Hi all,
So the other night I was what is called "Castle Back" in which I hang around after the fireworks when the park has closed to make sure no Guests enter into Fantasyland, I also was in Exit Glasses for the majority of the night.
Yesterday was Melanie's Birthday and so I had booked a reservation at '1900 Park Fare" a character dining experience within Disney's Grand Floridian Resort and Spa. She had no idea where we were eating just what time to catch the bus :) so it was a nice suprise and we got lots of photos with the characters and also got them to sign next to the photo of the four of us.
We then dashed home so Melanie could Skype her Mother and the rest of us could nap before work.
I started work at 6.30pm and at 7p
m the park officially closed and Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party began!
The best thing about the party was that we got to listen to music other than instrumental Disney music, but it was a long long long long night, the Party finished at Midnight and so I got out at 12.45pm, I closed the Carousel for the first time, was quite easy.
But then that is when the fun really began :\ I quickly caught the Bus to West Clock and as i was walking to the CP bus stop I saw our bus pull in, and when I turned the corner there was a massive crowd with many many people already on the bus.
Now Magic Kingdom has the most workers and also the most Guests visit and as you can guess the busses are ALWAYS packed. I picked a spot and luckily the bus stopped in front of me, but I got squished from behind! it was CRAZY.
After working all day the majority of CP's are rather tired and they get angry when people who have had the day off and have just played in the parks do not even offer up a seat to those who have been working..
It can get pretty intense on the bus... It is moments like these I wish I could have brought a car.
I do not start until 4.45pm today and do not plan on doing much before hand just watching tv and eating :)
Until my next blog,
Natalie :)
Hi All,
Wow it has been a long long time... SOOO much has happened, I do not even know where to begin...
Firstly a little bit more information about Training...
Traditions... that was a long day, we had to be up at the bus stop at 6.30am...
So of course we were all very very tired, but the room looked amazing, the two people we had us our trainers were quite funny and very interactive.. lots of people won little critters, but me :(
We learnt a lot about the history of the company and of course the present values we must uphold.
We also had a little tour of Magic Kingdom during the class and then we got our name tags :)
Officially a Cast Member!
and with that we got our shiny blue cards which allow us access into the parks, YAY
That afternoon my apartment went to Hollywood Studios and went on the Great Movie Ride, and watched The Voyage of the Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast Live.
We were all pretty buggered and so headed home.
Which brings me to my first day of training, Magic Kingdom has your first day of training called, "Once upon a time is Now" were we learnt allll about the wonderful park we would be working in.
That afternoon we split into our different lands so we could have a land tour, so we had 7 Australian Girls and One American "Man" in our group haha, it was lots of fun and we learnt all about Fantasyland.
Skipping to where I left of on my last post, the afternoon shift was rather chilled, we had to learn how to close both attractions and also had more practice at both.
Sadly this whole time I had so far been in America I had been sick and the next day I was meant to have a Support shift.. Which basically means you will be doing strollers all day. I was so ill I actually called in sick :( My firrst point.. but it was worth it because I got a little bit better and the next day was my Assessment and so I wanted to be on my A game.
Assessment was rather Chilled, my Assessor was so nice and jut made sure I knew everything I needed too, I then went into rotation for 30 minutes before going home for the day.. YAY
The next day I did not start until 4.45pm and I closed, however I cannot recall what I actually closed that night, and that was my last night shift for over a week... which would be nice now... but everyone else in the apartment was doing night shifts and so I was lonely haha.
So Sunday & Monday I had the same shift 11-17 and went and played in magic Kingdom after work because I could, before my two days off! yay
on the 21st of August I went to Animal Kingdom with Shelle, Kali River Rapids.. I GOT DRENCHED and it was pouring with rain so it was not too busy, we didn't stay for too long, but we definitely saw what we wanted to.
On the 22nd we had to be up SUPER EARLY again as we had our Social Security Apointment, so at 630am we hopped on a bus and headed out, that afternoon was a welcome Party called "Tea Time" in which there was food, tie dying, and meeting english characters such as Alice/Mad Hatter and Mary Poppins/Peguin.
Thursday was back to work for 7 straight days But I was sooo ill that I again called in.. it turned out I actually had chest infection and so I started taking antibiotics at the end of this week.
Friday, Saturday and Sunday I then done day shifts at work and then Monday I started night shifts, On Monday I was what is called "Castle Back" which I had no idea what that meant, but I literally just stood at the back of the castle after the fireworks and told people they were not allowed to enter into Fantasyland.
On Tuesday I was working for a little bit, but then had WISHES Training :)
On wednesday I then closed the Merge Point in Philar,, easy and we had our Fantasyland Cast Party in which we got free food and got to ride the Barnstormer and Dumbo when the park was closed and then had a raffle.. it was lots of fun and then 4 people from work were going to Maccas and so I tagged along and we then went out to Buffalo Wild Wings (Bdubs) for some drinking and dancing.. FUNNN
Thursday and Friday I was off, Thursday I went to Florida Mall and then Friday I went to Universal!!! Soo much fun.. Friday was the last night I was really going to get to see Tiffany and we watched Brave and swam in the pool. Tiffany was Self-Terming in two days and heading back to Australia.. so it was sad
the 1st of September I again closed and then Sunday I started at 11 am, so that was a little bit of a killer! and I had to say goodbye to Tiffany before work as when I finished she would be on the plane waiting to take off.
