Finding my Way

The past days have been mighty interesting. Tuesday I had to go to a housing meeting that was basically two hours of please don’t make any bad decisions or you will be terminated. There are many reasons how and why you could be terminated, at some point you basically got the idea. Afterwards, I had to buy clothes to be in the Disney Look for my next few days of training. I went to one of the three (yes, three) outlets in town and bought clothes reminiscent of my Prep days. I forgot my sunglasses in the car and word to the wise, at 1 pm it is never a good idea to not be without sunglasses here. Blindness will occur. Since I had the rest of the day off, I figured I would be proactive and figure out where I worked. I drove through those gates again to enter the grounds but didn’t realize my exit was the second one on the right. Being a left lane driver (something I was told was my weakness of driving while making this journey) I had missed my exit. I figured no problem; I’ll just get off at any one of these convenient exits and turn around. Wrong move on my part, I ended up heading toward the entrance of Epcot, a place I was not looking to go. When I got to the entrance I said, “ I don’t want to be here!” to the poor front gate operators. He replied with “It’s Disney! Everyone wants to be here!” I appreciated the enthusiasm but I rambled the situation, that I am new and wanted to see where I was working but got lost blah blah and they were kind enough to show me how to turn around. INSIDER TIP: If ever you miss your exit, turn around at a RESORT, not a park. Resorts are free to turn around in but with the parks unless you look frazzled and sad like me you might not be able to get out as easy. After driving around aimlessly more I finally found the Y& B Club. Leaving however, I made a wrong turn and ended up in Hollywood studios. This time just mad, I explained how I was leaving Y&B and ended up here, can I turn around. The front gate kid knew I was a new CP and said everyone does it the first week. I didn’t have the nerve to say I’d done it twice in one day. That night we went back to Downtown Disney as a group and just walked around. It’s a really neat night hang out spot with lots to do towards the older crowd.

Hump Day- This is a big day in any cast members career. Today I had orientation, which is known as Traditions here. It’s a big deal because you get your Disney ID (free pass to all the parks!) and your name tag. During Traditions we got to do part of the underground tour at Magic Kingdom which isn’t really underground, it’s just the main level. It was pretty fascinating to be under the Castle itself and see the first response buggy, the hallways that lead to every “land” and the most traumatizing of all was the costuming room. The door was open so I peaked in and was able to see the furred costumes just hanging there like in a meat market. For a kid it would be like learning Santa wasn’t real. The tour itself was interesting. Did you know that you could throw recyclables in any trash because someone picks through the garbage to separate it all? They just installed recycling cans recently because so many people were upset we didn’t recycle but we do, just a man who has the dirtiest job in the Resort does it. As we were leaving, we saw the girls coming out of wardrobe with their full hair and make up done from the parade. There costumes were off, but it was neat to see Belle half done up. The rest of the class was pretty much the same as any orientation. We went back to the apartments at 7pm and there was a free pizza and pool party. I felt like I was back at Mason but for once didn’t have to use my P-card to order Dominoes and I could actual enjoy the evening. That night a few of us went to the Magic Kingdom since it was open until 1 am. By the time we got there it was packed because the fireworks were about to start which actually worked in our favor because after squeezing in, we headed to the Pirates ride and got to ride it with literally no one on but this little girl dressed as Tinkerbell who hung out with us big kids. They are so much cuter when you don’t have to take them home with you. We attempted to go on other rides but it was getting late so I left them early so I could get to bed. On my way out of the Park, I stopped in at the Engine Firehouse on Mainstreet. There they have three displays of Fire and Rescue patches from all over the country. I looked at them and noticed a bunch from NJ so I asked if I could send FRFARS to be displayed and the girl said of course. She then took out two boxes filled with patches they are going to display once this displayed gets taken down, since they get rotated 1-2 times a year. I would have never believed it, but FRFARS patch was ON TOP of the pile! # Winning

After leaving the park with a smile on my face I headed back home on the monorails that one day Mr. Higgins will drive and the world should thank I never will.