I HATE not blogging. But there’s seriously no time. I sleep, get up and go directly to work, come home and go straight to bed and repeat. I barely have enough time to feed myself. And it’s just going to get worse as summer is quickly approaching. Easter is going to be crazy busy and Grad night is coming up which mean I’ll be working until 5 or 6 in the morning. Again…why I thought I wanted to work in the MagicKingdom is beyond me. I’ve come to hate Sundays. Those are our Extra Magic Hours, and let me tell ya, they are NOT extra magical! I don’t get home until . Except this Sunday I’m only scheduled until so that’s a little better. I guess. I do have this one part time lady who likes to trade with me for her mid shifts, which is such a relief. It’s usually only one day a week, but it’s so nice. is the perfect shift!
Other than the crazy scheduling work has been ok. I was in restrooms all last week which was awesome. It’s starting to get crazy hot here and the restrooms are air conditioned. It’s also starting to rain more frequently. Last week I worked a 10 hour street shift in the pouring rain! I literally stood in the rain for 10 straight hours. It was a bit ridiculous. When it rains that hard the park is dead and there’s absolutely nothing to do. It was one of the longest shifts ever. One a good note, I finally had my water Mickey training. I’m an official Water Mickey Artist! For those of you who don’t know, drawing water Mickey’s is something only custodians get to do and it’s so much fun. We use our pans and brooms and water to draw Mickey’s on the ground.
Nothing else too exciting to report, but here's a couple pictures:
Maria and I at Magic Kingdom in our matching hoodies!
I love this picture! This is Chip and I at Tomorrow Land's dace party...great times.
Me, Maria, and Katy went to Typhoon Lagoon yesterday and it was so much fun! I have a feeling that most of my days off from now on are going to be spent at a water park. I think these pictures will pretty much sum up our day.
Ready to have some fun in the sun!
This picture cracks me up! We were on this raft ride and the waterfalls we were going under were sooo cold!
Loved the Lazy River!
Except the waterfalls. LOL.
This also cracks me up. LOL. This is me getting ready to swim with sharks in the shark reef.
Maria and I swimming with sharks! This is a funny story...So the shark reef is a 10 1/2 foot, 60 degrees, salt water tank full of sharks, sting rays, star fish, fish, and other marine life. And what you do is snorkel across the tank. So Katy gets in and just goes for it, but Maria and I are having some difficutly getting in the tank. I'm freaking out becuase I can't reach the bottom and I can't kick my legs (you can only swim with your arms across the tank). Maria's freaking out becuase of the sharks. So Katy has made it all the way across, gets out, and can't find us because we're still at the beginning. LOL. So she's yelling at us to just do it and we're standing there freaking out. Finally we just go for it. And I serioulsy almost had a panic attack becuse I can barley breathe through my snorkel. But we both made it all the way. We ended up doing it two more times becuase we didn't see anything the first time becuase we were just trying to get across. It was funny and really cool.
Disney is crazy. This program is ridiculous. I seriously almost came home with Kayli last week. I started packing my stuff, that’s how serious I was. There was drama going on, I was super sick, and I was just home sick. I ended up having an infection in my chest and had to call out of work. So I finally found an urgent care to go to and then missed two more days of work. I HATE being away from home when I’m sick! And on top of this, Kayli, Kristen, and Heather were on their way to visit and I was scheduled to work 53 hours because it was spring break. But I pushed threw my illness and really enjoyed the time I had with the girls. I stayed at their condo most of the time they were here. It was nice to have home cooked meals. We watched movies and baked cookies and stayed up all night catching up. It was awesome. We also went to the beach together on my day off and on my other day off I got to play at Disney with them. It’s one thing to create magical moments for strangers everyday, but it’s a totally different feeling getting to do it for the ones you love. We had so much fun and it was so nice to have a little piece of home.
Sooooo happy to see my bestest friend ever!! We all went to New Smyrna Beach and it was absolutely beautiful! It's more of a family beach so there weren't a lot of spring breakers. We walked the beach and went shell hunting and got see some washed up jellyfish and I found a sand dollar. And then we laid out and fell asleep and all got really burnt. Hehe.
Disney! This was the first time I had been to the parks as a guest in weeks. And it was the girls' first time at Disney. Sooo much fun! We hit all three mountains and got to see some shows and ate delicious Disney food and watched the Magic, the Memories, and You and Wishes!
And of course we rode the Tea Cups...Hehe. I miss them already!
After talking to Kayli, I've decided to stay and finish my program or at least try. I've never been one to quit and I don't want to start now. I hate not blogging, but sometimes this program gets so crazy that seriously all I have time for is sleep and work.
I know, I know I've been slacking again. But it's just been so crazy around here. And it's just going to get crazier from here on out. Next week is Spring Break and I'm working 53 flippin' hours! It's going to be ridiculous...I'll blog whenever I find the time.
Yesterday’s shift was awesome. The park hours got extended an hour to 10 which means I got force extended an hour which sucked. I was supposed to get off at 9 which I was really excited about because 9 is a decent hour these days. But I ended up getting off at 10. But it ended up being ok. I was in FrontierLand. I went in at and ended up starting with parade clean up. But I got to do what we call parade basics before the parade. I got to blow bubbles and hand out stickers to the kids. So much fun. We had to put the power vacs up in the shed after the parade because there was no night parade. We lock them up back behind SplashMountain and that’s where Jesse and Woody come out at. And as I was pushing it back stage I almost ran over Woody. I manage to miss all the little kids, but almost take out the 7 foot Woody doll! Lol.