So by this point I had gotten over my chest infection and had gotten laryngitis.. joy!
I was supposed to start at 930 that morning but woke up feeling horrible and went I started talking on the phone, I had NO VOICE hahaha,,, terrible
the 4th and 5th I closed, on Wednesday (5th) one of the girls had Wishes and didn't want to do it so I swapped and I finally got to do Wishes, in which I stood near Sleepy Hallow in Liberty Square and answered Guest questions and informed them that the area was closed for Wishes.. easy work
on Thursday I was meant to start at 8.30 but one of the girls wanted the early start so I swapped for a later 1030 start but then got ER'ed haha
I was meant to then have Friday and Saturday off, but I picked up a shift on Saturday, luckily as I had called in during the week so it had even'ed out my hours.
Both nights the park officially closed at 7pm but we had an event called the 'Night of Joy" in which Christian Music was played and live Bands etc... I actually really enjoyed the night as we had lots of staff doing nothing and so I got three of us to entertain Guests by singing, dancing and just being super silly.. I had such a ball
Sunday the 9th was Jess's Birthday and I did not start work until 1830 so we went to the Japan Pavilion and had Teppan Edo (pretty much Teppanyaki but without them throwing stuff at you) it was nice and seemed very high class, we then headed to France for some Dessert and meet Aurora.. Then went of Soarin' and Spaceship Earth, before catching the Monorail over to Magic Kingdom where we went on Space Mountain and then I took them in Mickey's Philarmagic because I could haha
Work was quite hard that night as I finished at 0045 due to extra magic hours and it was the latest I have had to work.. I closed exit glasses, breeze... the next day, Monday 10th, Justine, Dayna and I went to Chick-fil-a and then to Dollar Tree (amazing store) before Dayna and I headed to Magic Kingdom where we went on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and then I got changed super quickly again for work. I had forgotten that I actually had some training that day, it actually just turned out to be a CP Welcome Session where they gave out free stuff and because we are all awesome we got Toy Story 3 on Blu-Ray and DVD for freeeee :)
Then I worked from 1800 until 2245 in my attraction and I ended up closes exit glasses again.. I also found out during my shift that we had gotten a new roommate and had not really been informed, so the house was an absolute mess!
I then had the next two days off! YAY
On Tuesday Justine and I went to the outlets up the road and then we went to Downtown Disney to the AMC Dine-in Theatre, Our new roommate Alyssa came with us and we saw "For a good time, call....' it was hilarious and we had some delicious food for not that much..
That finally brings me to yesterday where I went to Florida Mall and actually brought three tops this time, and then was broke until this morning but you know, I love shopping.
Last night was Oktoberfest at Chatham Square were I met Snow White and her Snow Prince, Daisy Duck and Goofy :)
Currently two of the girls in the apartment are on a cruise in the Bahamas, so they get back tomorrow night and today I have work tonight at 4pm until 11pm and tomorrow is a girl from works birthday, so we shall be partying it up before work at 1830..
Ohhhh and Mickey's not so scary Halloween Parties started up the other night and I cannot wait to work one of them!
Wow that was a long blog, I hope you stuck with me...
Until my next blog,
Natalie :)
Hi All,
Wow I am getting pretty bad at this uploading business, apologies!
Yes as you can tell I am living in Patterson Court with 5 other girls on the second floor :)
Justine, Dayna from New Zealand, Amy from Brisbane and Tiffany and Chloe who I have coincidentally met in Sydney on each of our meet ups :) YAY
So Check-in was so chilled, we literally just got our apartment keys and then had a free afternoon and also had Sunday free. So we were loving life.
Monday was our housing day, we had two housing meeting type things, one at the commons and one at Vista to get our housing ID's.
Tuesday we had Immigration talks and Work locations & pay talks with our first two days that we were scheduled to work, HOORAY!
I am working at.. DRUM ROLL PLEASE.....
FANTASYLAND ATTRACTIONS!!!!! yay
On Wednesday we had Traditions which was funnn, and then Thursday I had my Park Orientation and work Orientation. Friday we had another Orientation with lots of walking and then lots of computer module learning... (yay :\)
Saturday was my first day of on the job training... I am working Mickey's Phillar Magic & Prince Charmings Regal Carrousel. We opened the Carrousel and then learnt how to move guests and operate the machine.
I then had Sunday & Monday off, to which I spent Sunday afternoon/night in Epcot and watched Illuminations.. it is amazing! and then Monday was Amy's 21st Birthday so we went to Magic Kingdom for the day! it was sooo much fun!!
Today (Tuesday) I had my second day of on the job training, opening the Theatre! was lots of fun and tomorrow we FINALLY have an afternoon/night shift, yay for sleep in!!
Until my next blog,
Natalie :)
Hi All,
so it has been a few days since a blog post and well frankly A LOT has happened!
