sympathetic way and said, "They're really throwing you to the wolves." That wasn't a comforting comment. The reason he said this was because Casey's Corner is the busiest restaurant on Main Street and my job was to empty all of the trash cans, wipe them down, talk to guests, and take the banana boat back to the compactor when it got full. Seems easy enough, right? But the trash cans fill up so quickly and I was responsible for eight cans outside the restaurant and three cans inside.

I went to Casey's Corner to meet with the cast member who's position I was taking over and they pointed out all of the trash cans I was responsible for. I got to work switching out full trash bags with new ones and quickly learned why the job is so overwhelming. I would replace a trash bag and wipe down the can, then five minutes later the can would be practically full again. I also had to deal with a lack of trash bags and taking the banana boat back to the compactor. The only fun part about the job was talking with guests. One guest in particular asked me some trivia like "What character has its own movie but doesn't say a word throughout the whole thing?" and "How many bricks is the castle made out of." I didn't know, and he told me the answer was Dumbo and the castle was made out of plexiglass, not bricks. I had known the castle wasn't brick, I just couldn't remember what it was really made out of. So I gave him a few fun facts of my own (I knew they would come in handy.) and he told me about how he had been coming to Disney World his whole life. Another guest came up to me and said that they had been watching me work and thought that I was doing a wonderful job. He also complimented my smile, friendliess, and overall attractive appeal. The last part was a little inappropriate to me but I guess it shouldn't matter.

I continued to run around like a chicken with my head cut off and then I went backstage to empty my trash. I talked to a few cast members while we waited to use the compactor and they said they were sorry that my assignment was Casey's Trasher in a tone that was only partially sympathetic. Then a cast member came up to us asking who was trashing Casey's and I told him I was. He told me he had my break in a somewhat annoyed voice, which was justified because it turned out he had been calling me on my radio but I didn't know because my radio training was minimal. I could tell he was mad about having to look for me but then he saw my "Earning my ears" ribbon and his tone changed completely. He became much nicer and more understanding, so I was happy I decided to keep my ribbon on.

My break was for 45 minutes and when I went back to CDS, I saw that I had been extended. Instead of clocking out at 10:45, I had to stay until 12:15. I was annoyed by that but there was nothing I could do, so I just got my next assignment, which was a parade shift. I like doing the parade shift because all I have to do is watch the parade (I can't clean while it's going on because it's a safety hazard), and then sweep up the streets when it's over. So I cleaned after the parade and then I was stuck in the crowd because Celebrate the Magic was about to start. I wasn't at all unhappy about being in the crowd because I had a really great spot for the show. After Celebrate the Magic, I still couldn't get out of the crowd (which I should mention is okay because I can't sweep my assigned area during show anyway since it's a safety hazard.) so I got to watch Wishes too! Even though I've seen the fireworks many times, I always become just a little emotional because I love to hear both children and adults express their excitement during the show. They actually think the fireworks that look like shooting stars are shooting stars, and there's always a collective "oooh" that comes from the crowd when Tinkerbell flies over the castle. I love it.

After the fireworks, the crowd thinned out and that's when I could see all of the trash everywhere. It was so ridiculous that a couple came up to me and apologized to me because I had to clean it up, to which I responded by apologizing to them because they had to see it. I asked a coordinator if the trash was always this bad and he replied with, "It's much worse in the summer, trust me."

I continued to clean up the trash in the Hub and on Main Street for the next couple of hours and then had a break. A coordinator then asked me to help another cast member do a trash run on the right side of the castle. I had no problem helping because the park had become much less crowded, which makes doing the job much easier. I could feel myself getting used to the repetition of replacing full bags of trash with new ones, and I was happy about it. The only reason our job is a little overwhelming is because of the pace you have to go at; not because of the work itself.

After I had done that, I went to get a new assignment and I was given the task of cleaning up the opposite side of where I had just been. The cast member whose job I was taking over happened to be at CDS with me and he said that the cans had been taken care of. Since Main Street was so dead at that point, there wasn't enough trash in the cans to justify taking them out. I then asked him if he had put three trash bags into each can (which is the minimum amount of bags in a can.), and he told me that he hadn't. Since I knew I wouldn't be doing much for this assignment, I took a three liner cart with me, took out all the bags with trash in them, and put two or three bags into the cans.

At this point, I didn't have very much time left before I had to clock out so I walked around my area with another cast member until I was told to get the trash at the gazebos in front of the castle. As we did that, I realized that the park was virtually dead and I saw it as an opportunity to take a photo of the Partners Statue and the castle without any people in the photo. I was hesitant at first because we can't have our phones out on stage and the park was still technically open. But I made sure there wasn't a guest in sight and took a quick photo. It isn't the best because it was on my phone, but I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity.

