BIRDS!

Loved my shift hours today. I got off right after the trail closed and didn’t have to close the Village. I have still yet to make it to the second half of the trail. In the past two days I haven’t made it past the Aviary. I did get to do Greeter today though. And that by far is my favorite position. You don’t have to give out animal facts and you just wave and say hi to people. I even got a compliment from a guest saying how welcoming I am J I didn’t hear it. They went to the stroller parking person from Safaris and told her. So that made my day. I was in Rehab for a little bit today (one of my least favorite). And I was standing outside the viewing area because the monkeys were up and over the viewing area where you could only see them if you were standing outside the viewing area. So I was standing there so I could point out to people where the monkeys were, but no matter what I said (“Hi folks, if you look up the monkey’s are way up on that log and this is the only view we’re going to get right now”) they still went into the viewing area and looked for them! So people completely ignored me for half an hour. Needless to say I was super happy to leave that position. And then after my second break I spent the last two hours in birds. Which is fine, it’s my second favorite position. But I did have a GROWN man spraying the birds today. He had one of those spray bottles with the fan and was spraying the birds! I was like are you freaking kidding me?! You are a grown adult. I can understand if a child was doing that. But geez…and then people were complaining that the bird guides were written on. Again…seriously. You can still read and see everything. That’s what you’re going to get when children are running around with pencils for the Wilderness Explorer booklets. And at Aviary you have a WE bag with badges and it still amazes me when people just want a sticker. You have to have a book!!! I don’t know how many times I say it a day. And everyone with a sticker is going to tell you the same thing…

Oh I also almost got ran over by a Safari truck today as well. We have to cross the path to get to the break room. Well I stopped and looked and no one was moving so I stepped out and then they decided to honk their horn and move. I’m like really? Scared me to death. But I survived. Lol. But my feet are killing me! I don’t know if I’m ever going to get use to standing for six hours straight.

I work 2:30 to 8:30 tomorrow…ugh. Which mean I’m closing the Village. And I have to be there an hour early because the buses are STUPID. I can either take the bus that gets me there at 1:35 or the one that gets me there at 2:17. Now I would take the 2:17 bus, but I timed it today and it takes me almost 15 minutes to walk from the bus to where I have to clock in. So yeah…..

Oh and the more time I spend on the trails the more I miss my camera. Like a lot. But I have decided to take my handheld camera to work and keep it in my pocket because ever now and then my position will be empty and I can snap a quick picture. This one is kind of blurry (I took it on my phone real fast) but these are my naked mole rats. Aren’t they so cute! ;)
 

 

And here’s picture I snapped of me with my WE bag in Birds J

One Day Down...

Well I survived my first day. I was really excited this morning, but as it got closer and closer I was getting really nervous. I clocked in and got my first assignment. I was first in Rehab (Colobus Monkey’s) and then Viewing Blind (Okapi’s) and then Research (Naked Mole Rats) and then got my first break. Then I came back from break and was put back in Research for two hours! And then got rotated to the Aviary for another half hour. At this point the trail is closing and I haven’t had my second break. And after continuously standing for hours you really pay attention to when your breaks are suppose to be. Lol. So finally I get my final break and 15 minutes is just not long enough. So when I came back the trail was closed and the park was closing. Gotta love those 5:00 closings! Lol. So since I was scheduled until 6:30 I was closing the Village. Which kind of sucks. Lol. Pangani is the only attraction that has to close the village and there are only two people who close every night. So me and this other cast member have to stand in the African Village and wait for the restaurant to clear out. And we can’t leave until everyone is out….and people take their sweet time eating. So I got to stand some more. Let me tell you…my feet hurt so bad! Lol. At least in custodial I could sit every now and then. Lol. So the people finally leave and I get to clock out at 6:45. It is super creepy walking out of the park by your self. At least the sun was still up. lol. I will tell you it was awesome closing and still getting out before the sun even thought about going down. Gotta love Animal Kingdom! So I got home around 8:30…stupid bus. But I’m not complaining. My roommate works until 3:45AM one day next week. I do NOT miss Magic (Tragic) Kingdom. Lol. I’m working 11:30 to 5:30 tomorrow. I’m loving these shifts.