I’m starting to become friends with people at work. Up to now we’ve been so focused on doing everything right that we haven’t really talked to each other or had the time to talk to each other. But now we’re comfortable at work and we’re getting to know the ends and outs and what to do and what not to do so we actually have fun now. Obviously in custodial there are a lot of guys. So I have a lot of guys I talk to. And us girls are kind of close because there are not a lot of us. So yesterday I was in a super slow zone and so was another CP guys and our zones we’re right next to each other and we stood there and talked to each other for 30 minutes until it was time for track talk. I really do love my job. It’s so much fun and super flippin’ easy. I’m not stuck in one place and I get to walk around and I talk to guest all day long and just enjoy the beautiful weather. Now I know when it gets hotter I’m going to wonder why in the heck am I here. But right now I like it. After my lunch break I got my closing zone which was BTM. Usually everyone closes out their own zones, but when I got there I got a call from the girl who was doing Splash and she said that me, her, and another guy were all going to close out BTM, Splash, TSI, and Briar Patch together. So we tagged teamed it and got all four zones closed in about an hour. It was awesome. The team work here is incredible. Like I said, it was a great shift. One of the best ones I’ve had. And it’s all because of my fellow cast members. It’s also because Jesse waved at me, Mickey blew me a kiss, and Minnie said hi, all back stage before they went on stage. Usually characters don’t acknowledge you when they’re backstage. So that was fun.
Then there was today…my day off! Today was the first day of my Exploration Leadership class. Maria and I are taking it together. When we finish it in eight weeks we’ll have our Mousters degree. Lol. I was enrolled in another class where if I finished I could have had my Ducktorate, but I dropped it because one class is enough. I didn’t want to spend both of my days off in a classroom. But the class is fun, and it’s really informative. I think I’m going to like it and get a lot out of it. Then Maria and I went to Chick-fil-a for lunch and then headed to Wal-Mart. I hate going to Wal-Mart. I really truly do. We we’re going to get stuff to make a pot roast tomorrow, but apparently Florida doesn’t know what Auju mix is so we can’t make it until my mother sends me some. So we’re making tacos and burritos instead. We’re supper excited to be making a home cooked meal. We can’t stand to eat noodles and frozen pizza again this week. That’s seriously all we eat.
We all went out to Bdubs (Buffalo Wild Wings) tonight. It’s like the thing to do on Wednesday nights. Here, Bdubs is more of a club scene than a place to eat. At least on Wednesday nights. It was crazy. Inside they have karaoke and outside is just one big dance floor and they have a DJ and everything. It wasn’t too bad until about . We were trying to leave and it was so crowded it took us 10 minutes just to get to the door. It wasn’t that great. The dancing was fun, but not with everyone walking around drinking. And now I have two big X’s on my hands because I’m under 21 that are never going to come off because they flippin’ use permanent marker. Oh well. I guess now I can say I’ve been there done that. Then when I got home I was reading facebook statuses and saw that my church college group back home got together at our college ministers house tonight and got shut down for having the “Jesus rap music” too loud and for the strobe light being too bright. When I read that I laughed because that happens all the time and then I got extremely home sick again because if I was home I would have been there. I miss the college group so incredibly much! I was doing ok with the home sickness lately, but that just shot it all to pieces. But it’s ok, Kayli, Heather, and Kristen will be here in less than two weeks! I’m sooooooooooooooo flippin’ excited!!!
So nothing too exciting happened yesterday. I was supposed to be in streets and was there for like 10 minutes and then I was pulled for restrooms. I haven’t been in a restroom in almost two weeks. I almost forgot what they look like. My roommate did finally move completely in last night and is now officially living here all the time. She seems really nice and she’s really quiet and kind of keeps to herself, but that might just be because we don’t know her very well. But I do know we both like sleep which if you know me is highly important in my book. I took a nap before work today and I when I woke up she was also taking a nap. Lol. I still don’t know how to pronounce her name. And I saw her name tag on the dresser today and she’s from Kenya. Which is way cool. So I’ll have to ask her about that when I see her again. She works front desk at one of the resorts. I think she’s going to be a good fit here.
Today I was in streets; Adventure land and Liberty Square (Ad/Lib). I started in Jungle zone. While I was dumping my trash in the dumpster behind Pirates another Cast Member asked me if I could open the big double doors for him so he could get the big 8 liner through since it won’t fit through the regular door. So I’m opening this huge door and it swings in towards you and then I rolled a 200 pound door over my big toe. (I don’t know if it’s 200 pounds, but it’s huge! Lol) Omg, it hurt so bad. But I survived. At one point I was supposed to pick up recycle which I haven’t done yet. And I was dreading it because the cart we have to use is bigger than me and I can’t see over it. But thankfully one of the guys switched with me and I got to pick up Tiki zone and he did recycling. On one of my breaks one of the girls I work with was off the clock and bought a funnel cake with strawberries and whip cream and shared it with me. It was so flippin’ delicious. Then I had to close out Potato and Riverwalk which was super easy. Then I got to walk around with my favorite manager, Lauren, to check if everyone closed out their zones. After we did that she sent me over to Main Street to see if they needed help. And they didn’t so I came back to the break room and did nothing until Lauren finally gave me an ER. I don’t know why she didn’t give it to me earlier, but whatever.
I’m supposed to work tomorrow, but I’ve heard their freaking extending park hours tomorrow which means I’ll get forced extended until . I was so excited to be getting off at a decent time. But not anymore! The only good thing is that tomorrow’s my Friday. : D
So our new roomie was supposed to move in at this morning. Well I guess she stopped by (I was sleeping) and asked the other girls if she could move in at any time today. So later on, Heather and Maria went to Walgreens and she came back with just a laundry bag. She seems nice. She’s a little Indian girl and she’s really quiet. But I haven’t really got to talk to her yet. She said her name, but I have no idea what she said. So she dropped some clothes off and left again. And here it is and she’s not here and there’s no sign that she dropped anything else off. So I don’t know what’s going on there.
Today was Heather’s birthday! Maria took her to Walgreens to try to distract her while I made her a cake. Well we don’t have a cake pan. So we made cookies instead. We bought that funfetti cake mix and there’s a cookie recipe on the side of the box. They turned out really good. We also bought her a frame and put a picture of the three of us in it.
But anyway…I was in shooting zone for my entire 6 hours tonight. We were super busy so I wasn’t completely bored out of my mind. I got to watch BOTH electrical parades. And I saw this little girl jump out of her stroller and run under the ropes towards Minnie Mouse when she came by. Cutest/scariest thing ever. Thankfully dad caught her.
