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.