Dan@Disney

The last Thursday of November is Thanksgiving here in the USA and they take it very seriously, it is probably more important than Christmas.

I was originally scheduled off on Wednesday and Thursday but actually ended up working on both days making this a 7 day work week. Since it was my last one on podium it seemed appropriate that I did a tonne of overtime! Wednesday a bunch of us came in early to do a Whiskey tasting of a lot of the Single Malts that we sell – it was really interesting and I learnt a few bits of information that may help sell a few more flights down the line. When the restaurant opened G and I decided to go for lunch and I ended up having Fish and Mashed Potato as the chip fryer was having some technical issues! Dave texted and asked if I fancied a day at Universal which I jumped at – it was pretty busy but we got quite a lot done. We left as the park closed at 9 and went back to Dave’s to watch movies.

On Thursday I was asked to come in to do AM Greeter. It was crazy busy with a lot of very large parties coming in as whole families to enjoy a Thanksgiving meal. Luckily I got out at 5 before it got really crazy. On Thursday night 16 of us went to the new “Be Our Guest” restaurant in New Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom. After a few reservation issues where they would not let us add an extra person we were seated in the amazing Ballroom. The food was amazing (I had the Ratatouille) although the service was a distinctly average and felt quite rushed. With entrees and desserts we could have been out in less than an hour. My overall impression was that the restaurant is beautiful but I would not rush back again for the service. I feel you get a similar experience for a lower price at the Quick Service lunch.

Friday and Saturday were my last podium shifts. On Friday I greeted all day with just a 15 minute break after I extended until close. Greeting is my favourite position on podium and I was really glad to get one final day of it. I have loved dealing with the happy guests and the angry guests and Friday I had doses of both. 2 guests went to managers and guest relations about me. One to complain I was a terrible Cast Member for not getting them a same-day reservation and one to say I was amazing for managing to get them a lower-deck table just before the fireworks. On Saturday, my last day, I was assigning. I set myself the very ambitious target of 1000 guests for the day. I missed this by a long way due to a very quiet park where I could not get any walkins for about an hour, I think I probably managed about 900 though which I am still fairly pleased with.

I have loved my time on podium but it is finally time to move on. Food Runner training with Katy begins Monday morning!