Working tomorrow. I’m so tired of MK being open late. =/
So Heather and I had to get up at flippin’ this morning for the flippin’ cleaning people. They didn’t even show up until . It was two people and they cleaned everything. They cleaned our bathrooms from top to bottom, they vacuumed, they sanitized the empty bed, they cleaned the whole kitchen, and they swept and mopped, took out the trash, and wiped down everything. It was kind of awkward to just sit there and watch TV while they cleaned. But our apartment is spotless now and smells amazing. When they left I went back to bed for a bit before I had to go into work.
I worked at today, but I had to go to costuming first. I’m tired of washing and trying to get the stains out of my uniforms so I’ve decided to just take them to costuming and get new ones and let them worry about getting the stains out. It doesn’t cost me anything to do it this way whereas I was paying a dollar a load to wash them myself. Much smarter to take them to costuming. And I had to get a new pouch as well since I ripped mine last week.
So we were way overstaffed when I got to work so I was tasking until Track Talk at and then I was put in Sleepy zone for literally 10 minutes before I got my first break. Then I was assigned to pick up parade clean up and 6:30. I knew if I was assigned clean up for the first parade I would be on duty for the second parade as well. (Every day this week we’ve had two Electrical parades; one at and one at ). I love parade clean up now and here’s why; I was assigned this at even though the parade doesn’t even start ‘till on Main Street which means it doesn’t even start to hit Liberty Square until and doesn’t get through FrontierLand until . Which means I had and hour to do nothing and watch the parade. When we finally got to clean up I was on power vac again which I now love because it’s so easy. And then we go up and down the street until the fireworks start. Then we self break until when the second parade starts. So I got to watch Wishes and do nothing for another hour. Then we cleaned up after the second parade and dumped the vacs then it was time to clock out. Never has a shift gone by so fast ever. I was in a zone for 10 minutes and then pretty much did nothing the rest of the time. Who ever says custodial is hard is a flat out liar. Nothing about our job, except maybe lifting heavy trash containers, is hard.
Our new roommate moves in tomorrow. If she shows up before I’m really planning on not getting up. I’m so exhausted from having to get up early this morning. I’ll just meet her whenever I get up. lol. Except she is going to be moving all her crap into my room while I’m trying to sleep. =/ ugh…I’m not looking forward to this. I just hope she’s now a psycho and doesn’t snore.
Today was another day off. And I did absolutely nothing. It was amazing. It was awesome to just lay on the couch, play solitaire, and watch a teen mom marathon. I did do a load of laundry though. So I did something somewhat productive. And then when Maria got home we went to Grocery Bingo! We accidentally arrived an hour early so we were the first ones in line. Bingo was fun, but I didn’t win any groceries which really sucked. But I did get a free shirt that’s really cute and some sticky notes that say Disney Internship Programs. So it wasn’t a total fail.
Then after bingo we decided to go to Cici’s Pizza. Now there’s one right across from Vista Way. But when I was on the bus the other day I saw one in the Crossroads shopping center. So I suggested that we just take the bus to the shopping center so we didn’t have to cross a busy street. Well I epically failed. There is no Cici’s in the Crossroads. Apparently the bus I was on took the wrong way and went to another shopping center. So we walked for literally 45 minutes trying to find this Cici’s. But we did walk to other shopping center and found the Cici’s. Needless to say, no one is ever going to listen to me again. Lol.
Maria and I got home around 11 and found this letter on our door. We’re getting a new roommate Saturday. =/ And there’s not a check-in date which means were getting someone who has problems with the apartment their in. Fan-freaking-tastic. The letter said that a cleaning team is coming in the morning to clean the apartment. But what ticks me off is that the letter came late at night. Heather got home at and there was nothing on the door and we got home at 11 and it was there. Which means we have less than 12 hours to clean the apartment because it said we had to get rid of all clutter, clear off all counters and dressers, and lock up personal belongings. And it said there was an attached list of what the cleaning team was going to do, but there was no freaking list. And we don’t know if we’re supposed to be out of the apartment when they come or not. And the letter came so late that we can’t call the front desk because their flippin’ closed! Ugh… I’m so ticked off at the whole situation. So the next few days should be interesting. And another thing that is messed up is that if this new roommate has a problem with us she can report us and the whole apartment can be condemned and they can split us up and make us all move to different apartments. It’s like this new roommate has control over our apartment when we were here first! This is OUR apartment! Ugh… And they are supposed to move in Saturday and at least one of us better be home when they do cause I really don’t want some random person moving in without us here. That’s ridiculous.
Anyway… my weekends over =( Back to work tomorrow.
Day off…yay! Heather’s birthday is Saturday, but none of us our off so we celebrated today. Heather and I got up this morning and hit up Hollywood. We got fast passes for Toy Story Mania, but didn’t get to use them because they were for and we were long gone by then. So I still haven’t been on it. Then we did the Great Movie ride, watched the Muppets 3D show, and then had corn dogs for lunch. I love Disney corn dogs! They are amazing. So amazing that I ate two. All I do is eat here. I’m going to gain so much weight by the time my program is over. Just watch, it’ll happen. Lol. Then we met Sully and Mike! And ran into a Green Army man.
Then we watched the Indiana Jones stunt show which was great! And ended our Hollywood visit with the Count Down to Fun parade. It’s definitely one of my favorites.
After Studios we met up with Maria and headed to MK. It was packed as usual.
We danced at Move it Shake it of course. I can’t tell you how much I love it. We got to dance with Woody this time and it was awesome.
Then we rode Aladdin’s Magic Carpet ride which for a little kids ride was really fun! Then we did a night Jungle Cruise and had a hilarious skipper. Then we watched some of the Electrical parade, but decided to leave because we were exhausted.
Today was Autumn’s 16th birthday! I can’t believe she gets her license on Monday. I absolutely hated missing her 16th. It killed me. And then we skyped when I got home which just made it even worse. We ended up both crying and I hate it because I miss her so freaking much and there’s not a darn thing I can do about it. All I could do was sit there and watch her cry as I cried and I just want to hug her and I can’t…I hate being away from her and everyone else I love. Ugh…
I was going to go to Typhoon Lagoon tomorrow while we can still get in for free, but I think I’m just going to stay home. I need some rest. I have pictures, but for some reason they won't upload. But I'll work on it and get them up here eventually.
