Be Our Guest, Be Our Guest, Put My Patience to the Test

Clever huh? Yeah well thats what happened the past three days working at Sandcastle Club, our babysitting hang out for kids. I have never been a huge fan of babysitting so I knew I wouldn't love this place but I figured with endless video games, board games, and crafts, I would be entertained as much as the kids. False statement. First off, let me apologize to Mrs. Higgins (and my mom for that matter) for following her around as she would do laundry or whatever at home and I would just talk her ear off as she just said "Uh huh" the whole time. I now know how annoying that must have been, and I appreciate you for still to this day allowing me to come in your home. Mom, you were stuck with me from the beginning.

The first day was ok, we ask the parents for a cell number and we had a few from Jersey. I would ask where from and they were all surprised when I knew they were from Jersey not realizing I can tell by the area code. I had a girl from Jersey who was hilarious and ket me entertained. She also beat me 6 times at tic tac toe and I taught her and her cousin how to play Life. These weren't ordinary kids though; the girl's father is an exec at Nickelodeon NYC office and the cousin is the son of the guy who played Richard on Lost and the Mayor in The Dark Knight. He is now in London shooting the new Batman movie. Pretty cool. The second day was more of a drag, and I have decided I will never have boys because it seems they are annoying at all ages. Today was my last day in there and I was not having it. We had 25 kids, mostly boys, and they were all wild. I ended up charging two different families more for the services but it was a fixable mistake I just felt bad. I need remedial time counting class I guess. I'm scheduled to leave at 12:15 am but we still had two boys left. Their father didn't come for the boys until 12:40 and he was drunk. Most people are when they pick up their kids, you can smell the $10 mixed drinks seeping from them.

Two things that are always consistent here are the weather patterns and the traffic. Everyday it says it will rain and it normally does, especially when I'm driving into work. Speaking of driving, the traffic isn't terrible, especially the route I take. Now the signs leading into the property are very cool but it is a 55 mph speed limit for a reason- so you don't stop and take pictures. However, I always end up behind a mini van or two who slow down to take one. I grew up riding in a minivan but I am making a promise to myself to never own one because of the vehicular trauma experienced down here. Sundays are the worst, especially around 3-6 pm; People head into the resorts to start their vacation packages so the roads are crowded with cars who don't know where they are going.

I don't really like how the schedules work because I feel that I waste my whole day. I either work 12:30- 9 or 3:00-11:30 when I'm outside which cuts the day oddly. I'm also not a huge fan of working at a big company; I have gotten so used to the big fish in a small pond between Prep and Mason that it's hard to be on the lowest prong. Sure that's what you have to do to earn your way up but I have so many managers and people above me I haven't even met them all yet and most likely never will. I also find them to do things the long way here and I am all for efficiency. They also waste a ton of paper because of the unnecessary steps they do and it takes more time to complete a task. The best way to manage is to find who your allies are. The people I have found to be most helpful are are the random people in the cafeteria during break watching the Anthony Trial (we always discuss our opinions) and the maintenance guys playing dominoes. The randoms in the cafeteria just want to talk to someone and are quick to help you out for the most part. One nice guy even gave me his holiday parking pass for next week. The maintenance guys are good to know because they know the whole resort so if you're ever lost or need to go somewhere they can help you out. Trust me I know, they had to help me my first few days.

Today before work Claudia, my roommate, and I hung out by the pool. I have two pools in my complex; one is the rowdy pool (I live right next to it) and the other is the quiet pool. I normally go to the second one because it's well, quiet. However we went to the big one today and we weren't disappointed by the kids there. The guys are just ridiculous; always showing off and smoking cigarettes in the pool then flicking them on the pool deck while the girls are two steps away from a "wardrobe malfunction" and read the latest gossip mag. These poor kids will have a hard time transitioning once this program ends and they have to go back to school, if they even do. Many people who are still in school either quit to become full time here or transfer to UCF.

...."It's three am I must be lonely"

Don't rush for the phone or the call the Sylvia Plath hotline, it just is three am and Lauren isn't here tonight to keep me company and I'm listening to my Summer hits of the 90s on Pandora. Look it up.

O and since my training period is done, I have successfully EARNED MY EARS

Thanks all for reading my long drawn out thoughts.