I’m soooooo exhausted. Fixing to head to bed. Sitting on the couch with my Tinker Bell blanket and watching National Treasure right now. I get to skype two of the nephews tomorrow because they’re staying at GiGi’s. I’m super excited. I miss those precious faces.

A Whole New World

So I’ve had the last two days off and it was much needed. Yesterday Michelle was off too so we spent the day together. We went to Property Control…and spent money we don’t have. Lol. I got a cute little backpack, a long-sleeved shirt, and an autograph book you can put pictures in. So I didn’t get a lot. Lol. I think I got $65 worth of stuff for $23. So not too bad. Then we went across the street to Company D and bought our “Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party” tickets! All the cast discount dates are in September. So we’ve decided to go on September 24^th. Michelle and I will have that day off because it’s a Tuesday and the other girls our going to ask it off. It’s also Katie’s birthday! So we’re going to do something that day and then go to the party that night. I’m super excited! We just have to get costumes now. I think I’ve decided to be Tinker Bell :)

So after we did our Disney deed for the day we decided to take an adventure. Michelle wanted to find a used book store so we ended up in downtown Orlando. On the way we talked about how it was nice to get out of the “CP bubble” and be in the real world. Lol. So we found this little hole in the wall book store and it totally was not worth the 30 minute drive. Lol. We were in there for 5 minutes. But while we were in there the freaking Beauty and the Beast song came on…we just looked at each other and busted out laughing because we had just talked about getting away from Disney for a bit. Lol. So we decided to get some lunch while we were out and went to Chipolte. Then we saw that there was a Halloween store across the parking lot and we were going to stop in, but it wasn’t open yet. Which was really disappointing because we really need to start working on our costumes.

So we eventually made our way back home. Since we were both off and I was off the next day and Michelle didn’t have to work until 7 the next night we decided to go out. I was super excited because I hadn’t been out since the first week we got here and it was a really long week of training. So we got all dressed up and convinced Katie to come out with us. It was sooo much fun. Like always. The bus was super packed and we had to stand, but it was worth it because Tuesday nights are free bus and ladies drink free. I got to see Luis and catch up with him as well! That was fun. lol. It's still kind of weird to be back.

And today I’ve done absolutely nothing! I woke up with a headache from last night if you know what I mean. Lol. So I stayed on the couch and watched TLC all day. I was going to go to Downtown Disney and see a movie and eat at Earl of Sandwhich, but…..that didn’t happen. I was also going to go the Monstorous welcoming event, but I’m the only one off and I didn’t want to go by myself. So instead I’m sitting at home alone. Lol. Which is weird because there’s always someone home. No one gets off until 10 tonight.

So I tried to call 1909 in Vista Way today to tell them that my Main Gate passes will more that likely be sent to there mail box, but that was an adventure in its self. So every apartment has a phone and to call another apartment in any of the complexes you just have to dial an extension. So I called and finally someone answered and it was an oriental girl and I could barely hear here over the phone. So I tried to explain the situation to her, but she didn’t understand anything I was saying. She eventually understood something about the mailbox, but then said she didn’t know where the mailbox is. Lol. So I’m going to have to call the front desk at Vista or just go over there or something. I swear nothing can be easy.
 

I have my first shift by myself tomorrow. I work 12:30 to 6:30. The park closes at 5, but I’m closing the Village. So it should be interesting! I’m kind of nervous, but it should be ok. Everyone I have met in super nice so I’m sure if I have questions someone will help.

 

I Earned My Ears!

Yep! I earned my ears! I passed my assessment. It was super easy. My assessment trainer was super laid back. I showed up and David had a new trainee. I sat down and the first thing David said was, “Craig, this is Megan and she’s looking for a boyfriend. She’s single”. I was like OMG! I’ve never been so embarrassed. Lol. And he kept it up all day. At one point he said it was his goal to get us dating. Again I turned 50 shades of red. Lol.

