Zip a dee doo dahh

Ahhhh sooo busy, sorry again for the lack of updates guys. For this, since I don't remember the exact dates and times I will just list off some things I did since I last left off.

Well I went to Downtown Disney and did some more Christmas shopping, its nice to go places by yourself sometimes. You can do things at your own pace without feeling rushed. I also made a t-shirt with my name on it and it says "Walt Disney World Cast Member 2009-2010". That turned out rather nicely. Then I went to go catch a flick by myself. It was Twilight's New Moon :) Really good movie. Go see it if you haven't already. I also moved apartments, from building 23 to building 14. Not only is it smaller with less roommates, but its alot closer to the bus stop. Lugged everything back and forth on my own as well.

That weekend I went to Cowboys, which is really cool. There is a line dance to pretty much every song, and not just country songs. Some are ridiculously hard though. I brought a cowboy hat just for the occasion too. Whats also nice about it is that you pay a flat cover of 7 bucks and you get free beer from 10 pm to 1 am every Saturday.

The following Monday I went to my first Canadian girls night, its rave themed. That day I decided to be dumb because since I've never been to a girls night I brought nothing except for my key because I didn't realize we were leaving the premises. apparently, every night after pre drinking at someones place either at Patterson or the Commons, we head out to a bar of some sort. That week it was SOB (Sun on the Beach). It was an international party, we met up w/ the italians, canadian guys, the uk lads EVERYONE. I did not have any id on me, and considering I look about 18 didnt even bother trying to buy a drink. The security guard there scared me. Also forgot to bring money, and my housing id, so I had to be interrogated at the maingate. NOT COOL. They have a list of everyone who lives in the Commons, so they find your name and ask you when you arrived, when you are leaving, how many roommates you have etc. At least at the girls night the following week I was more prepared. The theme for last Mondays was just the girls shirts you get when you are initiated which I don line't even want to talk about haha. We played Survivor, and then headed off to Bennigans and partied with the Italians.

I also finally mailed my gifts these past couple days, went to movie night, oh and Winter Formal and the Canadian throw in. Winter Formal was fun. I didn't get a picture with any of the characters seeing as it was a long line up for each. Mickey was there alongside Belle and the Beast and Aladdin. There was free food and drinks, food like penne, meatballs, strawberry shortcake yummm. Then we left early to go to the Canadian throw in, it was my first time on the other side of it. That's always fun. A bunch of us were wearing our dresses.

I think that covers everything for right now :)

Natalie

Circle of Lifeee.

So I had talked to the managers about my slightly messed up schedule. Apparently they mixed my schedule up with ANOTHER natalie who had requested vacation time. She ended up self-terming so I worked the rest of her shifts last week. With that being said, my name wasn't on the schedule all week until Friday and thats when I was supposed to start greeter training which I have already done the week before. I was told by the area manager that I had Friday and Saturday off because those are the days she had off, but for whatever reason, my name was still on the schedule Saturday so managers and other cast members were asking me where I was. All is solved though. I was supposed to talk to the merch manager this week too about switching, but that's going to have to be rescheduled as well. They are apparently saying that merch has too many people and F&B has too many people so it may not happen, but since we're switching, there is a better chance of it happening.

So anyways, where did I leave off? I had an ER last Tuesday, thats when I did some major Christmas shopping at downtown disney. Spent the whole day in World of Disney. I am buying for 4 friends back home. I had a brilliant idea where I am buying them stockings and little stuffers that are themed around their fave disney character. Once that was done, I met up with some fellow Canadians at Magic Kingdom and we did Very Merry Christmas party which was a BLAST! I've got pics from it on facebook, but it was so much fun. They had soap bubbles on Main Street that represented snow, a christmas parade, free hot chocolate and cookies, christmas fireworks @ the castle (which is a different version of wishes, its actually called Holiday Wishes at the party) A couple of dance parties were going on, there was a dj and you'd dance with different Disney characters to different songs like Thriller, Cha Cha Slide, Jump on It and they'd teach you the dance moves. I'm telling you right now, that Chip can mooove. We also went to Laugh Floor, Buzz Lightyear, Peter Pan, and Winnie the Pooh rides. We got a group picture with Donald Duck cause he had a lumberjack hat on. Siiick.

