So this past Saturday I worked the halloween party wearing that killer outfit you see from my last post! It was so cute! All of the families come dressed up in their halloween costumes, there are trick or treating places, and special parade and fireworks. There were some pretty awesome costumes that I saw. Whole families dressed as characters from alice in wonderland. I saw the 3 fairy godmothers from Sleeping Beauty. complete with light-up wings and glowing wands.
I cannot even begin to say how cool the parade was! By far one of the coolest parades I have seen. I am hoping to attend the party as a guest eventually so that I can take pictures. The parade has all of the villains and the haunted mansion ghosts. Plus almost all of the characters are dancing in the front of the parade. It was amazing!
Then the fireworks are really amazing too including remixes of all the villain songs. Even though I was working it was still amazing!
I have also worked glow a couple times since on non-halloween party nights and it is pretty crazy! People just swarm my cart and kids just keep pulling toys out all over the place! I really have to watch my cart because stuff gets stolen off our carts all the time!
Otherwise, everything is going by so fast now that we are in the swing of things! Last week we went to Cocoa Beach and we had a blast. We have plans to go to the beach more throughout the semester! I am off today and tomorrow and I am so grateful! I have been exhausted! Because I am a cp I pretty much close the store every night or I am working glow. I am just so glad to have days off which I won't have in November as I have heard.
Hope all is well back home! It is sad to not see fall in Chicago. It is summer here all the time!
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Finally my costumes! (sorry the pics are kinda blurry....self timer did not like me!)
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| My favorite costume of all time! This is my glow costume for the Not-So-Scary Halloween parties! So excited to wear it tonight! |
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| My general glow costume....yes those are white knickers! Where did my figure go? |
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| Arrgh! I'm a pirate! You can barely see the socks but they are yellow and red stripes! That belt is super uncomfortable! |
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| My adventureland costume! Those pants have vents on the sides! We refer to them as our MC Hammer pants! |
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Epcot Fun!
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| Mulan! I had never seen her before! I really need to crop these pictures because are so far away! |
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| The lovely Snow White! |
Continuing the Experience
This week I had only about 34 hours so most of my shifts were only 6 hours long except for Wednesday when I worked 9:45-7:45. It was a brutal day for sure! Right now for the next couple weeks and February are the 2 slowest times of the year. I have not been able to go to the parks this week, but I heard from guests that basically everyone is just walking on rides! This also means that our shops are also pretty slow. It is getting more fun because I am getting to know my coworkers so that we are all bored together!
Also this week I trained on glow. Glow involved the carts that sell merchandise that lights up during the parade and fireworks. I was really excited for this training because that would mean it is different from regular retail. I think it is going to be fun working glow because I get to watch the fireworks and the parades. The best thing about it is that I get to work glow during Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween parties! This past Wednesday they had a cast preview of the parade. After the park closed, they showed the parade for only cast members. I knew that I would see it while I was working so I wasn't too worried about going to see it. Supposedly over 10,000 people went to see it and the buses were overflowing getting home! Next Saturday is my first glow shift and that is the night of a halloween party so I am excited to see the parade and the fireworks (which are supposedly the best all year!)
The other fun thing that is involved in working the Halloween parties is a different costume. Supposedly I have to wear a purple dress and then a green and purple vest with bats on it. To top it all of a headband with bats on it! I promise I will post pictures of all my costumes soon! I need to turn all of my dirty costumes in today so I will be getting new ones today!
Yesterday and today are my days off and I am bored out of my mind! All of my friends are working so it is rough because I have to hang out by myself. I know that I could go to the parks, but it is just weird for me to go to the parks by myself! I am sure I will get over that eventually.
My last observation that I have made is that being a CP is not necessarily the best thing in the world. Many of the full time and part-time people do not respect and find us incompetent. They are constantly telling us how to do things when we know how to do them. It is frustrating because they always say things like "Oh! You're a CP!" and then they lose all respect for us! It is ridiculous!
Something I forgot to mention was that I went to talk to someone at the entertainment office earlier this week. My dream has been to be an entertainment cast member since I was 13 so I decided that I should just go and talk to someone at the entertainment office. It ended up being a really great idea because I talked to this very nice lady about my options. I have been checking disneyauditions.com but the problem is hardly any of the auditions are open to CP's. I had heard that they do auditions just for CP's at the end of our semester to try to get CP's to extend their program as a character, but I can't extend my program because I am coming home to student teach and graduate. What she said was that I could go to the auditions and then go seasonal. This would be awesome because keeping seasonal status is super easy. You only have to work like 40 hours a year to keep the discounts on hotels and stuff. This means that maybe next summer, depending on if I have a job, I could go back to Disney and be a character. I mean I am not guaranteed to get my entertainment job, but it is worth a shot. The lady I talked to said to go for it. Many people don't make it the first time because of what they are looking for at any given audition. She said that I am young and if it means that much to me then I should keep trying and that is exactly what I am going to do! We shall see!