Anyway…the assessment started with a multiple choice test. But if I didn’t know an answer my trainer went over it with me so it wasn’t like I could fail. Lol. Then we went out to the trail and spent time in every position. She said I did great, that I approached people, and was very smiley J All the animals were out so it was super easy to talk to people. Then we did lunch and since we finished everything we pretty much just goofed off the rest of the afternoon. We went up to Rafiki’s Planet Watch which is a really underrated part of the park. I like it because it’s a working research and veterinary facility that people can see and watch real procedures being done. But it started raining so our visit was cut short. We were able to catch a ride with one of our managers on the Pargo cart so we didn’t have to ride the train back down. That was nice because it was pouring and I got to see some backstage areas that a lot of people don’t get to see. I was able to walk through the APA (Animal Programs Administration) building. It again amazes me how many people work for Disney! There are so many people you don’t see. And there is a building and department for everything!

So I’m officially done with training! I start my regular shifts on Thursday. I have six hour shifts for the next week and half. Most days I go in around 1 or 2 and get off around 7 or 8. Totally ok with me. I get to sleep in and still get off at a descent hour.

Working six days in a row totally caught up with me as soon as I got home. I literally came home and passed out! Lol. I’m so going to enjoy the next two days.

So I’ve been trying the change my address on the Hub (cast member website) but I can’t do it from my computer. So I did it at work today. We have to change our address because the address in the system is our home address not our Florida address. And our maingate passes are sent to the address in the system. Well I didn’t change my address in time because of the way my training schedule was set up. We couldn’t log onto the Hub until our training and my training started after our maingates were sent out. Which sucks, but I told mom that they’ll be sent to the house and just to send them to me when they get there. Well I got on today and my mailing address in the system is actually the address I stayed at on my last program at Vista! So my maingates are being sent to Vista Way…I was like are you kidding me? Nothing can be easy with Disney. Lol. So I have to call the apartment I use to live in tomorrow and tell them my maingates are coming and hopefully they’ll call me back when they show up. ugh…lol.

So I’m hoping to maybe go to a water park in the next two days. And I have to go to Wal-Mart…again. I feel like I go there once a week.

Vanilla Dr. Pepper!

Last day of training! I’m going to miss Carol so much. She was awesome. I hate it because you spend all week with this one person and then you like never see them again. Especially Carol because she also trains over at MJT as well. Since today was the last day it was pretty laid back. There is another trainer/trainee pair that we’ve kind of spent all week with. Katie and David. I had DAKlamation with Katie. She started training before me, but because she had the last two days off I was able to catch up so today was both our last days. So the four of us kind of spent all day together. We started by doing the flash card game again. But this time it was me and Katie going back and forth. Not to toot my horn, but I totally dominated. Lol. Then we did bird flash cards and I again totally won. Lol. Not that we were really competing. Haha. I really do know all my birds. I named all of them except one, the White Vented Bulbul. And I’ve seen every one of them in person except one, the Amethyst Starling. Just throwing this out there, but I really like the bird keeper. His name Carlos and he’s pretty funny. He has to count all 247 birds twice a day! When Carol and I were in there the other day he found all of then except two Teveta Golden Weavers. No mind you, there are 136 Golden weavers…lol. I’m not envious of his job. LOL.

So after wasting almost two hours with that we ate lunch and then went out to the trail. Carol and I picked up Outlook with the family group of gorillas then Rehab with the Colobus monkeys and then we goofed off in Research with the African Bullfrogs. Then we took a fifteen before we had to do parade… =/ LOL.

Oh and I did take the bus two hours early this morning so I could go to costuming. I needed a rain pouch most importantly to keep my rain gear in, a new hat because I had the wrong one, some other extra small shirts because all mine have stains on them I didn’t know about, and a coat because one of my managers said to get one early. Well I pretty much did it for nothing. There were no more extra small shirts and absolutely no more rain pouches. So I still have no way to carry my poncho.

