Dan@Disney

Tuesday night was meant to be another midnight Kickball but a miserable day of weather meant that at about 10 I got a message saying the pitch was waterlogged and the match was abandoned. I was actually really disappointed as I had been looking forward to it all day. In a turn up for the books I was asked to be a Disney trainer which I am very excited about – I have the Train-The-Trainer class in early June and hopefully I will get to train some of the newbies who will arrive in the first week of June.

Wednesday was my first Chippy opening shift since training and G was training Luke and Stacey from the latest arrival group. For some reason we were all scheduled for a 10.45 start with 4 of us opening which meant we were actually finished with plenty of time to spare for once. Things took a turn for the worse later in the day though when problems in the kitchen meant that Chippy and the restaurant had to close for about 3 hours. I finished at 17.45 about an hour or so after we reopened and banked out my fairly empty till before joining Sam, Craig, Bailey and Emily who were drinking around the world for Sam’s birthday. G and I went and got changed at Cast Services and by the time we got back they had reached the UK and were enjoying some beers in the beer garden. I then got my first character photo of this program – with Winnie the Pooh and Tigger in the UK Pavilion. We then moved on to Canada where the slightly worse-for-wear group enjoyed some final drinks before we cam back to the Commons and everyone went for a post-drink nap. We met later by the pool before transferring to Sam’s apartment where we did our standard pizza order, although from Pizza Hut this time – never again, Dominos is way better!

Thursdays are getting far too exciting for my liking – last week I had to call 911 for a guest and this week a mother came up to me and told me she had lost her 4 year-old son. We did a quick sweep of the restaurant and surrounding area before I called Joe my manager who sorted a proper search of the pavilion and then started the normal procedure for lost parents. Everything ended happily when we found out that the child was safe and well at Baby Care. The group were dining in the restaurant and at the end of their meal came and thanked me at podium for my help earlier in the day –  I was only doing my job but it was really nice of them to come and say something.

Friday and Saturday I was off and both days were spent in the parks. On Friday G, Mel, Rob, Laura and I went to Epcot where we managed to not ride a single attraction but rather wander around World Showcase for hours – it was quite fun and I had a really nice burger from the American Pavilion which I definitely want to try again. When we got back some of the CPs (American College Program) text me and asked if I wanted to join them for their final Wishes and Main Street Electrical Parade at MK since they finish their program in the next week – I joined them for an emotional evening, some of them I have known since 2009 and I will miss having them around. When I got back to Commons I went with Dave and Craig to McDonalds for some very late night dinner and chats about life, the universe and everything.

Saturday started with G, Lesley and I going to DHS where we managed Tower, Lunch at the Commissary (Fish and Chips!), Star Tours and Coaster within 2 hours before dashing over to MK to watch the parade which I realised yesterday I had not seen since I got here. To finish the day we headed for our 3rd park, Epcot – we did Mission: Space, Sum of All Thrills, Ellen, Food at Sunshine Seasons (My new favourite Quick Service), Living with the Land and Nemo before deciding to call it a night. Lots of people were heading to Cowboys tonight which I really want to do but Lesley was not feeling great so I walked with her to Walgreens to get some Meds and by the time we got back it was too late to get sorted – plus I start Assigner training in the morning and it would probably be a good idea to have had more than a few hours sleep beforehand. Just have to go next week!

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In my last post I said how crazy life in the Disney CRP can be – the last week has pretty much proved that!

On Friday I had a really fun greeting shift where I had some of the nicest guests I have ever met. The park was fairly busy but nothing too crazy which meant that time flew by. By the end of the day I was pretty knackered and I just ended up crashing out at the end of the day.

Saturday was a bit insane. I was on Chippy registers and Epcot was hosting the world championship dance competition and the Wide World of Sports was hosting the world cheerleading competition which meant there were quite a lot of people in the park. Due to some call-ins and the park being a little busier than I think had been expected at several points in the day I ended up as the only register with a nice long line. Since it was also EMH by the end of the evening Craig and I were inside doing both registers and filling and we were pretty busy right up until we closed. With the insanity of the day I was terrified that my register would be off but I was only out less than 20c on a fairly hefty sum of money. I again got home and just crashed out with tiredness although now with a new roommate – Luca from Italy who has finally moved in to the empty bed in my room.

Sunday was my day off and I was in desperate need of a haircut. I decided to head to the Contemporary where we can get a cut in the guest Salon for $15 but when I finally got there I discovered it is closed on Sundays. Fail. I knew there was another one at the Grand Floridian so I jumped on the Monorail and thankfully that one was open and I could walk straight in and got a really nice haircut for a very reasonable price – I will definitely be back. Once I was done I jumped back on the Monorail to the Contemporary and went to the Contempo Cafe to grab some lunch – their Flatbreads are amazing. When I went to pay the CM asked if I was a cast member and told me we get a discount there – I totally forgot to ask! Great news as I love eating there. Sian and Lesley text to say they were going to Typhoon Lagoon but since I was not dressed for it and on the other side of the ‘World’ I said I would try and join them later. In the end I did not quite make it as I got a bit distracted with other stuff back at the apartment. In the evening we went to HOB where we had to say goodbye to Jon Roscoe who had been termed by housing – sad news for everyone, he will be missed by a lot of people.

Monday I was back to work and was meant to be on Podium but due to Jon being termed and other people self-terming I was moved to Chippie registers for what turned out to be a fairly boring shift as the park was very quiet.

Tuesday I was back in Chippie again for another quiet shift. In the evening the UK had organised midnight Kickball at the Disney softball pitches. There were 3 taxis full of people going and it was so much fun. Kickball is basically softball but played with a Soccer Ball with the ‘batsman’ kicking instead of using a bat. Every team I was on won, I would love to say I was the contributing factor but I fear that was probably not the case! I had a great night although the lack of a proper warm up left my pretty achey by the end. Hopefully we can play again next week where I fully intend to be much, much fitter. Playing sport with friends at 2am when it is still 20 degrees having just finished an 8 hour shift at work is yet another slightly surreal experience that could really only happen in the program.

On Wednesday I was finally back on Podium where I had a nice seating shift and we got out of Chippie by 9:40 thanks to some speedy cleaning and speedy checking by Janet. In the evening Sam drove Lesley, Jaci and I to Perkins at Crossroads where we met Craig, Emily and Sian for some 11pm Breakfast delights. French Toast late at night is never a bad idea!