The other days I worked as a seater, except for Thursday where I was popcorn pm cash. Not too many problems. Had some people tell me they knew I was Canadian because of my "accent". I have an accent? lol. I have officially become one of the trivia people as well. I am the one who entertains guests while they are waiting with either Canadian trivia or Disney trivia. It's alot of fun, and people don't get as impatient. It works. I took Friday and Saturday off. Friday not too much happened cause I had to wake up bright and early to go to a Florida Gators football game Sat morning at 8 am. That was fun. Hot but fun. Gators won by ALOT. We were at the very top, kinda hard to see what was going on in the game, but the marching band spelled out words. It was cool lol. We didn't get back home until 6 and by then I was exhausted cause the sun really wore me out. Took a nice hot shower that night too.

Sunday and Monday I worked, one at popcorn cart and one as a seater. Monday as a seater was redonculus. Many impatient people cause we were running at least 45 minutes behind schedule. We did trivia but even that wasn't enough, we had one family leave because we didn't give them enough information as to how long the wait was (even though we don't really know 100%).

I asked for Tuesday off to do some more Christmas shopping. Bought more stuff for friends, and stuff for my mom. Still have my dad and sister to buy for. Mailing all these gifts should be interesting. My friend Mel tagged along after I went grocery shopping at Publix. Bought a pile of stuff, 4 full bags of it. wont run out of food for a while now :) She helped me buy stuff considering she's an expert and knows where I can get things. The only thing that sucked was that it was blackout week so the holiday 50% discount did not take place. Still got my regular 20% off though. I love disney christmas shopping! We then went to earl of sandwich which has really good hot sandwiches. I had a limited time only holiday sandwich which consisted of turkey, stuffing, cranberries, and gravy all in one sandwich. It was magnificent. Mel had the meatball sandwich with marinara sauce and parmesan cheese.

Wednesday was Tampa day. We met up with everyone at Dan's place (where I got drenched in the rain, had to walk all the way from apartment 23 to apartment 1...ridiculous) and then headed off to Tampa for a Leafs game. We first made a pit stop to Epcot to buy our moose heads which are the funniest thing ever. Then we left for Tampa, and since we got there early we ate at Hooters (lol) and then went bowling after at a really nice bar/bowling alley. I lost both games booo :( Then we finally went to the game, 3RD ROW TICKETS!! We could practically touch the players, it was really neat. Told some people back home to turn the game on and see if they could see me on there with our moose heads. I swear we probably got more pics taken of us then the players did. 4 of us sported the moosehead, pretty much the best moment of my life.

Yesterday went to Animal Kingdom with my friend Rob and some people from Brazil. Went on Everest finally, but we went in the single rider line so I was forced to go on it for my first time by myself haha. I was not happy, but it wasn't bad at all. We just didn't feel like waiting an hour to go on together so we agreed we would split up. We got on that much faster. We also saw Festival of the Lion King (which is the best show in Disney, really well done!) saw the parade and rode Dinosaur. Which kinda freaked me out cause I hadn't been on it in a while, alot of the ride is dark and dinosaurs just come out of nowhere lol. Then we went on Kali River Rapids which I was not happy about, you really really have to watch where you sit on that ride because you can either get drenched or barely get wet. Keep in mind, it was not warm out at all. So lucky me sat on the side where you get drenched. Yup. There's a fountain that shoots up out of the water and I thought it was just a gimmick to get you scared, nope, went right through it and of course I got wet. All in all it was a good day.

Now today I have a 6 to 12:30 shift, should be crazy but hopefully it goes by fast. I am popcorn stocker. Yayy me. First popcorn stocking shift by myself.

Anyways thats about all

Nat

A whole new WOOORLDD...

Hey everyone!
So alot has happened. Good news is though I feel 100% better after finally going to the clinic and picking up some medicine. Was not cheap, but I needed to go. Last Saturday I trained as a pm seater which was hectic, you should never start training as a PM seater cause dinner is so much busier than lunch. I vaguely remembered the tables, and the facts that went along with the provinces. As a seater, you have to first check the paper that comes out and make sure you meet the guests needs (highchair, place to put ECV/wheelchair, make sure allergies and celebration are stamped so the server knows, circle if they are on the Disney Dining Plan, look at how many kids and adults are in the party and get a menu for each etc.) so once that is all done, you grab a drink menu, then you look at the description the greeter at the front put down. We don't like to cattle call, so we try to find the person based on the description given as best we can. We then take them to their seat, once everyone is seated you hand out the menus and then spiel the fact that our restaurant is set up like the provinces and territories of Canada, then you say which province they are sitting in, a fact about it, and who their server is. I think my main thing is remembering which province is where, I've memorized the West Side pretty much but not so much the East Side. Once you sit them down, you take away any unnecessary settings and place them at the side station closest to you, for dinner you also take away the wine glasses from the kids. It's pretty straightforward once you know what you're doing. As a PM Seater we also have to wipe down the benches, counter, and help out the stocker and/or the servers when needed. It does get busy, so the more help they get, the better.