So when it came time for parade it was cloudy, but not raining…yet. So we set up for parade which consisted of putting up poles and ropes and then standing and saying hi to guest for an hour. It did try to rain. It sprinkled pretty consistently until the parade started. And then the second float broke down during the parade, another floats speakers went out, and something was wrong with goofy’s costume because he held his face the whole time. I think it had something to do with getting completely soaked to the bone yesterday. But it was no doubt an interesting parade. Lol.

But I do have to tell you about this little girl we were standing next to. She was so stinkin’ precious. She was really little, but talked very well. I’m thinking she was about 4 or 5. Well Katie’s trainer, David, went up to her and said, “hi Tinker Bell”. And she said, “I’m not Tinker Bell”! So he asked her who she was and it sounded like He-man, and she got really upset that he called her He-man. Lol. I guess her name was Hime. (it sounds like Heemah). But it was too funny. And she had a First Time button on and he asked her how she was liking her visit and she just kept talking about how she was waiting for the parade and she just really wanted to see the parade. Lol. Disney kids are the best.

So I said bye to Carol L And I feel pretty good about my assessment tomorrow. I tried to talk a lot while we were picking up positions today and I definitely know my facts so I should be ok.

When I got home the roomies (Rachael, Kerie, and Katie) were going to go find a Dairy Queen and they invited me so I tagged along. Well it turned into a mini road trip. We first had to come to the rescue for Lynn because she left her lunch at the apartment. So we drove to Downtown Disney and finally found Lynn. I literally haven’t seen her in almost a week so I got to see her through the window and that was nice. Lol. She looked so cute in her custodial costume. Then we headed to DQ. Well on the way we talked about how we all love Sonic and that it sucked that there were none any where near us. Now mind you that they are every two miles in Oklahoma and I had a vanilla dr. pepper every day. Well we decided to look up where the nearest sonic was and what do you know? There was one right next DQ! I was soooooo excited!!!! I got to eat a sonic cheeseburger and get a vanilla Dr. Pepper! It was pretty much amazing. But it did take us like 30 minutes to get there. Not 10 like our phones said. Lol. But it was totally worth it. Then we had to rush back to the apartment because the VMA’s were coming on! Lol. So we literally sped for nothing because we thought they started at 8 not 9. But then we wanted ice cream so we rushed to McDonalds and no one knows how to drive in this stupid town and we ended up missing the opening. But that’s what reruns are for. Lol.

So now I’m sitting on the couch with (most of) the roomies watching the VMAs J And can I just say that Miley Cyrus is a complete freak now and Justin Timberlake is a cute as ever. Lol.

So tomorrow is my assessment day. I’m kinda nervous, but I should be ok. Then I have two days off! I found out that my days off every week are Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Which is pretty cool because Mondays will be my Fridays. Lol.

Oh I do have to say that I miss my camera……I had come to terms that I wasn’t going to have it while I was here and I was ok with it. Well now that I work on the trails with these amazing animals it makes me want my camera sooo bad! L

Monsoons and Earless Bunnies

So today was my 4^th day of training. I still love my job, but I’m tired of going over the same animal facts over and over. I’m ready to be out there and on my own. But today was fun. Earlier this week Carol told me that if I was good (meaning if I didn’t pass out anymore LOL) we would check out Maharajah Trail in Asia and see the Flights of Wonder show. So after we went over some Pangani stuff like how to open (which is totally pointless because as a CP I will never open) we headed over to Asia. MJT is ok, but I think my trail is so much better. We have more animals. They do have tigers, but we have gorillas. Lol. We did have this one lady who stocked us though. Carol and I were in the bat area where they have the big bats (I don’t know their name lol) with the six foot wing spans and Carol was explaining them to me and we were off kinda to the side by ourselves, but I noticed this lady was standing right behind us. Like in our personal space. So we go to leave the area and she’s like, “I’m just going to follow you guys because I’m learning so much by eavesdropping on your conversation”. I was like ok, creeper. Lol. So her and her whole family followed us through the whole trail…it was kind of annoying, but I guess we did our good “magical” deed for the day.

