ºoº A journal of my seasons living, working, and playing in the happiest place on earth ºoº
Friday, May 11, 2012
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Monday, April 16, 2012
Springtime Brings New Beginnings
It seems that spring time has brought me lots of good things.
When I last posted I had just been offered a role with Universal. I feel like that was the start of good things or maybe it was getting hired with SeaWorld. Either way I don't regret turning Universal down. Just seeing how much effort my SeaWorld friends had to put into making the rehersals fit with their other work schedules makes me glad I didn't put myself through that.
I am also really glad I didn't take it because on the 12th I got a call from Disney Casting offering me part time in my current role as a performer. This is awesome for so many different reasons and totally made possible by my only having the one other job rather than two.
My part time goes into place on 4/29. Which means on 4/29/2013 I will finally get my one year pin after working for the company three years and 4 months. Not gonna lie I am excited for that pin.
In other news I am going to an info session for Traditions hosts soon. Traditions host is a role that I have listed as a dream role and would definitely love to eventually get. I would also love to get into the training aspect of entertainment in either core training or as a Welcome to Entertainment facilitator. I have lots of areas I want to look into and I feel like finally getting part time will put me on the right track to achieving some of them.
I will post again soon!
-M
When I last posted I had just been offered a role with Universal. I feel like that was the start of good things or maybe it was getting hired with SeaWorld. Either way I don't regret turning Universal down. Just seeing how much effort my SeaWorld friends had to put into making the rehersals fit with their other work schedules makes me glad I didn't put myself through that.
I am also really glad I didn't take it because on the 12th I got a call from Disney Casting offering me part time in my current role as a performer. This is awesome for so many different reasons and totally made possible by my only having the one other job rather than two.
My part time goes into place on 4/29. Which means on 4/29/2013 I will finally get my one year pin after working for the company three years and 4 months. Not gonna lie I am excited for that pin.
In other news I am going to an info session for Traditions hosts soon. Traditions host is a role that I have listed as a dream role and would definitely love to eventually get. I would also love to get into the training aspect of entertainment in either core training or as a Welcome to Entertainment facilitator. I have lots of areas I want to look into and I feel like finally getting part time will put me on the right track to achieving some of them.
I will post again soon!
-M
Friday, March 2, 2012
Bullet point updates
My how time does fly. December doesn't seem like all that long ago at all but March is already here.
Here is a quick update of what has happened since December.
- finished my second college program and went seasonal
- moved out of cp housing and into a nice apartment
-felt defeated, scared, and depressed because of Disney and total invisibility by Casting
- went to Seaworld Audition
- got hired at Seaworld as a Performer 1 (I not only do meet and greets but i also perform in their sesame show)
- learned how to use articulated heads at Seaworld
- started playing Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom. Super fun game.
-went to One More Disney Day 12pm to 12am.
- went to a Universal audition for both regular sets as well as their new parade
- went to an articulated head workshop at Disney. Had a lot of fun and rediscovered a passion for my job
Which brings me to yesterday. I heard back from universal and was offered a role in their new parade. After a few hours of debate and an important phone call to my mom I decided to turn down the offer. While Universal pays the most out of all 3 parks and it would have been a really cool expierence, in order to work at all 3 I would have to have 0 availability with Disney. By doing that I essentially prevent myself from ever being assessed or trained. Since Disney is where I really want to find a career and I don't really want it to be in performing, I decided that the Universal job wouldn't get be closer to my goal.
Thats where I am at now. Still looking to get that big girl job but content with where I am.
-M
Here is a quick update of what has happened since December.
- finished my second college program and went seasonal
- moved out of cp housing and into a nice apartment
-felt defeated, scared, and depressed because of Disney and total invisibility by Casting
- went to Seaworld Audition
- got hired at Seaworld as a Performer 1 (I not only do meet and greets but i also perform in their sesame show)
- learned how to use articulated heads at Seaworld
- started playing Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom. Super fun game.
-went to One More Disney Day 12pm to 12am.
- went to a Universal audition for both regular sets as well as their new parade
- went to an articulated head workshop at Disney. Had a lot of fun and rediscovered a passion for my job
Which brings me to yesterday. I heard back from universal and was offered a role in their new parade. After a few hours of debate and an important phone call to my mom I decided to turn down the offer. While Universal pays the most out of all 3 parks and it would have been a really cool expierence, in order to work at all 3 I would have to have 0 availability with Disney. By doing that I essentially prevent myself from ever being assessed or trained. Since Disney is where I really want to find a career and I don't really want it to be in performing, I decided that the Universal job wouldn't get be closer to my goal.