I'm on a Boat and It's going Fast and

...I've got a nautical themed, Pashmina Afghan

I'm the king of the world, on a boat like Leo

If you're on the Shore, then you're sure not me, oh

I was so glad I was able to sit in a nine hour professional rescue class on Thursday. I have never learned CPR or how to stop bleeding so learning it all in a fun class with Lauren. Just kidding. It was very boring but at least I passed the practical and got a 100% on the exam. We practiced CPR on the dummies about 10 times in 3 minute scenarios, then practiced on kids, then infants. If someone was stuck or needed help we all had to start over which was unfortunate. Only good thing about it was it was nine hours of pay, so I will get in that OT again. At night, I went to the midnight premeire of Cars 2 in Downtown Disney. I thought it wouldbe packed but it was actually empty. If you're going to see it, don't spend the extra 3 bucks on 3-D, it didn't make the movie any better. However, we saw previews for the new Disney movies coming out and I would highly recommend seeing The Lion King in 3-D for a limited time in November, it looks amazing. The movie was ok, not what I expected but we got to talk about it at work the next day with the kids to get them excited and to talk to up to their parents so they could go pay some dinero to watch it.

Friday I was able to do my first pirate cruise! The outfits are beyond ridiculous. Seriously ridiculous. I have to wear a skort, a scratchy shirt, and a vest that looks like the one those monkeys wear with a Fez hat. On the cruise, the kids really make the trip. Our group was 9 kids and they were ok, just some got a little rowdy and didn't want to listen. The cruise is in a Pontoon boat that fits 10-12 people. It's really nice and we go around to Epcot, we go into Canada, "boat around the world,' head to Hollywood Studios, then pretend to crash. Best part is when we crash we give the kids a snack as we try to get ourselves out and so we can eat a snack too. Being on a boat with an empty stomach is not recommended. All around the water there are clues and maps the kids have to try to figure out. I actually didn't love the cruise as much as I thought I would, but I think that was because I was just shadowing. And they didn't get my pirate jokes. Kids these days...

After I went out and did the afternoon activities and lead many of the events. I jumped in the pool to play a game with the kids because they weren't understanding the concept that wasn't hard. Fill the bucket, pass it up, dump it in a bigger bucket. What makes it fun is the bucket has holes so the water is coming out of it as they are passing it up. I thought at cooking camp kids couldn't get instructions when they were on the board but this is a new level of not comprehending. I know its for fun, but I want to win! Just once. I even had them huddle up for a strategy. Still no dice. I also got to lead the Cotton Eye Joe which is by far the most annoying dance of the century. When I was those kids age we did it all the time, but now it is a dying dance and many people don't know it. This would be Patti's dance in the spotlight.

Saturday was a fun/tiring/draining day. I had to be at the Marina at 7 am to do my driving test for the boats. I was actually really nervous but I did really well and I want to be cross trained on the firework cruises we do for those with extra cash to spend. The instructor was really chill and was very good at telling us exactly what to do. Only embarrasing part was when people were gathering around the marina to board the Friendship boats to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. They would either ask if we could take them somewhere or if we knew what we were doing since we were practicing docking. That was the only tricky thing, especially parking in-between two expensive boats that aren't yours. The great part about going on the water was learning how close I am to Epcot and Hollywood. Literally the Beach Club backs up Mexico and the Boardwalk is just a 10 minute walk to Hollywood. You can even run to one park to the other.

Saturday night I went to Universal with a co-worker. We went to the midnight showing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show and contrary to popular belief, I actually think the movie is wack. After Meatloaf dies, the movie is just all weird from there on out. Before I get angry comments, I LOVED doing it at Mason and making it a tradition that will continue. Watching people have fun, throwing stuff at the screen, and dressing up as transvestites from Transylvania is just my definition of a good time but I rarely watch the whole movie. Even cleaning up the confetti and rice was great staff bonding time (Right John and Lauren?)

Rocky Horror: The Aftermath 2010

The kid I went with is under 21 so when we tried entering City Walk, we had to go in a different line and have a security guard literally walk us to the theater. I asked if they were going to stay with us in the movie and they said they walk U-21 to the theater and that's all. What is the point? Once they leave you can technically still walk around. The whole experience was good, but as many of you know the actors there don't speak but they act out as they movie is happening and they yell the whole time at the screen. Totally fine, but some jokes were just wayyy off color even for my taste. It also gets old about an hour into the movie people madlibing the lines. This was an interesting crowd too, alot different then my Mason people dressing up in drag.