Today was my first 12 hour shift. Well technically it was 11 ½ hour shift, but I was there 12 ½. And I worked every bit of it. I was in a zone all day. I didn’t task or anything. Went in at and got assigned TSI zone. While I was in that zone a lady asked me where I could get a times guide and I told her any of the merchandise shops have them. And then I offered to go get one for her because the crowds were ridiculous. I don’t know why we were so busy for a Tuesday, but geez louise. Anyway…the look on this lady’s face when I offered to go get one was priceless. I don’t think she could believe that I would go get one for her. So I enjoyed that. I love guest interaction! Then I was put in Pecos and called for parade clean up for the parade. I guess that was kind of a break from working. I had like 30 minutes before the parade got to Liberty Square so I went around and handed out stickers to kids. It was so much fun, but of course once you start handing them out everyone wants one. But I loved interacting with the kids. There was a make-a-wish boy and I seriously tear up every time I see those kids. It absolutely breaks my heart. I pushed the power vacs for parade clean up. Those things are bigger than me and I can’t see in front of it. But I managed not to run anyone over or suck up any little kids. Lol. It was so hot today! I felt so gross when I came home. Then after Pecos I was in Splash Que which I hated because it was crazy busy because it was hot. And I hate trying to find all the cans in that stupid que line. It wraps around like a million times and there’s 10 million different ropes I have to cross and it’s just ridiculous. I got so frustrated I caught myself mumbling out loud. But while in the line I did get my first “How many Mickey’s are there really?” question. There was this guy and he asked what character was over behind us and I said Mickey and Minnie and he was like, “they sure do get around a lot”. Then he was like, “There’s got to be more than just one, right”? And I looked at him and said, “nope, there’s just one…really. They use pixie dust to get around”. He looked at me and said, “I’m 32 years old”. And I said, “Ok…I’m 20, there’s only one Mickey Mouse”. And then I walked off. It made me smile. Because there really is only ONE Mickey Mouse. JFinally I got a break and then took over BTM zone. Which isn’t my favorite, but I’ll take it over Splash. Ok, so I literally got lost in the ThunderMountain line. Last time I had BTM there weren’t very many people so I could find the trash cans in the que line pretty easy. But tonight there were a butt load of people and I haven’t done this zone enough to know it very well. So I found 4 cans and was missing two. So I’m trying to make my way through the line of people with a huge trash bag and I got completely disoriented. I was cutting through ropes and then at one point I was going up stream and then I would come to a dead end and have to turn around. It was a nightmare. And then I finally found the shortcuts to the two cans I was missing. So I now know where all the cans and shortcuts are for the next time I get BTM. Funny story: I was cleaning the smoking section in BTM zone and this guy came up to me and started talking and told me he was here for a convention. So I asked him what kind of convention and he said a health convention. I found it kind of ironic that he was here for a health convention and was smoking. And then Big Thunder broke down. It seems like every time I have a que zone the ride breaks down. Lol. So I had nothing to do. But soon got my last break and took over flippin’ Pecos again. And when the park is open late, Pecos gets to Golden Oak as well because it closes early. So I had to close out two zones. Let me tell ya, it was one heck of a day. My feet haven’t hurt this bad since my first day. But I did get another ride home so no bus for me.
Tomorrow we’re celebrating Heather’s birthday early. Super excited for that! It’s my weekend! Thank goodness.
Yay I’m all caught up. We’ll see how long it last. Lol.
I had a great shift at work tonight (Monday). I didn’t think it was going to be that good with the way my night started out. I decided to take the bus so I would be at work early enough to change because my last clean costume was in my locker. So I the bus pulls up at and I get on and see the bus driver (one of the one’s I don’t like in the first place) get off the bus with his lunch pail. And I’m thinking to myself, I hope you can eat in 3 minutes. Um no, we sat there for 20 minutes! Finally one girl gets off the bus and goes to the dispatcher and told him this bus was supposed to leave a long time ago and know we’re all going to be late. So after another 5 minutes of waiting the dispatcher himself gets on the bus and drives us to West Clock. I hope the other driver gets fired! There a bus schedule for a reason people! So I got to work with 15 minutes to change. And because my custodial locker is on the other side of the planet I didn’t have time to go get my pan and broom. So I just jacked somebody else’s. Mine gets jacked all the time now. I was like real protective of my pan and broom until it got jacked the first time. Now I could care less. There are pan and brooms all over backstage. But it is kind of nice to have one that you’ve already broke in.
So I was in Adventure land today. Yay! I was first put in Tiki/Sunshine. Then I tasked for 30 minutes and closed out Aloha. One thing I hate is getting a new assignment. It’s like playing Russian roulette. When you push that “Get Assignment” button, you never know what you’re going to get. I think I seriously hold my breath every time I have to push it. Lol.
So my shift was going great until I got a call on my radio. I was in Aloha and you know I love answering the radio when I have Aloha. Lol. So I said “Aloha, this is Megan” and on the other end this is what I get, “First of all, you don’t have to yell into the radio”. I thought it was one of the guys who likes to give me a hard time so I said “well my bad”, but after he told me to self break and close my zone, I realized it was one the coordinators. And after I realized that I was pissed. Just because after he told I didn’t have yell into the radio, he paused for me to respond. I thought that was a bit ridiculous. And I didn’t yell into the radio to begin with! I was just simply responding. Geez louise!
So here’s my embarrassing moment…actually I have two. So I’m sitting in the Sleepy break room on my break and these two cast members come in (who aren’t custodial) and ask if we have a wall clock. Everyone’s said no, but I was like yes, and pointed to the clock above the CDS computer. Well apparently wall clocks in Disney terms are the machines on the wall where you have to swipe your cast member ID to clock out. Well I didn’t know that. I figured a wall clock is a wall clock! A clock that hangs on the wall. Lol. So I embarrassed myself in front of like 10 people. I can’t tell you how red I turned. And my other story is when I was closing out Aloha and I had to go down stairs to dump my bagged trash. Well I was pushing my dolly through the tunnels and there were people in front of me so I scooted against the wall to squeeze past them. Well there were hooks on the wall and my side bag got caught on one and all I heard was this awful ripping noise. And sure enough I almost completely tore off one of the loops on my bad. Fan-freaking-tastic. Which means I now have to go to costuming and get a new and hope they don’t charge me for the one I pretty much destroyed. Lol.