Then we headed over to Flights of Wonder. It was pretty cool. They are all birds of prey and they fly over the audience and do different tricks and things. So we had a pretty laid back afternoon. Then we went back to our trail and did all the different positions again and I’m comfortable with all of them. So I’m worried about tomorrow just because it’s going to be kind of boring because it’s just more practice…

We did get to actually see the hippo today though! That was amazing. Hippos are nocturnal so he’s usually just in the corner sleeping, but today it was relatively cool because it was rainy all day so he was swimming around the tank. It’s always easier to interact with guest when the animals are actually moving and doing something. But he’s an amazing animal. He’s huge. 5,000 lbs and 11 ft long and the most dangerous animal in Africa. We also got to do the Meerkat position this morning when they were actually out and about. (We did it yesterday when they weren’t out and it was absolutely boring). It’s easy to tell people animal facts when they can actually see the thing you’re talking about. But it was funny because there was a stray rabbit in the Meerkat exhibit and people were more interested in the rabbit than the Meerkats. I’m like seriously people?! Here are Meerkats that live in Africa that you never get to see in person and you are more entertained by the rabbit that you probably see everyday! Lol. But there is a rabbit who likes to hang out in the Colobus Monkey habitat that has no ears. Yes, a rabbit with no ears. He is really funny/weird looking. We have no idea why he has no ears, but he is interesting to look at.  

So if you don’t know, it rains EVERY day in Florida during the summer season. And I literally mean EVERY day. And at the same time every day! So every day I have trained the parade has stepped off and then it starts raining. Like no joke. It’s a daily thing with the parade. But today was the worst! Carol and I went out behind the training trailer to watch the floats line up just because we could. Lol. And the sun was out and it was super hot. Well 10 minutes later we’re back inside and we hear over the radios that the parade has stepped off. Now when the parade steps off there is no going back or stopping. For anything. Once they’re off they have to finish. So they step off and literally three minutes later the sky opens up and rains like I have never seen it rain before! Every time it thundered Carol and I would jump because it was so loud. I felt so bad for everyone who was outside. They came back into the trailer SOAKED! They looked like they went swimming with their clothes on. Like they were leaving water trails down the hallway. It was awful. It was raining so hard that they didn’t even clean up after parade. They left all the ropes up to clean up later. So I’m hoping tomorrow is a little better because day five of training includes parade training. And it has rained EVERY day at parade time. And I can’t carry my rain gear because costuming doesn’t have any more fanny packs!! I’m like seriously…so I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Carol and I got done with everything kinda early today and we weren’t going to go back out to the trail in the rain so we played a game. We have flash cards of all the animals on the trail and we would take turns saying one fact each about an animal until one of us ran out of facts. It was kind of fun and better than reading a fact sheet. She’s awesome. Everyone I talk to says I have the best trainer. She knows so much!

So it’s kind of become a thing where at the end of the day the roomies who are home sit around and talk about our days and tell stories of our jobs. Well I’ve kind of been banned from talking because I have the best job and every one is jealous. Lol. I don’t have any horror stories of miserable guest or horrible hours or any of that. I get to stand around all day and watch animals. lol. But I love my roommates! They are an awesome bunch of girls and we get along so well. We sit around and watch girly shows and eat constantly. Lol. But our schedules do suck because there are a couple girls I haven’t seen in days just because our schedules are completely opposite. Lol.

One more day of training and then my assessment day and then two days off!

 

OMG! I didn’t tell you…yesterday getting home was complete hell. I got off at 5 and the bus was suppose to come at 5:20. So I walked to the bus stop and there are more people there than there usually is which was weird. So we’re waiting and 5:23 rolls around and the bus isn’t there. Well this girl behind me calls the bus headquarters and asked where the bus was. And in my mind I’m like well give it a few minutes before you call! The buses usually run a little late to begin with. But as I’m listening to her phone call she says that the last bus didn’t even show up. The one that was suppose to be there at 4:50. Hence the reason there are so many people at the bus stop. So she gets off the phone and the lady told her that only J1 was running and it was in route (there are two J buses). But this still didn’t explain why the 4:50 (J1) bus didn’t even show! So the 5:20 bus never showed. And more people keep showing up. The park is closed at this point. So the next bus to show up should be the 6:10 bus. Well 6:10 rolls around a no freaking bus! Everyone is super pissed. The cast parking lot is almost empty and I’ve been off for over an hour now…well FINALLY a bus show up and 6:30. And we had to cram on there like sardines because there are so many of us. It reminded me of MK days and I was not happy! It was awful….