After my third night in a row out way past my bedtime and waking up early, I had to get up yet again today for my dance class. Many of you don't know this, but I can get cranky very easily when I haven't slept. Today was like sweating to the oldies but instead of Richard Simmons we had a frost-tipped ex- Peter Pan dancing to Miley Cyrus. Watching people dance is hilarious. I guess I'm fortunate enough to know how to do a 4 and 8 count and recognize beats because although I can't dance well, at least I can dance on a count. A few people in class were VERY excited to be there and treated it like an audition. We already have the job hun, no need to break your back over the cha-cha slide. This one girl who was there has auditioned twice a year for the past 5 years to become a character. Kudos for never giving up. I'm back in to work again today at 3:45 for Sandcastle club, the babysitting club we have where parents can dump their kids in the hours of 4:30 and 12 for the low price of $11.50 per kid. I would feel so bad if I was a kid on a family vacation and my parents dropped me off sothey can go to dinner without me but it's parents like those who help me have a job. BTW- this place is open every day and they said the holidays are actually a busy day for kids. How sad :(

Finally some pictures!

The Boat that is pool/slide

Camp fire on the beach

View of the lake facing the Boardwalk Resort

Pool has it's own small beach

My Roommate, Lauren and I our first night together.

This was before I had a hairbrush.

Costume pictures to come once they are clean!

Captain Sarah at your service

Ahoy There! This is your Captain speaking, Captain Sarah that is. This morning at the bright and early hour I went to take my Florida boat license test. Did you know it is unsafe to drive your ski boat into anotherski boat? After seven long learning components on the computer in an office with chatty people discussing bad tv shows and office gossip, I was able to take the test and passed with an 85%. The whole process was supposed to take 8 hours but because I'm a nautical genius I got done in four and was able to clock out by 11:30 am. Friday I will be a first mate on the Pirate cruise we do (more details on that in a later post) and on Saturday I take my boat handling course where I get behind the wheel.

So I realized I haven't been too specific on how the pool parties go. At both the Y& B and Boardwalk resorts we start our pool side activities at 1 pm. They vary everyday and are at 1 pm, 2 pm, pool parties are at 3 or 3:30 depending on where you are for an hour, and more activities continue until 5:30. Across every higher end resort there is a script you must follow for the pool parities. Everyday it changes but the general gist is still there; there is a specific play list of songs and you must do the activities listed in order and in the time frame given. Some of the games we have are Mickey/Pluto (Marco, Polo), hot potato, water balloon tosses, and one of my favorites, when we take apart a Mr. Potato head and throw the parts in the pool and the kids have to recreate it in a relay race. I actually got into the pool the other day mostly because it was hot and second because I knew I would just get soaked anyway. After the pool party the other day we had a dance party (I am getting a lot better at the Miley Cyrus songs and rock the Cupid Shuffle) and played Name that Tune. It was fun because we didn't play Disney songs and the parents were having a blast since we mixed up the genres. My favorite was when this one little girl knew the theme song to "Sex and the City" without her mom's help and when this little boy kept yelling "The Beach Boys, Poconos!" instead of Kokomo. They make me laugh.

Only problem about being poolside all day is people watching. Normally this is not an issue for me since it is one of my favorite American past times but at the pool it is rough. We all need to write into TLC and ask Clinton and Stacey to do a "What Not to Wear" edition for water attire. It's terrible and I know for a fact there are mirrors in every resort room.

Days off here like I have a half day of today are sorta boring. Since we are all on different schedules as roommates we normally only see each other either before or after we head off to work. I have done the whole GTL cycle several times and now I realize why those kids from Jersey Shore aren't too quick to find real jobs. Sitting out by the pool with a book takes a lot out of you.

After work today I took a bunch of pictures of the resort but since my crapbook has run out of memory again for the second time in three months, I can't upload them to my computer. I hope to get them up by the end of the week for your visual pleasure.

You're welcome for the short blog. I am trying to get better at posting more frequently, but I'm sure I will have a lot to say on Friday's post after my long day of professional rescue class and my first pirate cruise.

To Cristina, With Love

This blog post is dedicated to my official blog schedule keeper, Cristina Higgins.

A lot has happened since my last post. First off, I have developed dimples. You can wear sunscreen to protect you from the sun, but there is no creme, lotion, or pill to prevent the dimples you will develop after smiling so much here. Ok,enough of that happy moment, on to my eventful four days.....

