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