Thats where I am at now. Still looking to get that big girl job but content with where I am.
-M
Thursday, December 22, 2011
As the Season Comes to a Close
I am back again! Almost a full month later... oops! But lets be honest if you are still reading this thing at this point you know that I am doing good to post once a month. I am both a lazy and busy bee. Interesting combination.
Well I do have some updates since my last post. After I posted about trying to find someplace to live Kat had to back out on us living together. I won't lie, that sucked. It put my life into a tail spin trying to figure out what to do. I started looking for other people and went on Donald's Deals (the Disney classifieds) for people trying to fill rooms. I spent probably 2-3 weeks trying to find someone and totally freaking out. I ended up having to go and sign up for CP housing so I could keep my extension a viable plan. That was the day before my family got in town (another amazing story that will be included in this post) and that night I literally cried myself to sleep. I was so stressed and staying in CP housing was the absolute last thing I wanted to do. But God smiled on me and my luck broke and I managed to find someone. Over the last few days I have been in contact with a girl I found on Donald's deals who was looking for a roommate. Come to find out that I know her and talked to her for months before my first CP. She was a part of my first online D-fam. We went and looked at apartments yesterday and have put in an application for a place. I am so excited, happy, and relieved to say that I won't have to live in CP housing for the next 5 months and in fact I won't be a CP anymore.
With housing now in place I need to start busting my butt to find a big girl job. As I guessed I didn't get either of the Alumni PIs I was still in the running for. It sucked to hear that but like I said, I expected it. I can't be sure why I didn't get one. I wish I knew, but I don't. I can only assume my interview wasn't very good since I didn't get a call back from any of the PIs. Who knows but it is time to move on. As much as I love Disney, it may just be that I don't end up working here in a big girl job. That isn't really what I want but maybe it is the path I need to take. So I am searching in the Orlando area and really all over for a job that I can use my degree and my brain rather than just my body.
In other news... MY FAMILY CAME TO VISIT ME! Unlike a lot of people on the CP I haven't really had anyone come visit me. I had my aunt and her family come the very very beginning of my program (like the 2nd week I was here). Other than that I have had my high school soccer coach come who I saw for a few hours one afternoon and that is about it. So the fact that my mom, her bf, and my sister got to come was a wonderful thing. My sister was a last min addition too (literally 2 days before they got here). They got to see me and Mickey in DEP while they were here too so that was really fun. They brought me christmas gifts which I now have sitting in my room waiting to be opened. :)
Life is pretty good for me right now. Finding some place to live has taken a huge stress out of my life and I am so much more optimistic right now. I know that once I get back into the grind of looking for jobs I will get beaten down again. Being a recent graduate in an economy like this is just plain horrible. I can only imagine how it is going to shape my generation because I have no doubt that it will. (yes I am a nerd and things like that interest me)
To end this update I will leave you with a few pictures.
Well I do have some updates since my last post. After I posted about trying to find someplace to live Kat had to back out on us living together. I won't lie, that sucked. It put my life into a tail spin trying to figure out what to do. I started looking for other people and went on Donald's Deals (the Disney classifieds) for people trying to fill rooms. I spent probably 2-3 weeks trying to find someone and totally freaking out. I ended up having to go and sign up for CP housing so I could keep my extension a viable plan. That was the day before my family got in town (another amazing story that will be included in this post) and that night I literally cried myself to sleep. I was so stressed and staying in CP housing was the absolute last thing I wanted to do. But God smiled on me and my luck broke and I managed to find someone. Over the last few days I have been in contact with a girl I found on Donald's deals who was looking for a roommate. Come to find out that I know her and talked to her for months before my first CP. She was a part of my first online D-fam. We went and looked at apartments yesterday and have put in an application for a place. I am so excited, happy, and relieved to say that I won't have to live in CP housing for the next 5 months and in fact I won't be a CP anymore.
With housing now in place I need to start busting my butt to find a big girl job. As I guessed I didn't get either of the Alumni PIs I was still in the running for. It sucked to hear that but like I said, I expected it. I can't be sure why I didn't get one. I wish I knew, but I don't. I can only assume my interview wasn't very good since I didn't get a call back from any of the PIs. Who knows but it is time to move on. As much as I love Disney, it may just be that I don't end up working here in a big girl job. That isn't really what I want but maybe it is the path I need to take. So I am searching in the Orlando area and really all over for a job that I can use my degree and my brain rather than just my body.