Off to enjoy my day off by going to the pool and then who knows?
Also this week I trained on glow. Glow involved the carts that sell merchandise that lights up during the parade and fireworks. I was really excited for this training because that would mean it is different from regular retail. I think it is going to be fun working glow because I get to watch the fireworks and the parades. The best thing about it is that I get to work glow during Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween parties! This past Wednesday they had a cast preview of the parade. After the park closed, they showed the parade for only cast members. I knew that I would see it while I was working so I wasn't too worried about going to see it. Supposedly over 10,000 people went to see it and the buses were overflowing getting home! Next Saturday is my first glow shift and that is the night of a halloween party so I am excited to see the parade and the fireworks (which are supposedly the best all year!)
The other fun thing that is involved in working the Halloween parties is a different costume. Supposedly I have to wear a purple dress and then a green and purple vest with bats on it. To top it all of a headband with bats on it! I promise I will post pictures of all my costumes soon! I need to turn all of my dirty costumes in today so I will be getting new ones today!
Yesterday and today are my days off and I am bored out of my mind! All of my friends are working so it is rough because I have to hang out by myself. I know that I could go to the parks, but it is just weird for me to go to the parks by myself! I am sure I will get over that eventually.
My last observation that I have made is that being a CP is not necessarily the best thing in the world. Many of the full time and part-time people do not respect and find us incompetent. They are constantly telling us how to do things when we know how to do them. It is frustrating because they always say things like "Oh! You're a CP!" and then they lose all respect for us! It is ridiculous!
Something I forgot to mention was that I went to talk to someone at the entertainment office earlier this week. My dream has been to be an entertainment cast member since I was 13 so I decided that I should just go and talk to someone at the entertainment office. It ended up being a really great idea because I talked to this very nice lady about my options. I have been checking disneyauditions.com but the problem is hardly any of the auditions are open to CP's. I had heard that they do auditions just for CP's at the end of our semester to try to get CP's to extend their program as a character, but I can't extend my program because I am coming home to student teach and graduate. What she said was that I could go to the auditions and then go seasonal. This would be awesome because keeping seasonal status is super easy. You only have to work like 40 hours a year to keep the discounts on hotels and stuff. This means that maybe next summer, depending on if I have a job, I could go back to Disney and be a character. I mean I am not guaranteed to get my entertainment job, but it is worth a shot. The lady I talked to said to go for it. Many people don't make it the first time because of what they are looking for at any given audition. She said that I am young and if it means that much to me then I should keep trying and that is exactly what I am going to do! We shall see!
Off to enjoy my day off by going to the pool and then who knows?
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Working in Disney
So sorry I have not blogged in a while! I have been busy and there wasn't really anything too exciting to report, but I guess some things may not seem exciting to me but are exciting to all of you following my blog!
Since I have finished my training I have been only working at Pirates of the Caribbean. Since the ride exits into the store it is pretty full of people most of the time, but not nearly as many people buying. The kids play with the swords and rifles that we sell and don't always buy. In the past week the park has slowed down so much to the point where pretty much every ride has at most a 20 minute wait. This is not that surprising considering that most American schools started this week or at least start next week. I have heard that after Labor Day you can pretty much walk onto any ride. So, if you are looking for a time to come down here, the time is definitely now because it is dead!
It can be really boring sometimes when I am working on a register and there is no one in the store. This happens especially at nighttime when people head back to their hotels or are eating dinner. This week I have a total of 41 hours working including a training day on stocking which I had today. It is pretty easy stuff. Just putting stuff out on the floor so that it looks full. I also learned leather treaty today which is engraving on leather bracelets. It seems like it would be complicated, but the computer basically does it for me!
This is really scattered, but I am just typing without really thinking.
Here are some interesting things I have learned while working for Disney:
- First of all, I am not sure if I have mentioned this before, but Disney does not necessarily believe in sell, sell, sell as Bath and Body Works did. They believe that by making magical moments for guests and by making sure they are entertained no matter where they are will lead to sales. Just as Bath and Body Works had sales goals, so does each store. It is interesting because some days we make it and some days we don't. I just wonder how high reaching these goals are considering the amount of people in the park on any given day!
- Second, this may seem silly to some people, but I have noticed that a lot of the kids are buying things with their own money and having to budget while in the parks. I know that many parents do this with their kids, but it is just really interesting to watch them pull out their money and count it out for me. It is really cute actually, but I think it makes sense since the parents already paid so much money for the hotel, plane and park tickets!