I then went to put some extra pans and brooms into a utility closet and clocked ou afterwards. I caught the bus from Disney University and got home at around 1:30, then went to bed at 2:30.

Here is the photo I took of the castle.

I also printed out the Casey's Trasher assignment because it was my first hard assignment by myself. 

Overall, my day went much better than I had anticipated. Yesterday, I wasn't so sure I would like custodial but I think things are going to get much easier from here on out.

The adjustment period.

So I've been here for thirteen days and it feels like I've been here a month already. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but the days can kind of drag by and get confusing when you work long days and your weekends start in the middle of the week.

I've really been liking my job; it's easy and I have a lot of freedom. The hardest part so far has been trying to understand where all of the different zones are and what they're called. I feel like a freshman in high school again because everyone else already knows how everything works and I'm just trying to catch up and learn everything. My trainers have been extremely helpful and informative, and have always been happy to answer my questions when I've asked them (and I do that a lot.) They've even been so cool that we've hung out after work and they've given me rides home, which is greatly appreciated since the Magic Kingdom bus is such a pain at night. In short, things have been going relatively well, considering the fact that I didn't really know what to expect when I got here.

Now I have some big news! Yesterday I had my training assessment, which, for those of you who don't know, was the deciding factor between whether or not I was ready to work on my own. I wasn't very concerned about how I would be assessed when I was talking to guests, but more about whether or not I knew things like what the different chemicals were used for or the proper protocol for a code V inside of an attraction or something. Sometimes I easily forget things when I'm put on the spot so I was a little nervous about that.

It turns out, I didn't have to be. The first woman to assess us was SO sweet. She was like a mother, telling me about ways to save money here and to always be aware of my surroundings and the people around me because Florida obviously isn't the safest place. We spent about two hours back stage where I answered some multiple choice questions, then we went upstairs so she could show me a few other things.

At one point when we were walking past Casey's Corner, I saw a little princess and decided to make a little magical moment for her by giving her a Mickey sticker. She was so excited when she saw that Mickey was on it and when I referred to her as princess. Then I saw she had a brother who was much younger than her and in a stroller. I walked over to him and said something like "Hello, prince! Mickey told me he saw you earlier and saw you were having such a great time that he wanted me to give you something special!" He LIT UP when I showed him that sticker. I also noticed he was wearing a birthday button and I asked how old he was, to which he held up three fingers. Then his parents said, "But how old are you now?" and he held up four fingers. His dad took pictures of me interacting with them and I told them I hoped they had a magical day and I was on my way!

Later on in the day was when I had my actual guest interaction assessment. A manager asked me a few questions about procedures and she was a little too enthusiastic about it. Then we went outside and she watched me and another girl as we interacted with people. I was more nervous about it than I thought I would be just because I knew she was watching me. After about 20 minutes, the manager told us that we did a great job and that we had passed our assessment!

That means that I've officially earned my ears!! I can finally take off the ribbon I've been wearing!

I didn't have too long to be excited about it because almost immediately I was told to do a trash run on my own. I immediately became a little nervous about it because I had only done one trash run during training and I hadn't pushed the big cart with all of the big trash cans on it before. This cart is HUGE and hard to maneuver. That, along with a large crowd of people who were either ignoring me completely or asking me questions I was struggling to answer, made the task of switching out trash cans a daunting one. I learned very quickly that people don't care if you're trying to steer a large, heavy cart. They'll walk in front of you, stand in front of you, and act as though you're getting in THEIR way. What's worse is that the cart didn't have any kind of break on it, so I had to keep making sure the cart didn't roll away while I switched cans. The only nice thing about the whole thing was that a guest came up to me and told me that I was doing a wonderful job.

After I finished my run, I went back stage and when I told a cast member what I had done, they said that I had done it wrong! I started freaking out because I couldn't believe that I had done something wrong already! But then it turns out another person who had been instructed by the same person as me before the run had done it wrong also. We had been instructed to do the wrong task, so it wasn't my fault. That was a huge relief. So I had to push the cart back to the trash cans that I had already been to and had to redo them all.

After I finished that run, it was time for me to clock out and I was so thankful for that. Although my tasks were simple, they were still overwhelming because people weren't as helpful as they were when I was still training.

I'm not entirely thrilled about doing some things on my own, but I'm certainly not going to hesitate to ask for help if I need it. I'm not even going to take my "earning my ears" ribbon off for a week or so because at least with that, people know that I'm still learning. I really hope to get a handle on things as I continue to work on my own. I'm a little nervous about my shifts for the coming week.