So around I was completely done with my zone and went to sit in Sleepy to waste time until I could leave. Well the coordinator came up to me and asked me if I could help him with something and of course I said yes, and I guess whoever did recycling didn’t do it so we had to. Now recycling takes 2 hours to do because you have to pull every recycle can in Frontier land, Liberty Square, and Adventure land. Which I think is about 40 cans all together. So the coordinator and I were working together and my manager had two other guys with her helping. We did a 2 hour recycle run in 30 minutes! Now mind you, there were no guest in the park to get in the way and there was more than one of us doing it. But still! It was crazy that we did it that fast. But because we all helped when we didn’t have to, our manager gave us all Great Service Fanatic cards. These are cards any cast member can get for going “Above and Beyond”. It’s really hard to get them in custodial because we pretty much work alone and no one usually sees us going above and beyond unless a guest tells our manager. So it’s kind of a big deal to get one when you’re a custodian. It was pretty exciting. Mine said “For doing a quick recycle run when not assigned to do so and doing it with a smile”. And yes, mine was the only one that said “with a smile”. I made the other two guys let me read theirs. Lol. I didn’t have to ride the bus. Yay! One of my co-workers who extended his CP program gave me and some other people a ride. I got home at the same time the bus did, but it was nice not to have to ride it.
I know it’s been like for.ever since my last post. Super sorry. But here’s what’s been going on:
Faaaaantasmic
On Thursday I finally went to Wal-Mart which was an adventure since I had to take the bus. It took me an hour to get there and then I had to try to carry all my groceries back on the bus. It was not the funnest experience. Then I walked to chick-fil-a for lunch and then me and the roomies headed to Studios to watch Fantasmic. We got in line at and the show didn’t even start until . But since they only do the show two nights a week, people go crazy and it’s packed like you wouldn’t believe. It’s so worth the wait though.
Friday nothing spectacular happened. I was on the streets and I had Tiki zone all night.
Let Me See Ya Shake Your Tailfeathers!
Saturday I was super excited because I went in at and got off at . I’m usually going in at . lol. Going in that early was nice too. I was in Frontier land and I got to see Mickey and Minnie over by Splash. They have cute frontier outfits, but today was the first time I got to see their cowboy and cowgirl outfits. And OMG, they are so cute. Minnie has the most adorable white high heel cowgirl boots. Too cute. I had TSI zone which is Tom Sawyer Island. When you’re there that early you don’t have to pull trash until around . But after that I had to pull it almost every 30 minutes because we were sooo busy! Saturdays are crazy people! We also had over 500 baton twirlers in the park for the parade. I also got to go to the morning Track Talk which was interesting ‘cause all the senior cast members work in the morning. I also got to see Ryan who was my first “trainer”. So I worked on the streets that morning and then I had a Safety In Motion training class that afternoon. It was so boring. They cram you in this little room and teach you stupid safety tips. But I was just glad to be in the air conditioning and not dealing with trash.
Sooo I got off at and the park was open until so Maria and I decided the night before that we were going to meet up when we got off and play. So I changed and went straight up stairs after I got off and met up with her.
We went to Move It Shake It Celebrate It! I love Move it Shake it! So we danced in the street with Chip and Dale. We ate at Cosmic Rays for dinner and had a beautiful view while we ate.
Then watched the Electrical Parade, MMY, and part of Wishes. We didn’t want to fight the monorail crowd and we were super tired.
Broghan had to leave due to certain circumstance so we went home and helped Broghan pack up her things. She had to be gone by 11 Sunday morning.
Sunday: After she left we had to go pick up new keys because they changed our locks. Then after security came to make sure Broghan was gone, Maria and I went to Hollywood. We got fast passes to Tower of Terror then ate delicious corn dogs for lunch that Maria swore we didn’t sell. Lol.
Then we did the Back Lot tour, saw the Hannah Montana chicken coop and rode Tower. Then we had to head back home because I had to be to work my . When we got home I had to take a nap because I was exhausted and I was working until 4 in the morning!
When I clocked in at I was put on parade clean up which was ridiculous because the parade didn’t start until 7 and doesn’t get done until . So I was standing around for an hour. I don’t really care for parade clean up, but I like it because I get to watch the parade. So we did parade clean up until the fireworks started. Then I watched wishes and MMY, pan and broomed, watched two other custodial members do water art (that’s where we use our pans, brooms, and water to draw characters on the pavement) and went back to waiting around for the next parade at 9 to start. But before the parade I was told to go on lunch. So for the first four hours of my shift I pretty much did nothing. Custodial is like the easiest job ever. Then after my lunch I got assigned to Pirates zone which I’ve never done and was freaking out about because it’s a Que zone which means I have to pull the trash in the Pirates ride line. But this super nice guy walked me through the entire zone and helped me pull my trash before he went to his zone. I do like Pirates zone for one reason and that’s because I love the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack and they play it over by pirates. Then when we were done I had another break. After my break I went back to the zone and then Pirates broke down. So I was bored out of my mind because it’s an extremely small zone because most of it is the ride and you can only pan and broom so much. So I went back stage and wasted time with some other CPs and we went on a road trip to find a vending machine that takes credit cards then we walked backstage all the way to the Splash break room where I put in an ER request because it was 2 in the morning, I was bored, and extremely exhausted. Then I got a call to go on my last break. Because I was taken out of my zone for my break that means I was going to be tasking the rest of the night. Which means time was going to go by sooo slow. But thankfully one of the CPs who has been here for a few months already, talked our manager into giving me my ER. So I got off at . Let me tell ya, I don’t like getting on the bus after I get off and the bus driver tell me good morning. It’s ridiculous. I don’t know why we were open so late. We were open until for regular guest and then had EMH until for resort guest. EMH is always so slow. But we’re open late every day this week. It’s ridiculous. And on top of being open late, we have 2 parades and 2 MMY every night. And I’m in the streets all week! It’s crazy.