Sunday I was an AM seater which I found was a lot easier in regards to learning where all the sections/tables are. My trainer was really good, she gave me sort of a test, she drew a blank floor plan and had me fill in the different numbered tables. Provinces don't matter so much if you screw them up or say the wrong one, if that happens, which it did once with me, just keep talking. To be honest, half the time the guests don't really listen to what you're saying, they just want to eat. I sat one family in the wrong table, thankfully the assignor caught me though and I sat them at the one next to it. It takes practice, I am slowly getting it.

Monday and Tuesday I had off, which I enjoyed very much as I didn't stay home. My friend from Scotland, Rebecca, had those days off as well, so we spent them at the parks. Monday was park hopping day. We went to MK (Magic Kingdom) during the day, went on Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor (which was really cute), Snow White's Scary Adventures, Pirates of the Caribbean (me and Bex had fun in this gift shop haha) oh yeah and we also did a hidden mickey scavenger hunt for a bit. Some of them are actually really well hidden. We ate at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe for lunch. We also got a picture with Buzz Lightyear (to infinity and beyond!) Then finally we headed to Hollywood Studios, but since that park closes at 7, we only had a couple hours there. We went on Tower of Terror first, which is an awesome ride, then we did Rock N Rollercoaster, which is definitely my fave ride in all of Disney. I have not been on Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom yet though. We also tried to get on Toy Story Mania but that was a 60 min wait. We also missed getting a picture with Mike Wazowski. Next time we plan on doing that.

Tuesday was my running errands day, we went mini golfing at Blizzard Beach which was probably the best mini golf course I have ever played. We played two rounds, because there is a winter course and then a summer course. Each course was 6.34 instead of 12 something each because of our cast member discount. We are supposed to be getting coupons in the mail soon, and one includes a free round of golf :) Then we headed down to Epcot, I had to drop off a costume to get it washed. Bex had also never been on Mission Space, so we got to ride that one twice. As well as Test Track. Good times. We talked about one day going to Epcot just to do the Kim Possible missions. We also talked about buying an annual pass to Universal which has alot more rollercoasters. We wanted to do Sum of all Thrills (which was where you build your own rollercoaster and then ride it, which I've done twice and is really cool) but we figured it would close before we got to it.

Tuesday night I had to go to Florida Mall again to get my laptop fixed AGAIN. This time it was a permanent fix, the guy actually took it back and replaced a RAM stick, where as the first time I went all he did was erase everything on my computer and reset the hard drive. That lasted a night haha. My cab driver David drove me, and he brought his wife along. They are extremely nice. His wife just happened to work at MK and she said next time I am waiting in line for Splash Mountain or Big Thunder mountain, she said to just ask for her and she will let me on the ride right away. I love having connections haha. The thing I like about the malls over here is that they give you free samples in the food court or really anywhere, where as back home they don't. That's how I discovered how amazing orange chicken is at the Chinese restaurant...mmmm.

Wednesday I had my first greeter shift, which is personally my favourite. It's our job to check guests in, and make sure that all needs are met (sometimes by communicating with the assignor by radio). We are also the ones that get yelled at though if someone at the podium inside checked someone in wrong. That actually happened the other day. There was a party of 12 that had apparently checked in, and there table was ready and they were nowhere to be found. Someone inside had checked them in, but we got the blame for checking them in without adding a description. For descriptions, we have to say what they're wearing, hair color, hat, logo...whatever we can do to make the seater's job easier. We are also the ones that have to ask if they need a highchair. The only time we call the assignor is for walk ins at lunch (that's really the only time we MAY take walk ins.) or if a party of 6 turns into a party of 4 or vice versa. All in all it went well.

Yesterday I had my first restaurant stocking shift, its this particular area that makes me want to switch to merch (I talked to my manager about it last night). It's the most fast paced of them all besides being a server or cook/chef. We have to stock the bread (pretzels, multigrain, and sourdough) and fill up the rack for the servers/food runners. We have to do cutlery runs, bus tables, set tables, stock napkins etc. We have to do all this in a certain amount of time, especially around dinner time is when it gets crazy. I'm not a very fast paced person, lol, so this is definitely not something I excel in. It's my least favourite. Some people love it cause it makes the time go by alot quicker, but not for me, I was so stressed out last night cause I had no idea what to do next lol.