Thursday, Friday, and Sunday I trained at the Yacht and Beach pool side activities. It is a really fun job especially since the pool there is beyond amazing. The whole pool has sand on the bottom, there is a huge pirate ship slide, and the pool doubles as a lazy river. The activities include just playing simple games with the kids and throwing the dance parties. Since we wear a bathing suit under our costume, we are allowed to get into the water with the kids. Back in Walt's days, he only ordered certain costume sizes so if you didn't fit into a costume, you better Disney Diet to fit. Now, they order numerous sizes and most of them are on the larger side so I have trouble getting costumes to fit me. Since I don't go in the water, the kids find it HILARIOUS to splash me on the pool deck which results in me and my brand new kicks being soaked for the rest of the day. There is no worse feeling then walking around with wet socks and sneakers squishing. They will get theirs once I can get in the pool....

The evening activities are movies on the beach and a camp fire. Families are given bags of marshmallows but are allowed to bring their own smores kits or even hot dogs similar to Girl Scout campfires circa 1995. Because of the unpredictable Florida weather, we have had to move the movie inside the past five nights which isn't nearly ascool because the pre-show is the Epcot fireworks that you can see perfectly from the beach. Speaking of weather, I have never seen anyone freak out as much as they do here when dark clouds appear. They retreat like they are practicing for the apocalypse and most of the time the clouds pass and everything is fine.

Friday night after work Lauren and I decided to take an adventure to Sonic. I have never been and she had been craving it so we found one only a few miles away. When we got there, we found it was turned into Allababa (sp?) hookah bar. Swing and a miss. We looked at her Australian accent GPS and found another five miles away. We jumped on the toll road and headed to our slushie destination. We finally found an empty parking lot with no signs of a Sonic so we got back on the GPS and found another one again just another few miles away. We paid yet another toll and the GPS took us into a development. Clearly not it. Not to be discouraged, we looked up another one and when we arrived we found a shell of what was once a Sonic with the sign dangling from the building. Lauren was very disappointed so she called the last one on the list and asked on the phone, "Is this Sonic? Sonic drive-in? Sonic with food?" Once it was confirmed this place existed we headed out and I finally got to experience what the hype about cherry-limeade was all about (delicious, btw). 40 minutes in the car, 5dollars in tolls, $3.19 meal, all worth it. Instead of Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle it was Sarah and Lauren go to Sonic, and it was worth every moment.

As I said earlier, I have a new soft spot in my heart for animals. However, I do not have one for the huge roach looking creature I found in my food cabinet upside-down still twitching and looking so sad. I started freaking out and had everyone in the apartment looking at it like a museum display. I did what any humane person would do and I left it there. until I eventually tried to turn it over but in the process I ended up accidently killing it. I guess I'll take these things over stinkbugs though.

The other day I ventured out to go food shopping. As I was getting in my car I saw a kid with a Rutgers shirt on and decided to ask if he was from NJ. He was and I asked where from and he no joke said Flemington. I was completely shocked and it turned out we know a lot of the same people, especially since he worked at Healthquest. Sing it with me now, "It's a small world, after all." He was very nice and we ended up going to dinner later that night and talked about how much we actually like F-town and how different it was being here. Not only did I meet my first Jersey intern, but one that is from my own town and lives 3 buildings away.

Going back to food shopping though. I was wearing my Mets hat because quite honestly I didn't shower yet that day. I got so many stares at the store from it and an employee actually told me I would be cooler if I were a Yankees fan. He then continued to follow me around the store and said he liked to know what his customers buy. Hmmm I have never heard this line before and he clearly was not getting I was ignoring him and continued shopping. Eventually he came back with a piece of paper with his number on it and his birthday. He said we should hang out and I told him I would have to see what my boyfriend thought of that. I clearly don't have a boyfriend, but my mom always taught me to blame stuff on her if I needed to get out of a bad situation and since she isn't here I decided to blame it on my fictious boyfriend. In my head he's tall, dark, and handsome. I kept getting more dirty looks because of the stupid hat and decided I will just need to cave and buy a new one, preferably one from a Florida team . Who knew a hat from a real ex-boyfriend could cause so much tension at a grocery store?

When I got back from shoppingone of the apartment mates was on the couch tearing up. Since I am a warm, nurturing person I asked her what was wrong hoping deep inside it wasn't a life crisis like her cat died. It turns out she was watching "The Bucket List" and it was the part where Morgan Freeman dies which moved her very much and I mean who wouldn't be? This is the man who just won the AFI Life Achievement award and has narrated every touching emotional movie out there. March of the Penguins, anyone? Relieved the tears were just over a fictional movie I continued unpacking my $63.18 worth of groceries.