I haven’t been keeping up with my blog because of my crazy hours and because it’s been crazy here with Broghan moving out. And she took the router so we had to get a new one so we were without internet for like a day. Lol. My room is so empty with Broghan gone.
But my curtains came today (Monday)! Thanks mom! Now the sun isn’t blaring in my face all the time when I’m trying to sleep.
I don’t go in until tonight (Monday), but I’m working until . Bleh…and then tomorrow (Tuesday) I have my first twelve hour shift. I am not looking forward to that at all.
So I didn’t post anything yesterday. I was flippin’ exhausted. I got extended an hour again! But it wasn’t too bad I guess, I didn’t do anything the first four hours of my shift. Literally. I clocked in and and at we had our Custodial CP Welcome Party thingy. That lasted until . I was supposed to have a basic’s training class at , but didn’t get to go because our party ran over. So I sat in the break room for 15 minutes until my manager fixed my schedule. Then she told me to take a lunch. And when I got back from lunch it was time for Track Talk. So I seriously didn’t get an assignment until 6. And it was a task. And then I got the zone I was dreading…BigThunderMountain. I was seriously stressing out. It’s a Que zone which means I have to pull the trash in the ride line. But thankfully I was taking over the zone from Jackie (my trainer) and she helped me out and showed me which cans were mine. So closed out BTM. And I don’t know why we got extended because the park was so dead! I ran into a coordinator and he gave me an ER, but it was only by like 15 minutes. It wasn’t a bad day, but I’m sooo glad it’s my weekend!
I woke up this morning and went to Downtown Disney to get some last minute shopping out of the way because today was the last day we could use our 40% discount. Then I met back up with Heather and Maria and we went to Epcot and walked around the world. We met Marie in France:
And Donald in Mexico:
We also saw the Captain EO show which was like the weirdest thing ever. Why they brought it back, I don’t know.
Then we got bored and headed to Hollywood Studios. I love that park! I kind of wish I worked there. But anyway…we talked to this CP custodian for like 45 minutes and he tried to make a Magical Moment for us by giving us Fast Passes for Tower of Terror, but when we went to go ride it there was absolutely no line so we didn’t even need them. Oh well, he did trade me a Figment pin. I now have 8! I…love…Figment!
I still haven’t gone to Wal-Mart. Not sure what tomorrow will hold, but I’m off so it’ll be good no matter what. J
Yep, it’s a holiday, but to me it was just another day. I have a feeling that’s how every holiday is going to be while I’m here. I’m not gonna lie, I missed doing valentine crafts with my kidos though. I really do miss them. But this definitely a nice break from daycare.
I woke up in a great mood this morning. I watched the valentine’s special of the Price is Right and then headed to work early so I could shop. J I went to Property Control and Cast Connections. This time only bought $110 worth of stuff at Property Control. I got it all for $27. I love that place! And then I bought some awesome plates at Cast Connections for a dollar each. I’ve told myself that I can only go shop here once every other week at the most. Lol. We’ll see if that happens.
Then my mood went from good to bad…I got off the Cast Member bus and there was a sign that said park hours had been extended to 9. Which means force extension for all us closers. And sure enough, I was extended an hour. I was supposed to get off at and now I was scheduled until . Fan-freaking-tastic. They will never offer ER’s, but they can always force extend you. It’s a little messed up if you ask me. But I guess this is what I get for taking an ER last night. Lol. I was just glad I was in restrooms. Until I found out I was in Veranda. It was insane! I counted today and there are 38 stalls. And seriously at one point today they were all occupied with a line going out the door. I kid you not. But I made it through with no major problems.
Tomorrow I plan on going to Downtown Disney to do some more shopping before our holiday discount of 40% ends. I’m looking forward to work tomorrow. We have our CP welcome session and we get free pizza and ice cream. Yippy! And then I have to go to Wal-Mart after work tomorrow night because I’m really running low on groceries. Which is never good.
When I got to work I went to print off my schedule for the next two weeks and I was supposed to be in Frontier Land streets today, but saw that the last half of my shift I was going to be in restrooms. I was super happy about that. So I went to Track Talk and then I was put in Pecos zone which I really don’t like, but it wasn’t too bad today. I pulled my trash and it was already time for my break. The first two hours of my shift went by really fast. Then I was deployed to Golden Oaks zone and I was seriously there for 10 minutes because it was time for me to go to restrooms. Well I went to CDS to see which restroom and it told me to take over Splash Que. So I called my coordinator and was like what am I supposed to do. She told me to go ahead and go to the Splash restroom. So I’m in the supply closet getting ready to go clean the restroom and I’m all happy because I get to spend the rest of my shift in a restroom and then my coordinator calls me. And she tells me that the manager took me out of restrooms and put me back onto streets and I’m supposed to go cover shooting zone. I’m like are you for real? Get my hopes up and then just smash them. Lol. But shooting is a really easy zone so I was ok. Except for when I got bored out of my mind. MK had extra magic hours tonight which means it was really slow. I pulled my trash out of boredom and swept up leaves because I had nothing better to do. So I went to CDS and requested an ER (with little hope of actually getting it) because at this point it was only and I didn’t get off until flippin’ . There was no way I could walk around that zone doing nothing for 2 hours without going mad.
So after I made my request I went back out to sweep up nothing and made my first magical moment! This little girl with her mom and dad came up and pin traded with me and while I was doing it this other little girl was watching. When the first girl left the other girl came up to me and pointed to my sleeping beauty pin and said she wanted it. She was about 5or 6 and at this point I could tell she didn’t have any pins of her own to trade. I don’t think she knew you were supposed to trade in order to get a pin. And I could tell her parents didn’t care. They were sitting in the corner smoking and barley paying attention. I couldn’t look at her and tell her she couldn’t have the pin because she didn’t have one to trade back so I just gave it to her. She was so happy and was really excited to show it off. But now I have to go to the custodial office tomorrow and get another pin because I’m now one short. Lol.
