The Insanity Continues: Check In Day #2

Well Hello there!

Yesterday was the day I officially began my second CP. The night before check-in I met my roommates at DTD where we ate at Earl of Sandwich and then walked around a bit. We decided that we were going to get to Vista at 5:30 so we could make sure we got in the front of the line and got the apartment size and location that we wanted.

Monday morning I got up bright and early at 5:00 am. I had my bestie/twin there to help me with move in so he sat in the car while I stood in line. We were probably 5th in line when we got there at 5:30 and the line just got progressively longer as we waited. While I hate that I had to get up so early, I am glad I got there when I did. What time you get there greatly depends on the people in your season and so changes every semester but I also think that as more people do the program they hear that you should get there earlier so people just continually get there early. Kind of like a catch 22.

Roooomies!! (L-R Kryssy, Jenn, Kat, Me!)

They started walking us back at 8 am. We ended up being first in line because the people in front of us all had suitcases and had to walk their bags to the suitcase tent while we just went to the first table. First thing you do is get your program guide book which eventually gets a ton of stickers stuck on to it with all sorts of info and a name tag. Next station is when you fill out some paper work for housing including your contact info and agreeing to all the housing rules. Next stop is where you select your apt roommates/apt size/apt location. I was selected as the person to head up to get our apt. We got a 2 bedroom in Chatham and had a choice of the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd floor. We had talked about what we wanted before so I chose a 1st floor and it just so happened that we live in building 26 which is right next to my old building of 25. This time I am on the back of the building so we have a little patio without a fence. We are literally in the back right corner so we face a drainage canal which means greeeeeen and a fence in the way. Its actually quite nice.

After getting your apt number the next stop is picking up your apartment key. You then go to a station to sign your rent paper (telling you how much you will pay), then you move on to a table to pick up a bus route map, then on to getting your picture taken for your housing ID. Kat and I had problems with out IDs. They just wouldn't print out. I had to wait like 10 mins and she had to wait like 15 while our other roomies Jenn and Kryssy got theirs quite quickly. We ended up getting a bit separated at this point. Next stop is the car decal area (if you have a car with you) and then the last stop at Housing is where you get your Casting bus time and info about the rest of the day. I was given the 9:00 bus time but ended up being placed on the 8:45 bus with Kryssy and Jenn. We didn't actually end up leaving Vista till like 9:06.  Kat unfortunately got stuck on the 9:00 bus that didn't leave till well after 9:00.

After Housing we went to Casting. I'm not going to go into as much detail because.. well, I am lazy. lol. We got the location for our roles. Since I already knew mine and performers are park universal I didn't learn anything new. We turned in our I-9s and saw that there is a open audition for females 5'1 -5'7 and that CPs can attend. Usually CPs can't attend auditions till the end of their program and I assume the 6 month between audition rule is in place here too, but it was an interesting little side note learned at casting. When I got my fingerprints taken the man (which I am almost positive is the same guy that took them last time) told me I had really good fingers. Go Me! :) I then went through various other rooms before finally ending up in the room with all the trainers. Let me just say that the trainer for Entertainment sucked! I literally didn't learn anything. I know I have Welcome to Entertainment on Thursday morning and that I will get the rest of my schedule then. While I already knew that (and the rest of my schedule up till Sat the 18th) I was frustrated because she mumbled the whole time! I couldn't hear her over all the other trainers. I wanted to tell her to SPEAK UP! ugh.

I ended up getting out of casting first since I was able to skip a table which put me a bit in front of Kryssy and Jenn. I waited for everyone else to get out of Casting and we all took the bus home together. While I was at Casting my twin had brought all the stuff to my apt since he had plans later in the afternoon. I expected to have a bit of time in between housing and casting like I did last time, but I didn't. I did run my key to him before I got on the bus so he was able to get into the apt and put everything in there for me. I ended up having to get a late check out so that I could have time to get to the apartment, get my car, and then get back to the hotel. After I did that I spent a bit of time unpacking before my roommates returned and they then went to the housing meeting. I decided to be bad and not go because 1) I was an RA and its basically a hall meeting (which I conducted several times) and 2) I had already gone to one once. I also figured since all three of my roommates would be going, if there was anything I needed to know, they would tell me.

To end the night we all went to Port Orleans Riverside to have a check-in night dinner meet up. A few other people showed up which was nice. We had a good time. :) That is pretty much it for check-in day. . Kat, Kryssy, and Jenn went to Traditions today but I didn't have to since I am a current cast member. I did have to go get my CP ID and I got the new blue ID. It used to be that blue IDs were reserved for Managers only (white for cps, red for seasonal, and yellow for pt/ft). Now everyone will have blue ones and vendors/contractors will have green. They just started issuing the blue ones today so I literally got one of the first ones. :) My picture is horrible though because i didn't expect to have to take a picture today. Traditionally CPs don't have pictures on their IDs. I will try to continue to update with training and such. It was a bit hard to find the motivation to get this one done but I have promised to be dedicated to this, so I am going to be.

Anyways, LOVE YOU ALL!
-M

Graduation, Packing, and other random things.