Today I am PM seater, start at 2:30. My schedule is somewhat messed up though, especially next weeks. It has to be changed.

I think that covered everything =)

Oh yeah and every park is pretty much decorated for Christmas already now, I love it, its so pretty. Reminds me of back home :)

Nat

Update..

Heyyy
sorry about the lack of updating. Truthfully, I have been terribly sick with laryngitis and have been coughing loads. Don't ask me where I got it from, but I can tell you I feel like I have to live in a bubble. My roommates are getting quite annoyed and no one wants to get sick lol. Anyways, so I managed to open and close popcorn by myself without TOOO much trouble, had a bit of help, everyone is so nice and you can ask questions without feeling awkward. Opening is a lot less hectic than closing. Closing you've always got those people lined up for beer. You also have to count everything yourself at the end of the night, and clear that everything is equal with the GT. Last weekend before I got terribly ill, I went to S.O.B (Sun on the beach) for Halloween which was awesome. I was a brick house haha. Sunday I went to House of Blues which was also a good time. Lots of breakdancing going on, and you've also got the dancers on the stage with the dj. Definitely a different kind of clubbing atmosphere. Didn't start feeling sick until Monday. I managed to call in sick Thursday, I had a stocker shift, and there was no way I was going in. I could not talk. I went to the clinic. Luckily I have a trusting cab driver now who I call when I need a ride somewhere that the bus doesn't go to or takes hours to get to. I went to the Florida Mall to get my computer fixed, I love the food court there cause everyone is giving you free samples. They have a Forever 21 there too which is exciting to me. That's about all for right now as I haven't done much due to me being ill.

Nat

Wow...

It's been a week, and I've been pretty busy. Last week as you already know was our throw in. That was fun. Don't want to give away too much info to the newcomers. But you will have a blast, I promise you. The next day we did Downtown Disney again and checked out some of the shops like the World of Disney which has everything Disney from hats to costumes to clothes to books. I bought a book on the Hidden Mickeys all around the parks which I am pretty excited about. I love scavenger hunts haha. We also went to Lego Mania which is literally everything lego. It's pretty cool. I used to love legos when I was little. We ate at the Rainforest Cafe which was delicious. I had Chicken Fried Chicken. No joke. That was definitely what it was called. We went to Epcot, checked out each of our workplaces, rode Maelstrom in Norway. We also decided to check out Hollywood Studios, we all knew it closed at 7 except Taryn thought it closed later, so surely enough we arrive at 6:55 only to find it closes at 7...so then we ventured off to Magic Kingdom which was opened late because of Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. But again we arrived pretty late so we only had time for one ride and that was the Haunted Mansion. I made a rule that all newbies to Disney World should go on with an experienced rider because it's so much fun to see a first timer on a ride. Saturday was Traditions which was a very long and tiring day (6:25 until about 12:30), it was basically a day about The disney basics and service, safety etc. We also got to go to Magic Kingdom with little CIA earpieces on and we had to write down different things on what makes the park so safe. Mickey also came to visit us which was pretty cool. I wanted a critter so bad but I didn't know the answer to any of the questions. At the end of the day we got our nametags and Disney ID's. Sunday I started to feel really sick and exhausted...we had F&B basics which was basically about good service and having the Disney Look. We mainly did some e-Learning on the computers as well as got accounts on The Hub which is a website exclusive to Disney Cast Members. Monday was Onboarding Day, still sick with a fever, another long day. Working @ Disney has a lot of rules and regulations, especially when it comes to checking id. They cannot stress enough how important it is to not serve anyone younger than 21 any alcohol. This results to instant termination. You have to card anyone who looks 30 and younger, and each guest can only order up to 2 drinks each. Tuesday was Discovery Day, the last dress up day. This day was the most fun as we got a tour of Epcot, and rode Spaceship Earth, and some other neat surprises which I cannot disclose at this time. Wednesday was my first day of work, on the job training at popcorn cart. So much to learn. Next time I open I have to open by myself so I'm pretty nervous, but as long as I have things written down. My trainer was so nice and bubbly. The most confusing thing for me is ringing people in cause so many people use gift cards, coupons, guest ids etc and every single form of payment has a button so it can get quite overwhelming at times. Also pouring the beer from the keg, there's a certain way to do it so it doesn't foam. You have to let it run for about 20 milliseconds until it becomes clear, and then you have to tilt the glass so it does not build up foam. I still can't do this very well and I've had 2 shifts already. But everything else I seem to be getting the hang of. It's entertaining though right before fireworks because so many tipsy people will want to buy beer. Yesterday I had a pm shift and its pretty much the same thing as am except busier. Luckily I had my trainer with me to help me with orders. So finally I have today, tomorrow and Sunday off so me and Taryn are going to check out the parks. We are actually going to bring in our 2 costumes to Epcot today to have them washed. So I will keep you all posted.