Speaking of pins…early in my shift I was talking to two other custodial guys and we were talking about our own personal collections and what kind of pins we collected. I told them I’m collecting Figment and one of they guys was like “the most underrated Disney character”. And then he told me horrible news (that I’m not 100% sure if it’s true or not)…he told me that the reason why Duffy the stupid Disney bear is so big right now at Epcot is because they’re trying to phase out Figment. I was like OMG that’s awful! I love Figment! He’s like the mascot for imagination. So I’m definitely going to have to collect everything Figment while I can.
But anyway…after my magical moment my radio rang and I was hoping that I got my ER, but it was just time for my break. After my break I got a task to go pick planters. Which I didn’t do, I just sat in the break room until my 15 minutes of tasking was up. lol. Then I went back to CDS to see what I was supposed to do next and it said it was time for my bumpout and I just thought I was actually going to the restrooms this time. But no! I got to clock out!!! I got my ER! YAY! It was pretty much the best thing ever.
So I came home and fixed homemade fettuccine alfredo and it was delicious. I’m kind of surprising myself at how well I can cook. Lol.
Yesterday I didn’t go in until . I was going to go to Hollywood and Property Control, but it didn’t happen. I slept in too late to go to Studios and Property Control is closed on the weekends. My days are so messed up. I got up yesterday and asked Heather what channel the Price is Right is on (because we always watch Lets Make a Deal and then the Price is Right) and she was like, “Megan it’s Saturday”. I was like omg. Lol.
Work was ok. I was put in Peter Pan restroom. That seems to be my restroom. I’ve been in there 3 times in a row now. And as soon as I walked in one of the stalls “exploded”. It was awful. These people are disgusting. The lady who was in there with me was like “well now you’ll have something to go home and tell your mom”. I was like, “I worked in a daycare, this doesn’t bother me”. lol.
The park was so flippin’ busy yesterday! Especially the West. Since they closed down Toontown, they had to move Mickey and Minnie, all the princesses, and the fairies. Well they moved the fairies to Epcot. But they moved Mickey and Minnie and they Princesses all the West side. I was like, really? I liked my calm west side. Mickey and Minnie are supposed to be over by SpaceMountain in TomorrowLand, but I guess they are now making appearances at the Hall of Presidents in Liberty Square and at SplashMountain in FrontierLand (I’ve heard they’ve got really cute cowboy and cowgirl outfits for when they’re over at Splash). And then they’ve moved the Princesses over to the Veranda (the breezeway that kind of ties all three lands together). Yah, we thought that bathroom was busy before. And it was a short cut, but we can’t cross over there anymore. So needless to say, the West side has just become guest central.
I was so exhausted after my shift. I love bathrooms, but they can be exhausting because you’re constantly doing something. Then it was time to wait for the bus. I was lucky because we got an awesome bus driver who stopped at West Clock first and then the TTC. Yay! I hope they make that a permanent change, because that’s the way it should be. Pick up the people who worked all day first, and the people who played all day second.
I didn’t get home until . My roommates were asleep so I sat in the kitchen and made a grilled cheese and drank CapriSun. And it was the most delicious grilled cheese ever.
So I don’t go in until tonight. And I really was going to get up and go somewhere, but once again…that didn’t happen. It sucks, I get home so late and go to bed so late that by the time I get up in the morning (or afternoon) there’s not enough time to go do anything or I’m too tired. So I’m really looking forward to my days off. And I’m going to have to really enjoy this week because my schedule next week is horrendous!
Here’s the rest of this week:
Monday – RR
Tuesday – ST
Wednesday – OFF
Thursday – OFF
Friday –
Saturday – 10:15-4:15 (yay!) ST
And then it goes completely down hill…
Sunday – (IN THE MORNING!) ST
Monday – (IN THE MORNING) ST
Tuesday – (12 hour shift!) ST
Wednesday – OFF
Thursday – OFF
Friday – ST
Saturday – ST
I saw all of that this morning and was like are you flippin’ kidding me? in the morning?!?! I guess that’s what I get for wanting to work at the MagicKingdom. Here’s a tip for anyone who ever wants to do this program: Don’t request to work at a park unless you’re crazy. Especially your favorite park because you’re there all the time so on your days off you don’t want to go there. And the hours suck. And another thing that sucks about next week’s schedule is that I’m in the streets all week. I don’t have a single Restroom shift. Ugh.
I’m home sick. Part of me just wants to go home. But I know I would miss it here and I don’t want to quit. I think it’s just because it’s so different than what I was expecting. I mean don’t get me wrong, it’s great here and I am having fun. And I love meeting new people and adding a new chapter to my life and stepping out of my comfort zone. It’s just so different and I’m such a home body that it’s difficult for me. And I’m so use to having a routine and a set schedule and everything being organized and I don’t have that here. And I miss all my friends and 20 park! I miss my church group and my support. I feel like I’m all alone here.
I’m sure this is just a phase. Everything will get better. I’m in Disney for crying out loud. J
Today was my first 8 hour shift and it was 8 hours of constant flushing. I hate automatic toilets! Lol. No, it really wasn’t that bad. It went by really fast. It helps that I get some kind of break every two hours. And we got free ice cream! I guess West Custodial has gone 60 days without an accident so they rewarded us with Mickey bars. Lol. It was pretty awesome not gonna lie. I love having a job other than daycare. It’s such a nice break. Don’t get me wrong, I miss playing with my babies, but I love interacting with adults. Lol. And meeting new people! I don’t know why I dread going to work because I always have fun somewhere throughout my shift. I met the cutest little girl today and it was her 4th birthday. I asked her if she wanted a sticker and of course I couldn’t find them. But she looked at me and said “that’s ok, you’ll find them eventually”. Lol. I was so glad I got off at before the cheerleader invasion hit. The park closed at 8, but was open until 10 for this huge group of cheerleaders that are here. They were every where. Oh, and Johnny Depp is here! Apparently he is doing the pirate tutorial show a couple times throughout the day.
I don’t have to go in until tomorrow! Yay. So I’m going to Hollywood Studios with a friend and then property control to see how much damage I can cause.