In other news... MY FAMILY CAME TO VISIT ME! Unlike a lot of people on the CP I haven't really had anyone come visit me. I had my aunt and her family come the very very beginning of my program (like the 2nd week I was here). Other than that I have had my high school soccer coach come who I saw for a few hours one afternoon and that is about it. So the fact that my mom, her bf, and my sister got to come was a wonderful thing. My sister was a last min addition too (literally 2 days before they got here). They got to see me and Mickey in DEP while they were here too so that was really fun. They brought me christmas gifts which I now have sitting in my room waiting to be opened. :)
Life is pretty good for me right now. Finding some place to live has taken a huge stress out of my life and I am so much more optimistic right now. I know that once I get back into the grind of looking for jobs I will get beaten down again. Being a recent graduate in an economy like this is just plain horrible. I can only imagine how it is going to shape my generation because I have no doubt that it will. (yes I am a nerd and things like that interest me)
To end this update I will leave you with a few pictures.
Monday, November 28, 2011
With the End, Comes the Stress
Lets not talk about the fact that it has almost been a month since I updated.
Its been a busy month. The first part of the month steamed past, but somewhere around the middle of the month time decided to slllooow down. That slow down period coincided with the week that I got the official notice that I was no longer in consideration for my top two (and really best chance) PIs. I also realized about that time that I was going to be very hard pressed to afford to live in any of the apartments that I had looked at up until that point. To say it was a depressing time was a bit of an understatement. Coming to the realization I have no idea what I am going to do with my life come January is scary.
Honestly I am pretty much still at that point. Not so much the depressed point but the I have no idea what to do with my life. I have been applying for jobs both within Disney and outside. Unfortunately there isn't much out there for a college grad with little practical experience. My mom keeps telling me I'm far to harsh on myself and I will find something, but its hard to see that. I know from past experience that I am very hard on myself, but that doesn't change the fact that I think I am at a huge disadvantage for not having actual PR/Marketing experience. Moral of this story, do actual internships in school, not just Disney internships. Gain experience while you can still afford to not get paid for it.
I am still in consideration for 2 alumni only internships, project support for DTD and MK. I am still in interview stage for both, although I have only ever had the initial screening interview. That isn't a bad thing and I haven't heard of anyone else having more than that for those two. I am just not very confident that I will get them. I had a point where I had no hope and basically already believed I was out of running for everything. I now have a little bit of hope but I am not sure that is a good thing. Final deadline for PIs is the first week of December but I know of people who have heard back after that, especially for alumni only.
Within the Entertainment department I have been getting myself ready to switch from a CP to something else. I did accept an CP extension in my current role. That is my super back up and I hope I don't have to take it. I went to casting today and got myself on the lists for part time and full time. In the attempt to try and make myself the most versatile (and hopefully attractive for casting) performer I can be, I have been trying to make as many new character friends as possible. I have also been trying to talk to various people about what I need to do to get utilized more. That hasn't been going very well but I can only keep trying.
Life isn't so bad, its just very uncertain. I need to find a place to live and ideally another roommate to make a perfect trifecta of Kat, Me, and Someone else. I think if I could just find some place to live I would feel a lot better. Or really have just one thing fall into place for me. As if I didn't already know it, this has taught me that I am not very good with uncertainty. I am a planner and an organizer and uncertainty in my personal life makes for a stressed and frazzeled Marion.
To end this on a positive note I want to add that on the 3rd and 5th I will be playing with some of my character friends in the Main Street Electrical Parade. I can't really say how excited I am. Its good to know that I haven't been forgotten and even more exciting to think that I will finally get to roll down Main Street. So if you happen to be in the Magic Kingdom on the 3rd keep an eye out for a wooden boy and the big cheese on the 5th. :)
-M
Its been a busy month. The first part of the month steamed past, but somewhere around the middle of the month time decided to slllooow down. That slow down period coincided with the week that I got the official notice that I was no longer in consideration for my top two (and really best chance) PIs. I also realized about that time that I was going to be very hard pressed to afford to live in any of the apartments that I had looked at up until that point. To say it was a depressing time was a bit of an understatement. Coming to the realization I have no idea what I am going to do with my life come January is scary.
Honestly I am pretty much still at that point. Not so much the depressed point but the I have no idea what to do with my life. I have been applying for jobs both within Disney and outside. Unfortunately there isn't much out there for a college grad with little practical experience. My mom keeps telling me I'm far to harsh on myself and I will find something, but its hard to see that. I know from past experience that I am very hard on myself, but that doesn't change the fact that I think I am at a huge disadvantage for not having actual PR/Marketing experience. Moral of this story, do actual internships in school, not just Disney internships. Gain experience while you can still afford to not get paid for it.