It's been exactly two weeks since I started here and I know you all miss me terribly. I just have to say that I'm glad I'm here though and this experience, although it won't make me wealthy, will teach me so many things I can use in a future job. Someone upstairs must be watching over me because I have had such good luck with my job, location, and roommates that every once in a while something embarrassing happens like being unable to enter the cast parking lot and causing traffic to remind me this isn't a fantasy world. Disney does a good job of that, I mean as little girls we think that we will be singing in a well one day and a prince will just march right up with a white horse and fall in love with us. I guess it does happen to some people, after all Patti Ann was proposed to in front of her white horse.

Probably one of my happiest moments here was when I got to crown a family "family of the day." After our pool party at the Boardwalk resort I crowned a family with those big clown sunglasses because they participated in every activity and had so much fun, even the father was very supportive of all kids. The family was so happy and surprised, they had me get in a family picture with the kids! We make magical moments here, folks.

Happy Belated Fathers Day to all you fathers out here!

Adventures in Babysitting

Phew. It's been a long week so far and it's not even done yet!! I am already on my full time work schedule which is great because I am getting that money honey, even though we can't figure out the payment schedule. Becuase they must see my awesomeness only three days in, I got a raise! I am now climbing the ladder from making $7.25 an hour to $7.31. These past three days I have worked at the Community Hall at Disney's Boardwalk resort. It's basically a hall where we hae games, PS3, and crafts for guests to enjoy. Odd thing about it is parents have to be in there with the children if they are under 12 which makes us very slow unless it rains, which it has been doing on and off the past two afternoons. It's a pretty fun job; I get to play ping-pong and watch countless Disney movies a day. I take my playtime very seriously though adn got a little too excited when I won Chutes and Ladders against a few younger kids. On our name tags we have our universities which is great way to start conversations with guests. I met someone from AC who went to GMU and has family in Hillsborough. It is a very small world down here, after all. Today I get to be trained on out door activities at Y&B club. At 3 pm we have a pool dance party, 7:30 a camp fire, and 9 pm a pool side movie. Starting next week, HIDE YOUR KIDS, HIDE YOUR WIFE (and Mr. Higgins hide your truck) because Sarah is starting her BOAT HANDLING AND SAFETY CLASSES! That's right, I get to learn how to take the kid's out on their Pirate Cruises. Arghhhh! I am also getting paid to take dance classes! They were described as "the white person wedding line dances" which I know, but I am unsure of how to do the Miley Cyrus Hoe-Down Throw Down but the instructions are in the song and since I am so great with coordination I will get this dance down first try.

I have some sad news from here at Disney. These aren't secrets, but it was news to me so I'll pass it along. It comes with great sadness that Toon Town in Fantasyland is no longer. You can see Mickey in his house off Main street still but the other houses are divided up and will not come back together. They are also expanding fantasyland greatly, adding in the Beast's castle with a restaurant in it, a new Ariel ride, a 7 dwarf's rollercoaster, and a dueling tent Dumbo ride. They aren't get rid of the iconic Dumbo ride, rather moving it into a two ring tent and having two rides go at once. They are, however, getting rid of my favorite ride- Snow White's Scary Adventures!!! I am unsure what will replace it, but the whole new expansion will be done in phases, with the final phase being done in 2013. Even while not at Mason I am seeing things being built in phases, waiting for bigger and better things to come.

The other night we went as roommates to the fireworks at Epcot. We didn't ride anything except the Viking ride in Norway which was cute, as cute as mechanical vikings can be at least. Speaking of which, a kid here goes by "Viking" on his name tag because Disney will put whatever you want your first name to be as long as it is not clearly a last name. We are all for individuality here. We walked around the different food options and decided one day we will splurge and eat in a country for dinner. We get a small discount, but it really only covers tax and gratuity at some places. While in Morocco (sigh) we saw Jasmine and Aladdin. This one little girl gave her a huge hug and told her how pretty she was (she was gorgeous if you were wondering and looked like a life size Barbie version of Jasmine). It's fun watching the kids be so excited to hug the characters and makes you warm and fuzzy inside and sort of like a creeper for watching.