Well hello there my lovelies! It feels like it has been so long since I last posted (12 days! unacceptable!). The fact that I feel totally horrible and sad that I have neglected this blog for 12 days just goes to show how important it (and my readers) have become to me. That kind of makes me happy because I am relatively sure I won't fall off the wagon and never post like I did on my last CP. I feel obligated to post regularly  and keep everyone informed of my fun.

I am pretty much done with school (one last final that I can literally just write my name on and pass the class) and graduation is  just 5 days away. Since I have nothing to do this finals week, I have started packing. Flash back to a year and a half ago and this post and my feelings about packing have not changed one bit. I have yet to edit that packing list and take out the things I know I won't need which means I have just been packing things I know will just have to go into storage. Since I am planning on staying in Orlando after my program everything that I am not taking to Orlando is getting packed and stored at my parents house until the end of my program.

I am trying really really hard to just pack and get it done. I realize that the reason I am not good at packing is because you have to let your space get really messy in order to pack and I can't stand the mess. So I end up trying to be neat while packing and that just doesn't work.

In other news.... IN EXACTLY 4 WEEKS I WILL BE CHECKING IN AT VISTA WAY!!! flkgjadl;gjldfkgfadgjdflkfj
Sheer. Excitement.

I can't believe it is almost here. I can't believe its almost time for me to go back. I have literally been waiting to return since July 27th, the day I left. Working at Disney and living in Orlando was really one of the best things to ever happen to me. I met people that have become such an essential part of my life and I can't wait to go back and make meet even more people.

Speaking of people, I have such an incredibly long list of people I want/need to see as soon as I get back that I just don't know how I am going to fit everything in.  My roomies and I are planning on going shopping together on our second day to get things that we will want/need for the Apt. Because I am still a Cast Member I don't think I have to go to Traditions again which means I will have day 3 (traditions day) off. The down side to that is I will probably have to go to Access Control to get my CP Id rather then getting it at Traditions check-in and I don't know how I will get my name tag. So basically the 2 free days I will have before training will be spent doing things other than spending time with all of the people I want to see. I will be intensely busy once training starts so if I don't get to see them before then, I won't see them till like 1.5 weeks after I get there. That is also assuming I start training right away. Depending on how many Entertainment CMs need to be trained they could split us up into multiple groups and I may be delayed further than the 4th or 5th day in starting training. I pray I am in the group that starts immediately b/c I have friends who will be on vacation at the time and slightly planned it around the hopes of seeing me while in training.  I think I will be able to look up when I start on the HUB once that schedule drops, but as of now they still haven't even switched my role so who knows if I will actually be able to do that.

Humm... I guess that is all I have to talk about at the moment. I will probably post again next week unless something awesome happens that I need to talk about. :)

Love
-M

1 Year Anniversery

Today marks my one year anniversary with the Walt Disney Company. A year ago today I completed Traditions and became an official Walt Disney World Cast Member. While the company does not recognize this date for a year pin or any of the other perks that go with company anniversaries, its still an important milestone for me.

Happy One Year Anniversary To Me!

In case any potential CPs (or anyone else) is curious as to what I mean by Disney not recognizing my hire date for anything I shall explain. Basically Disney does not recognize any time in an internship program (Career Start, College Program, or Professional Internship) as counting towards seniority or any of the benefits of being with the company for a long time. I know several people who could practically have a 5 year pin by now if the company did recognize time spent in internship programs. lol. Oh well!

-M

Traditions and Training!

Hello my loves! As the title says this post is going to be about Traditions and Training. YAAAAAAAY! :)

As almost everyone will tell you Traditions is wonderful. It is really a great way to get you energized about working for Disney and helping make the most magical place on earth that much more magical. You get to hear stories that definitely energize you and make you want to start training so you can get out into your work area. There are some surprises built into the day that are well... surprising and fun! Look forward to them because they will be something you talk about afterwards.

My have two big suggestions for traditions. One, DO NOT FORGET YOUR PICTURE ID!! That is very very important. It must be state issued too! I accidentally forgot mine and ended up having to return later in the afternoon to receive my Disney ID. It was quite a pain and could have been totally avoided if I had simply remembered my driver's license. Suggestion number Two!... follow the Disney look. Dress up! It is better to be safe than sorry. As the lead trainer for Entertainment told me you only have a few chances to really dress up... take advantage of them! It will also prevent you from having to run to Costuming or being turned away.

Now on to Training! I started my training two days after I completed Traditions aka Friday. The first two days were meat and potatoes information with the last three days being in the parks on the job training. I have had one trainer that has been with my group since Friday. Her name is Trina and she is super awesome. We have had a rotation of other trainers but yesterday and today we had a trainer named Jamson with us. I think I spelled his name right... Trina and Jamson are wonderful and have done a great job at making me feel really comfortable with my new job. Which by the way is a lot harder and more stressful than I think most people realize. I obviously can't really talk about all the things that we do but please remember that your Character Attendant is working very hard to help make your time with the Disney Characters very special. If you decide to tell them thank you, I am very sure they would appreciate it.

While training has been very fun it has been quite tiring. I literally went to bed last night at 9:30 pm. I would have gone to bed at like 8:30 but I had to take a shower. lol And in case anyone is wondering that was my transition to ending this post. I need to take a shower and get ready for bed. :)

Love you all!! (seriously I do. Promise)
-M