I am still in consideration for 2 alumni only internships, project support for DTD and MK. I am still in interview stage for both, although I have only ever had the initial screening interview. That isn't a bad thing and I haven't heard of anyone else having more than that for those two. I am just not very confident that I will get them. I had a point where I had no hope and basically already believed I was out of running for everything. I now have a little bit of hope but I am not sure that is a good thing. Final deadline for PIs is the first week of December but I know of people who have heard back after that, especially for alumni only.
Within the Entertainment department I have been getting myself ready to switch from a CP to something else. I did accept an CP extension in my current role. That is my super back up and I hope I don't have to take it. I went to casting today and got myself on the lists for part time and full time. In the attempt to try and make myself the most versatile (and hopefully attractive for casting) performer I can be, I have been trying to make as many new character friends as possible. I have also been trying to talk to various people about what I need to do to get utilized more. That hasn't been going very well but I can only keep trying.
Life isn't so bad, its just very uncertain. I need to find a place to live and ideally another roommate to make a perfect trifecta of Kat, Me, and Someone else. I think if I could just find some place to live I would feel a lot better. Or really have just one thing fall into place for me. As if I didn't already know it, this has taught me that I am not very good with uncertainty. I am a planner and an organizer and uncertainty in my personal life makes for a stressed and frazzeled Marion.
To end this on a positive note I want to add that on the 3rd and 5th I will be playing with some of my character friends in the Main Street Electrical Parade. I can't really say how excited I am. Its good to know that I haven't been forgotten and even more exciting to think that I will finally get to roll down Main Street. So if you happen to be in the Magic Kingdom on the 3rd keep an eye out for a wooden boy and the big cheese on the 5th. :)
-M
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Event # 3: WDW 40th Anniversery
I know, I know. A month after the event I am finally getting around to blogging about it.
Sorry.
Anyways the 40th anniversary was on October 1st and was amazing. I had the morning off but worked at 4:00 so I spent the morning at Magic Kingdom and then went down into the tunnels to start my work day . Because I worked that evening I parked in cast parking and went through the tunnels to get to the park. Since that isn't exactly proper I tried to be sneaky and slow so that I didn't pop out into the parks before there were any guests. I think I got into the park about 9:30 or so (I really have no idea lol) when guests were just beginning to come in. All of my roommates came as well but we arrived separately.
I picked up the awesome 40th anniversary maps and got myself a commemorative button. I then found myself a seat for the character cavalcade that I knew was coming. At one point I ended up running down the street to find my roomies and we went back to the spot I was previously in only to find that two old ladies that had been standing next to me and stole my spot. Slightly frustrating considering I had been gone for literally a minute. It turned out alright though because I just crowded in on them and got my space back. After the parade went past we followed it down to the castle hub where Meg Crofton and some other guy whose name escapes me made little speeches. The Dapper Dans then lead a sing along of When You Wish Upon A Star. That was very cool and moving to say the least.
Yes that is indeed a shot from between one of those old ladies legs. It was about the only way I could see around her. Super annoying?... yes.
They had just kissed. Too cute.
Why yes. Flynn is Smoldering. And I did catch it on film.
That was pretty much all for the 40th events. They were giving out free cupcakes but I didn't want to stand in the ridiculously long line so I missed out on that. There was a lot of special merch things and artist signings going on in the parks but yet again, I wasn't really interested. Even though I didn't necessarily partake in any of the 40th specific events I did get to enjoy several things I have never experienced at MK. I saw the trolly show and saw an adorable little girl dressed as a Trolly girl. super cute.
I saw some of the Main Street characters including the Mayor, Fire Chief, and some of the Suffragettes. I also saw this band that I have no idea what they are called. They are not the Dapper Dans or any other group I have heard of. They were very cool though and one of them had worked at WDW since park open.
The man in the yellow shirt is the 40 year cast member.
I forgot to mention that I dressed up a bit. Its not really a 70s dress but it is vintage (late 50s) and adorable. It was a very fun day and I am glad I got to be a part of it. I spent some time with my roommates and some friends. After we watched Celebrate A Dream Come True, it was time for me to go to work. I worked at Chef Mickey's that night so unlike many people I have both a parks 40th anniversary button as well as a resort 40th anniversary button.
The marathon event weekend was exhausting but was definitely worth it. I didn't end up getting to go to another Halloween party which was sad but there is always next year. The Halloween parties just ended on Nov. 1st and the Christmas parties will begin in just a few days on the 8th. I will of course be going to at least one and will post pictures and such.
Till next time,
-M
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