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CRP 2012/13

10th Jun 2012

Becoming a Disney Trainer and a drowned rat

CRP 2012/13 Working

On Sunday I took a shift from Janet (our permanent assigner) which was one of my best assigning shifts so far. We had a really good day with no rain at all and so lower deck was open all the way through. That meant that I managed to get pretty good numbers of guests in the restaurant throughout the day.

On Monday morning I got up early to get in to work for 8am to do my ‘Train The Trainer’ class to officially become a Disney Trainer. The first part was e-learning about the expectations of a Disney trainer and tips and techniques to help teach people with different styles of learning. The second part was practical and we had to practice teaching each other something new. At the end of it all we got our Jiminy Cricket pins which you can only get once you have completed the class. I have waited a long time to become a trainer so I have to admit I got a little bit excited! After the class I was on podium for 3 hours before I went home at 1430 which was my earliest finish ever. I spent the afternoon mostly chilling out and getting some food. I went to Lads in the evening which was pretty messy but lots of fun.

On Tuesday I had an 11 hour extra magic shift in Chippy. I was filling all day long and the air conditioning had failed so it was like working in a Sauna. We had some great people on registers so we got through and I had a pretty good if knackering day.

On Wednesday I woke up to heavy rain and was heading in for another 10 hours of Chippy filling. When it rains Chippy tends to be a little quieter so that was some relief. By the end of the day I was a little delirious with tiredness and coming home to discover I had basically no food in the house was not the best. I ended up walking over to McDonalds where I came across Leon and Rosie who were already there. We sat and chatted for a while before heading home for an early night (by CRP terms).

I had a nice late start on Thursday, podium 1430 to close. I should have got up and gone food shopping but instead I had a lie in and wandered over to the outlets to get a Subway. When I got to work it started raining and it did not stop for the rest of the night. I was greeter for most of the day and it went pretty quick as we were quite busy. I also found out that I might be able to do GT training as well which was quite nice – I should hopefully find out for definite in the next few days.

Friday I was back to assigning and I had a really good lunch where we got lots of walk ins and t he restaurant was nice and busy. The evening was not so great with lots of big parties sitting for ages and keeping the numbers down a bit. I came home totally exhausted from a 6th day of work but Sam, Emily, Lesley and G were playing sports on the Tennis court so I headed down and joined in as best I could with my legs in massive pain.

Saturday was the last day of my 7 day week and I was in theory on podium. In reality I did a few hours of seating before getting Dave’s break as the Assigner and then breaking Craig as the stocker. Just as I took over from Craig a massive storm started with torrential rain, hail and lightning. We had to close Beer Cart and I got absolutely soaked to the skin, despite wearing rain gear, while trying to put the cover on. At the same time all the Guinness kegs ran out in the bar which meant I also had to run through the rain to get them sorted out. Luckily I finished about 15 minutes later and could go and get changed in Cast Services before heading for a few hours in MK with Sophie Clarke. We did all the standard stuff and she even managed to persuade me to go on It’s A Small World! When we got back I got the standard text from Dave inviting me to McDonalds which of course I went to! I had planned to go to Cowboys but I was destroyed after my 7 day week and an early night was very needed, plus I was not feeling too great either – not sure if it was the food or just life catching up with me!

Today I got up early to get my hair cut and then went over to Epcot to pick up a costume for my service class at Disney University tomorrow. This evening is the last Hyperspace Hoopla of Star Wars Weekends so I am going there a bit later and a few people are going to meet me over there straight from work. The schedule for the next 2 weeks also came out today and I am working 12 days straight until I get another day off so I am making the most of this one. I do get to train some of the newbies this week though which I am very excited about – I have not even managed to meet them yet!

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2nd Jun 2012

Two slightly weird weeks

CRP 2012/13 Days Off Working

It has been 2 weeks since my last post – whoops! Life got a bit hectic recently and I have not really had time to post but here is the edited highlights.

On the first Monday I had my first ever early finish at 1815 and after going home and chilling out I went to Lads and had a really fun night. It was all great until the last 10 minutes when we came back through security and there was a bit of an incident with one of the Lads and security which to cut a long story short resulted in him being terminated. It is gutting to see great people go home like that. On Tuesday after work we all went out to Buffalo Wild Wings r for a last send off.

Wednesday I was back on podium and spent most of the day on greeter which was pretty uneventful as the parks are generally quite quiet at the moment. In the evening it was back to Emil’s for Beer Pong – it is now becoming a regular feature! I left fairly early and did not drink nearly as much as last time as I was had my first Assigning shift the next day and wanted to be on top form. To top things off I had also signed up for an focus group run by the programs office at 8am (!) the next morning which meant I had to wake up at 7.

I was awake bright and early on Thursday and made my way over to Chatham where I got to meet the general manager of the Boardwalk resort and Housing operations who asked us a lot of questions about our thoughts on the program and whether we had any suggestions for improvements. My big one was that there needs to be more information on future opportunities within the company for international participants in a similar way that it is made available to the domestic college program students. He seemed to be really interested in what we had to say and I hope the department will take on board our comments to make the program even better in the future.

On Saturday I picked up a 6th day working Laura’s Beer Cart shift. It was pretty quiet for most of the day so it was not too difficult and I finished at 1800 which was my earliest finish ever! I met Jaci on the bus on the way home and just as we got onto South International Drive it promptly broke down. We waited on the side of the road for about 10 minutes before we were rescued by another bus that was passing – it was really hot as well so I arrived home a sweaty, disgusting mess! Basically the whole pavilion was heading to Cowboys that night but I was dying after my first assigning shift and a 6 day week and decided I had to give it a miss.

Sunday was my only day off and a whole bunch of us headed out early to Hollywood Studios for Star Wars Weekends – we saw 2 of the shows which included a behind the scenes look at Star Wars: The Clone Wars and a show by voice actor James Arnold Taylor where he showed how versatile his voice was. It was an amazing show which included over 150 different voices and was hilarious – I would say everyone who goes to SWW should go and see it although getting in line early is a must. They recommend at least 45 minutes to be sure of a seat. In the evening we saw the Hoopla again and this time I had my good camera with me and got some really nice pictures (the best ones are below).

Monday was Memorial Day which is a public holiday here so we got paid extra. We get 8 hours pay anyway, whether we work or not, plus if we do work we get our regular pay and any overtime is paid double. I was on a 10 hour Chippy shift so I ended up getting 18 hours pay for that day alone. I love holidays that I don’t even celebrate!

Tuesday and Wednesday were on podium and were pretty uneventful. Thursday night we all went to Buffalo Wild Wings for cheap drinks and good times for Bailey’s birthday. Once again I had to call it an early (ish) night as I was assigning again the next day.

Assigning on Friday was hellish. It did not stop raining for the entirety of Lunch and most of Dinner which meant the park was pretty empty and filling the restaurant was very difficult. Assigning is a lot about keeping lots of different people happy – guests, servers, chefs and managers – on Friday all of these were unhappy at one point or another which was not a good thing. I was just pretty glad when the day was over to be honest. After work we went for a McDonald’s which I really needed and then came back to Commons to meet up with Bailey and the girls who were having drinks and Chinese for her actual Birthday.

Today was another early start to get to the Pavilion for 10am for a photograph to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee. We then had a bit fo a backstage party with cake and free food. I left about 12 and came back to the Commons as I had to move apartments. Luckily it was just downstairs from my old apartment and I was done in about an hour.

Due to the lack of arrival groups recently and lots of people going in to service most of podium are now on 6 day weeks and I have picked up a 7th day tomorrow Assigning so it is going to be another busy week but I will try to not leave it quite as long before I post again.

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