Love Nat

Moved in

Well a lot has happened in the past couple days, it's almost overwhelming. Tuesday I met up with my friend Taryn who I was talking to for a while before the big move. We went to Wal-mart and loaded our carts FULL. I believe I had 2 carts lol. We had to pick up some food, internet cables, hangers etc. After that we headed back to our apartments, put everything away and went to eat at Olive Garden with my parents. After my parents left back to their hotel, we went out to the outlet mall with our friend Jo, which is literally across the street from the Commons. How cool is it to walk to the mall? haha. Did not buy anything as I do not have alot of money to spend at the moment. Finally met all my roommates too. My roommate is from Italy, and then the other 6 people are from Japan, Norway, England, Mexico, and Canada. Wednesday was a long day, we had our orientation where they gave us rules and regulations in and around the Commons, how we can get terminated etc. We also got our Commons id to show security, and we got information on how the Disney Look should be like what we should change before Traditions class on Sunday. Then at night we went to Downtown Disney with 2 groups. That was alot of fun. We went to Planet Hollywood with the first group, and the 2nd group was with a bunch of people from Italy and we went to eat at House of Blues. Me and Taryn just had drinks cause we had already ate. Tonight is our throw in, which I'm pretty excited for. I bought a plaid shirt for the occasion, we're supposed to dress Canadian. Tomorrow I believe we are doing Downtown Disney again, and Saturday is our first official day of work :)

Epcot

This morning we got up, ate breakfast at the food court in our resort. Mine was kind of all slopped together (french toast, eggs, sausage, bacon, home fries) and then we bought tickets to the parks, and tried to get a reservation at Le Cellier (which is where I will be working soon) Apparently in order to get a seat there, you need to book at least 6 months in advance. Unless there is a cancellation, but those chances are slim to none. Le Cellier is the best restaurant in all of Disney, aside from character dining. Should be pretty crazy. Kinda getting nervous, but I should do ok.

At Epcot, we first went to ride Spaceship Earth. The lineup goes by fast because the ride itself is on a conveyor type thing so the seats don't stop moving at all. In this ride, you are seated in "time machines". Next we hit Test Track and got a FastPass to ride that. Then it was Ellen's Energy Adventure at the Universe of Energy which is more of a movie then a ride. Then we finally went on Test Track, which is actually considered a thrill ride considering the speed. If you haven't been on it, it's a ride that is sponsored by GM. You ride in a "race car" and go through several tests, sort of like you are a crash test dummy. I don't want to spoil it all but its really cool. I wanted to go on Mission Space but unfortunately both of my rents are wusses. After Future World, we headed to World Showcase (a.k.a where I will be working for a year) Now I used to hate walking around this thing when I was little cause all it is is a bunch of stores and restaurants, and a couple of attractions here and there, but now I LOVE it. It's really neat to see Disney's version of all the different countries. Food and Wine fest is still going on now too, and besides the countries that are showcased year round, they have foods from Australia, Thailand etc. Don't forget the wine of course. Worth checking out if you go between now and November. So we stopped at the Canada Pavilion first, checked out this new O Canada 360 film starring Martin Short, I have a feeling if I watch that enough times it'll make me home sick lol. Such a good movie though. I also talked to some Canadians at the Northwest Mercantile. I was actually looking for a friend of mine from Fanshawe, but she wasn't working today, so I talked to these 2 girls. They were really nice. They answered any questions I had about moving in, the job etc. We stopped at the UK pavilion after that, ate at the Rose & Crown (which was delicious, I had Shephard's Pie) , the waitress there was also really friendly, she even told me what building she was in just in case I needed anything, and she gave me a number for the best cab. I think I'll make friends juuust fine :)

Finally we went on The Seas with Nemo and Friends, its definitely for kids, but its cute. It was my first time going on the new version actually. Then we decided to leave Epcot, and go to Target to buy some last minute supplies/goodies and then headed back to the hotel.

Tomorrow is move in day, check in is at noon. Sooo excited.

Talk to you guys soon,

Natalie