Living on my own and actually having a kitchen is pretty cool. I am slowly getting out of the mindset that the only thing I can cook is instant mac and noodles. Shopping at the Wal-Mart is an experience and now I know why this state has high obesity problems. Groceries are very expensive and if you want healthier foods or produce it is even more expensive. I miss Shop Rite already. I also think that the peopleatwalmart.com got their inspiration for the website by shopping at our Wal-Mart; who needs to spend $80 on a park ticket when there is free entertainment down the road?!

Well, off the shower and head to work. I work 2:50-11:30 but need to get there early to hand in my dirty uniform and get a new one. How cool is that? You give them your uniform ( you can have up to 5) and they give you a new one. They say it's for your convenience but after watching kids attempt to do laundry for four years, I think it's for their own sake.

Feel free to post any questions, comments, concerns, or suggestions.

Sarah

Down to Business

I have never been more exhausted after three days of training then I am after this past week. It’s a very long process for a $7.25 an hour job but we learned everything there is to know about how it is to work for the company, integrity, the 4 ‘keys’ and so on. You learn the main information in Traditions, then go to your department orientation where you learn how to apply it to your field, then go to your area and learn how to apply it there as well. In the recreation department, there are only 35 of us, which includes lifeguards. Only one person is chosen to do the child’s activity center in a resort, so Lauren and I got extremely lucky (she is doing the same thing at Wilderness Lodge). Everyone keeps saying we hit the jackpot, and I think they are right. We have awesome costumes, great hours, and who wouldn’t want to hang out by a pool all day? I finally got to go to the Y&B cluband it’s amazing. It has a lazy river, sand pool, a small sand beach (you can’t go in the water though due to alligators) great restaurants, etc. It’s also only a 5 minute walk to Epcot so on lunch break if you want you can go get enchiladas in Mexico. Like anything, there is a hierarchy job wise. Lifeguards are on top because they get paid a good amount, don't have to wear the "Earning my Ears" ribbon because no parents wants to know that person saving their child is new, and they get to wear crocs. In recreation, Child’s Activity center is up top. It beats out marina operator for #2 and slide operator and arcade worker in dead last #7 place. Custodial actually is high up there because of the freedom you have to walk around. Quick service food and beverage isone of the lower jobs because it’s long hours, hot, and if you get placed in a slower resort and not a park, it gets boring.

This is for Alicia- to be a princess you must be 5’7. Sorry short stack L You go to face audition and they pick you apart and if you have any flaws, you’re out. They can’t have Cinderella having any distinctive marks. If you want to just be a regular character, you can go to face auditions and be between 5’1-5’6. Did you know that Alice and Wendy from Peter Pan were drawn based off the same model? So if you get Alice you could play Wendy, but she is a lot smaller and more petite. Also, Walt never liked the character of Alice, he thought there wasn’t a connection between her and the audience. If you know who plays different characters oryou are one, you have to say “I’m friends with X” So I am friends with Tigger in Epcot, Mickey, and Goofy. If you are a certain height you could play different characters because of the costume size.

Enough talking, here are pictures finally.

Earning My Ears officially Gorilla at Animal Kingdom

B-E-A-utiful Giraffe during the Safari

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In the Engine Firehouse on Mainstreet, they display patches from firehouses and rescue squads. I asked if I could put FRFARS up and they said sure, but we have a box full you can look through. And our patch was ON TOP, and will be put in the new display this year!

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.

The First 48

Welcome Aboard! Well, it took 2 days but we made it down here to sunny Orlando. The road trip went fine especially after we stopped listening to Gospel music and the lectures on tape Cool Daddy-T decided to bring along. There is nothing more stimulating on a long boring car ride than a lecture on nutrition. Anyway, the trip wasn’t too bad; we only stayed at one shady motel in South Carolina and met some interesting people at the Wal-Mart in Orlando. Whatever you step out of the house in, you are probably over dressed for the Wal-Mart here. Just as New York magazine does, the highbrow of the trip was getting a dipped cone at Dairy Queen. Reliving those Culver Lake memories one lick at a time. The lowbrow was we saw a poor puppy on the side of 95 just inside of NC and I had dad call the non-emergency police line so he could be rescued. I wanted to stop and turn the car around, but I was over ruled. While safe in our Radisson hotel with the Sleep Number beds, we got ready for the busy day ahead. Which leads to…..