I was sooo busy prior to leaving that I just did not have time to squeze in a blog post :(
But here I am sitting in the Holiday Inn Sunspree on check-in day waiting for some people to wake up (bloody jetlag)
The flight to LA was pretty brutal, fortunately I had the extra legroom seat (SCORE) so that helped and my flight attendent worked at Disney 3 years ago! what a coincendence!
so we had plenty to talk about on take off and landing :)
I didn't really sleep on the plane and so I had to stay awake in LA all day until my flight to Orlando (KILLER)
I went on an adventure to the Target and brought some Lunch etc
When I eventually landed in Orlando, the Mears transportation was closed and so I just got a Taxi, I could NOT be bothered waiting around
I got to the Hotel, dropped my bags and it was 7am so I waited for a few people to wake up and then we went to Walmart for a bedding shop :)
I brought my bedding and towels so I could stay in my apartment and not have to carry them on the bus tomorrow/today (whenever) and then I just have to get food today
check-in is in a few hours (4 hours) so I am just waiting for that
ohh and the AUS/NZ group had dinner at applebee's last night :) yum
ohh and in Walmart we meet a few people not in the Disney Facebook Group who we invited to dinner too :)
So I think that is all so far, hopefully,
If I have missed a few things I hope to include them next time,
Until my next blog (hopefully in my awesome new apartment),
Natalie :)
Hi All,
Yes that is correct,
WE have hit the SINGLE DIGITS
9 days
Just 9 days until I hop onto a plane and fly to America!
I have such much planned in the next 9 days, I have a feeling it is going to be Thursday week in nooo time.
Ohh Disney sent us an email,
"Greetings!
We look forward to your arrival Saturday, Aug. 4!
To help us prepare for your arrival, please click the link below to indicate your housing preferences.
This is your opportunity to let us know which complex you prefer to live in, as well as unit size and floor level preferences. You may also list the names of any roommates that you would like to request. Please note that any roommate request must be of the same gender and departure date as you.
To complete your housing registration, proceed to the following link: xxx
The placement team will do their best to accommodate all of your requests, however please note that your requests are not guaranteed and will depend solely on available inventory on the day of your arrival.
The deadline to complete this form is Friday, July 27. Once the deadline has passed, you will be pre-placed into a unit based on remaining inventory.
Please note, The Walt Disney Company is an Equal Opportunity company and cannot discriminate according to race, color, origin, religion, sex or sexual orientation.
Thank you in advance for completing the next step in your housing process. Please feel free to email us at xxx with any additional questions.
We look forward to meeting you soon!
Disney Housing Operations"
So a bit weird, we are yet to hear of them asking for preferences prior to our arrival before.
It makes our check-in (11am & 12pm) seem more reasonable as we do not have to fight for good complexes.
So they asked for a preference of Complex (Vista Way, Chatham Square, Patterson Court & The Commons), Number of Bedrooms (taking into consideration two people share a bedroom) (2, 3 or 4 Bedrooms), Floor Level (No Elevators) (1st, 2nd or 3rd Floor) & Lastly we could name two other participants we would like to Room with.
They also gave you the Current Room Rent to help in your decision process!
Mm I think that is all for now...
Until my next Blog,
Natalie :)
So after careful consideration I have decided to make a post with my bucket list and slowly update and cross off if I happen to complete the task :)
ENJOY!
- Go on Every Ride in Magic Kingdom
- Go on Every Ride in EPOCT
- Go on Every Ride in Hollywood Studios
- Go on Every Ride in Animal Kingdom
(Lame) Drink from a red cup at a party (& take photographic proof for Gabby)Have Butter BeerVisit Harry Potter World - Visit all Resorts in WDW
- Collect all Fastpasses
- Visit Miami
Visit NYCGo to a Baseball Game- Have a Photo Adventure in the Parks (
MK, EPCOT, HS, DAK)
Give a Guest a Magical MomentGet a Great Service Fanatic CardReceive a Guest LetterEat at Cinderella's Royal Table- Spend a day in the Parks without going on any rides
- Drink around the World
(Canada, UK, France,
Japan, Morocco, America, Italy, Germany, China, Norway, Mexico)
- Eat around the World (Canada,
UK, France, Japan, Morocco, America, Italy, Germany, China, Norway, Mexico)
- Go to a Shooting Range
- Go to Disneyland
- (Much more to come...)
EDIT: 15 March 2013
Hi All,
Time feels like it is flying by! I am sure to everyone else it isn't, but to me, my oh my there is only 13 days left!!
I just purchased Travel Insurance for 2 days before the program, I cannot remember if I talked about it in my last post,
But one of the ladies on the Facebook Group rang the insurance people and discovered that it covers us in and out of work and for doctors visits etc! Stoked! means I don't need to fork out the $400 bucks for Insurance :)
I had a mock pack yesterday and I failed, badly!
So I decided two medium sized bags would be better than one overweight bag :)
I am very excited to get these two weeks on the way! should be nearly in LA this time next week! yippppeee
also I went and watched Brave a little while ago now with some Sydney girls and it was Ahhmazing! the animation was stunning, her hair was just beautiful!
Until my next blog,
Natalie :)