- Third, the Pirates of the Caribbean ride is haunted! When they were building the ride one of the workers died and he haunts the ride. They have solid facts that if they do not say Good Morning to the ghost (I can't remember his name right now) the ride will break down throughout the day and if they do not say Good Night at night the ride will have problems the next day. I really enjoy working pirates because it is busier than Adventureland and even though I am starting to be able to sing along to the pirates music playing in the store, I like it.
I am enjoying my time here. It can be up and down because I really do wish that I was in entertainment. It has been hard for me to see all of those people and wish I was them. I am trying to stay positive and enjoy what I am doing as much as I can. I have gone back and forth about whether this experience was worth it and I think that in the end it will be. It is just hard starting over again. Things are definitely getting better and I really like my coworkers. So things are looking up.
I definitely miss everyone back home a lot! I know that in a couple months I will look back and think "Why was I feeling this way? I love this place!" It is just going to take some time. I know that things will get better when I am trained on glow next week. (This is selling all of the light-up merchandise during fireworks and parades) I hear that we get a pretty crazy costume for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween parties that I will most likely be working.
I only have Saturday off this week and I am hoping to go to the parks. It is hard because so much of the time I do not have the same days off as my coworkers or friends that I have made and I really want to go to the parks, but I don't want to go alone!
I think Saturday will be fun though because a couple of my friends don't work until later.
Much love! I promise I will start blogging more often!
Since I have finished my training I have been only working at Pirates of the Caribbean. Since the ride exits into the store it is pretty full of people most of the time, but not nearly as many people buying. The kids play with the swords and rifles that we sell and don't always buy. In the past week the park has slowed down so much to the point where pretty much every ride has at most a 20 minute wait. This is not that surprising considering that most American schools started this week or at least start next week. I have heard that after Labor Day you can pretty much walk onto any ride. So, if you are looking for a time to come down here, the time is definitely now because it is dead!
It can be really boring sometimes when I am working on a register and there is no one in the store. This happens especially at nighttime when people head back to their hotels or are eating dinner. This week I have a total of 41 hours working including a training day on stocking which I had today. It is pretty easy stuff. Just putting stuff out on the floor so that it looks full. I also learned leather treaty today which is engraving on leather bracelets. It seems like it would be complicated, but the computer basically does it for me!
This is really scattered, but I am just typing without really thinking.
Here are some interesting things I have learned while working for Disney:
- First of all, I am not sure if I have mentioned this before, but Disney does not necessarily believe in sell, sell, sell as Bath and Body Works did. They believe that by making magical moments for guests and by making sure they are entertained no matter where they are will lead to sales. Just as Bath and Body Works had sales goals, so does each store. It is interesting because some days we make it and some days we don't. I just wonder how high reaching these goals are considering the amount of people in the park on any given day!
- Second, this may seem silly to some people, but I have noticed that a lot of the kids are buying things with their own money and having to budget while in the parks. I know that many parents do this with their kids, but it is just really interesting to watch them pull out their money and count it out for me. It is really cute actually, but I think it makes sense since the parents already paid so much money for the hotel, plane and park tickets!
- Third, the Pirates of the Caribbean ride is haunted! When they were building the ride one of the workers died and he haunts the ride. They have solid facts that if they do not say Good Morning to the ghost (I can't remember his name right now) the ride will break down throughout the day and if they do not say Good Night at night the ride will have problems the next day. I really enjoy working pirates because it is busier than Adventureland and even though I am starting to be able to sing along to the pirates music playing in the store, I like it.
I am enjoying my time here. It can be up and down because I really do wish that I was in entertainment. It has been hard for me to see all of those people and wish I was them. I am trying to stay positive and enjoy what I am doing as much as I can. I have gone back and forth about whether this experience was worth it and I think that in the end it will be. It is just hard starting over again. Things are definitely getting better and I really like my coworkers. So things are looking up.
I definitely miss everyone back home a lot! I know that in a couple months I will look back and think "Why was I feeling this way? I love this place!" It is just going to take some time. I know that things will get better when I am trained on glow next week. (This is selling all of the light-up merchandise during fireworks and parades) I hear that we get a pretty crazy costume for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween parties that I will most likely be working.
I only have Saturday off this week and I am hoping to go to the parks. It is hard because so much of the time I do not have the same days off as my coworkers or friends that I have made and I really want to go to the parks, but I don't want to go alone!
I think Saturday will be fun though because a couple of my friends don't work until later.
Much love! I promise I will start blogging more often!
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