Today was my last day off until next week. =( I know I said I was going to do something with my morning, but I didn’t. lol. I slept and did laundry. I went and talk to the manager and he was able to give me a full refund. Thank goodness.
Around I decided to head to MK. It was kind of nice walking around the park by myself, but after a while I was really bored and wanted some company. And a bird flew into me! Now the birds at Disney are crazy to begin with. I was walking up Main Street and no joke, this sparrow flew right into my chest! Lol. But anyway...finally I met up with Maria and Heather. We walked through Toontown one last time. Tomorrow is the last day and then it will be no more. They’re closing it down to make room for the fantasy land expansion. We got to see Mickey and Minnie and we were going to see the fairies, but the line was too long. So we rode some rides and then watched MMY and Wishes. Which wasn’t the best because it was raining today so the clouds were in the way. And it was cold.
We got to find out the sex of Robin’s new baby tonight! I got a package in the mail from her the other day with two more packages inside saying not to open until instructed to do so. But I got to open them tonight. She told me to open package #1 and it’s a boy! One package was for if it was a boy and the other a girl. Here’s what was inside:
So exciting!
Tomorrow’s my first 8 hour shift. Bleh =/ I’m going to be in the restrooms the whole time. We’ll see how that goes.
I know I didn’t post anything yesterday, but nothing happened. The most exciting thing that happened was that I tried to get an ER (early release), but that didn’t happen. But anyway…
Today was audition day! It was a face character look-a-like audition for CPs. There was one at and My plan was to get up and go to the early one so I could meet up with Maria and Heather in Epcot later on. Buuuut, it was seriously impossible for me to get up this morning. Lol. So I slept in and decided to go to the later one. I figured there would be fewer girls at the one anyway because most of us work closing shifts. After I finally got out of bed I figured I should do something productive so I tried to do laundry. Well that was an epic fail! I went to put money on my laundry card and stuck a $20 bill in and the freaking machine ate it! So I went to the front desk and the lady was like “well we suggest that you only put $5 dollars on your card at a time”. And I’m thinking, well thanks for telling me now! Then she told me that they’ll only be able to refund me $5 dollars, but it’ll have to be tomorrow because the manager isn’t in today. I was like are you freaking kidding me?! Only $5?! UGH…whatever. So I have to go deal with that tomorrow.
So I forgot about laundry and started to get ready for my audition. Which took forever because I didn’t know what I was supposed to wear or what to do with my hair or anything else. So I settled on my Mickey workout pants and a cute top. I’m not going to lie, I was pretty nervous, but not super nervous because for face characters they look for specific features and if they don’t pick you there’s really nothing you can do about it. So either they like you or they don’t. We were supposed to check in an hour before the audition so I took the bus to the Animal Kingdom rehearsal facility with like a million other girls. Lol. I met this one group of girls on the bus and we all kind of hung out in line and talked. One girl was already a “fur” character performer and she was shorter and smaller than me. It was cool listening to her talk about work and all of her stories. So we got to auditions about 15 minutes early and there was already a line all the way down the hall. When they finally started checking us in, they measured us and gave us a number. I measured right at 5’3” and I was number 67. There were 251 girls! And I heard there was another 300 at the earlier audition.
After about 170 girls checked in they started taking us back. They took groups of 50 so I was in the second group. They took us back into these dance rooms with mirrors all around the room and lined us up in rows of 10. There was a judge at the front of the room behind a table and row by row he would look at us. It was the most awkward thing ever. He would just stare and each of us. Lol. So when it was my lines turn I was pretty much the only one he looked at. It was so awkward because I didn’t know whether to look at him or look somewhere else or if I was supposed to smile or not smile. It was weird. But like I said, I was pretty much the only one he looked at and then I could see him write something down next to my name. So needless to say I was pretty pumped. After he went through each row he told us he was going to call out some numbers and then whatever numbers he didn’t call could leave. It’s a pretty brutal process. They are looking for such specific features it’s ridiculous. So he started calling numbers and he called 67!!! I was so flippin’ ecstatic! Out of the 50 of us in the room he only called 4 numbers. And I was one of them! The girl who was already a character performer was standing next to me and after he called my number she grabbed me and said “have so much fun”! She was so cute and bubbly. The judge told me and the other three girls that after they went through all 250 girls they would call us back and do another “look through” and there would be another cut and then another cut after that. So it was still a long shot, but I was just so freaking happy I made the first cut! I cannot tell you how happy I was! It was the best feeling ever! So I went out to wait in the huge room we started in. It was really sad to see all the girls leave who didn’t make it. Pretty much a big waste of time. They finally got done with all 251 of us and there were only 21 of us left. I was felling so lucky at that point. For there to only be 21 girls out of 251 and for me to be one of them is amazing. So they lined us up in one of the dance rooms again and this time there was two judges and it took them a lot longer to stare at us. They were also talking about us, but they turned on music so we couldn’t hear them. Lol. I pretty much knew I was done for when they just skimmed me over and didn’t talk about me and when I could tell they didn’t write anything down. Needless to say they didn’t call my number. Which was like the worse feeling in the world. I knew from the beginning it was a long shot, but I was still hopeful. And making the first cut is like the worse tease ever! Lol. They only called out 4 girls from the 21 of us. And they were all tall. I was the shortest one out of the bunch. So apparently they were only casting for princesses which they could have told us that before I wasted my time! Lol. Because I know I’m too short to be a princess. But I’m totally fine that I didn’t make it. I just liked the experience. And making the first cut was totally worth it. There’s another audition in March for all character performers including face, fur, and parade. So I’ll probably audition just to audition. But I’m not sure because it does really suck not making it. Lol. I guess we’ll see.
My pins came in today! Maria and I ordered some cheap crappy pins on eBay so we could trade for good pins while we’re in the parks. So we’re super excited about that.
I’m not sure what I’m going to do with my day off tomorrow. I know we’re going to MK to watch Wishes, but I want to do something with my morning. I just don’t know what.
I’ve been yearning to watch Eclipse ever since it came out on DVD and I just haven’t went and bought it yet. So I was saying something about it tonight and Maria was like I brought it! So that’s what I’m going to go do. And I’m pretty excited about it. I’m not gonna lie. J