6/6/11Check in: Disney style. All housing departments take notice on how swift and smoothly Disney moved in 500 people in four hours, including picking our rooms for us, taking photo IDs, and getting a nifty planner. I have never really been to summer camp (except for that one time I went to International Sports Camp where I was the “best overall camper” winner for my session. Note I didn’t say anything about best athlete or most agile) but this reminded me a lot of what summer camp must look like. You stand in line, get really friendly with the people around you, exchange numbers, and talk about the rad summer you are going to have. I had the fortunate part of already having a roommate so I didn’t have to make a friend in 45 minutes and so picking a room was fairly simple. There wasn’t much left available for non wellness housing and I did not want to live with more than four girls. I’m sure it’s super fun but I was not willing to try it. I got placed in Vista Way, which for being the oldest unit Disney has, it offers the most so I was pretty happy. It has a ton of space, especially in the walk in closet, which just means I will have to fill the empty spaces with clothes from the HUGE outlet mall down the road.

After we were cattle hearded onto a bus that sent us to the Casting Office. In real world that would be the HR department. On the bus ride everyone around me was so chipper. I was called “really Jersey” a few times, which I didn’t really get. How can someone be “really Jersey?” I guess I will learn that in the next 7 months. The Casting Office is right across from Downtown Disney, a detail that actually came in handy later on in this saga.

The Casting Office was not just any office. It was beautiful, huge, and very echo-y. We were given stickers of where we were being placed for work and I got the Yacht and Beach Club. I had never heard of it but everyone was making a big deal of it and said it was a very nice resort. I trust their judgment. I was later told I would be working at the Kids Club, which really bummed me out. What happened to the safety team putting bandaids on tiny scratches and assisting when there is an actual injury and fitting kids for life jackets? I was now being demoted from glorified lifeguard to glorified babysitter. However, the woman said most college students don’t work with kids a lot and it is fun making activities for them and having special programs for the kids while mom and dad are out having big people time. In essence I am the programming HRA all over again, but with younger kids. Transferable skills GMU OHRL, transferable skills. This whole process of signing your life away, giving your fingerprints, and getting looked over for the “Disney Look” took a little over two hours. This was also another line where I met peppy friends all just really happy to be down here. It wasn’t until after this I got back on the bus to go to my lovely abode. While unpacking I realized all the things I forgot like a hairbrush, straighter, Ipod computer connector and more dress clothes. But fear not! I remembered the scrabble board, clearly an essential.

I took the rents to the airport and let me tell you, leaving is a lot harder than getting in. After paying my two tolls, I got slightly confused with the road signs and so I just followed the signs for Disney World. Seemed logical. No. I somehow got mixed up and ended up on the opposite end of town. I figured I’d find signs for Disney and get back on the property to find my way out. Does anyone know how big Disney property is? Answer: large. Huge. 47 square miles, and I may have driven around most of it today. I luckily found Downtown Disney (see, being observant comes in handy) and knew how to get back by following the bus route taken earlier that day. I will for sure be taking the free buses to work for the first few weeks.

I got to finally meet my roommate who is just so sweet and from Texas. Her name is Lauren, and so I still get to talk to a Lauren everyday, whether they want to hear from me or not. We got to talk and chit chat and she asked me if I was excited for the program. I said I was but it didn’t seem real yet. It honestly at that point was as if the family went on vacation and they decided to leave me and now I have to work for a mouse for seven months until my parents will take me back. In a way, I’m not far off.

We went to Downtown Disney with her mom and two friends, which was really fun. I’d never been before so it was a blast. We went into the AMC theatre where you can pick any type of Coke product you want, but different than what’s on the market. They had like Sprite Orange, Raspberry, 7 different types of Coke, 6 different lemonades, etc. It was almost sad that a highlight of our day was getting a sugar rush from the soda. After we walked to Pleasure Island area and there was a pretty lousy outdoor singer playing guitar. After he was done though a middle aged woman went on stage and sang with a base player. She was entertainment in herself as she was singing Lady Gaga, but when she yelled ‘Dallas” the girls went nuts. We went to the front and started dancing with the singer and basically making a fool of ourselves. This little cute blonde girl came up to me and started dancing with me and asking to spin her. She was instantly the star of the spontaneous show. When I became a child and animal magnet I am unsure, but we had a good time and I guess this is why I was put with children as my position.

After we left, I got back to the room to unpack. It’s been a long and tiring day but if most days are like this, I feel that I am going to have a great 7 month experience. After one night in these beds though, I feel that I am going to have back pain in 7 nights……