Yep...I Like It

So I freaking love my job. Today was sooo much better than yesterday. I didn’t pass out! Yay! I enjoyed training much more today while feeling better. The first thing we did today was walk the trail before it opened which was awesome. It was beautiful and the weather was perfect. We started in the Aviary since we didn’t get to do it yesterday. We saw so many birds that you usually don’t see ever. I’m not much of a bird person, but I think Aviary is going to be one of my favorite positions. And I did really well naming most of the birds. Lol. So then when the trail actually opened we went through some of the positions. We first did what we call Viewing Blind. This is where the Okapi and the Yellow Duiker are. The Okapis are beautiful. So we stood there and I got to interact with the guest and put my animal facts to the test. It was super nerve racking at first just because it’s my first time interacting and I just learned the information the day before and Carol, my trainer, is watching me. But I did ok. Then we picked up Forest Entrance which is the position at the front of the trail where people enter. This is one of my favorites because you don’t have to remember animal facts and there is still a lot of guest interaction and you get to carry the Wilderness Explorer bag! Lol. It’s one of the best parts of the job. The kids are so excited when they get to receive a badge. Then after those positions we went over more animal facts and spent sometime inside. Then we went back out to the trail to go over more positions. We did Safi River which is where the Hippo is. My favorite part about this position is that the guests ask if it’s a real hippo. Lol. Nope, it’s just a 4,000 pound 11 foot long statue. Seriously  people, every other animal on the trail is real why wouldn’t this one be? Lol.

But I did have the cutest interaction with a little girl at Safi. She came up to me and said, “Hey your name is Megan, so is mine. But I spell it different”. She was so precious and wanted to talk about everything. We talked about her pins and the fish in the tank and how she plays a game at home that has a hippo and on and on and on. It was super cute.

Then we did the Valley position. Again one of my favorites because this is the gorillas. It’s super hot, but you get a Wilderness bag! Lol. Then we had lunch and more fun facts. And picked up Aviary. (Again another bag). I really like this one because the guests don’t see most of the birds so it’s a lot of fun to point them out. And some of these birds are so interesting. Then we ended the day with more facts. Lol.

So overall I’m loving the job. It’s high interaction with guest while providing animal facts about some of the neatest animals. It’s really awesome. I have three more days of training and then my assessment.

Florida Humidity is Freaking Awesome.... =/

Yesterday I did absolutely nothing. And I mean absolutely nothing. I sat on the couch and watched TV. All day. Lol.

Here’s a picture of my costume finally!

 

 

So today was my first day. And let me just tell you, it was nothing less than exciting. So when you go backstage at Animal Kingdom you have to swipe your card and then go through these rotating doors, but they’re like rotating doors made out of metal bars. So I hate rotating doors to begin with. Like no joke, I’ve had nightmares about them. And right before I came down here I legit had a dream that I was at Disney and took forever to go through a rotating door and then when I finally did I got sucked under it and stuck! LOL. I’m so not lying about this. So every time I go through these doors backstage I like freak out. Haha. But anyway, I made it through the doors and I met with my trainer. Her name is Carol and it was just me and here. Which is great because it’s just us and it’s more one on one time. So after about an hour of just going over paperwork and getting my “Earning My Ears” ribbon (yay!)

we went out to walk to the area and the trail. We hung out in Africa and looked around and then she showed me the break room for Pangani which is the same break room for the Kilimanjaro’s Safari drivers so that’s pretty cool. But to get to it you have to cross the Safari path and that’s kinda scary because you don’t want to get ran over by a humongous truck full of guest. Then after the break room we went to see the Gorillas (which I have decided are my favorite). So Carol was describing the Gorillas and giving me facts when all the sudden I needed a drink. So we walked to the water fountain to fill up my water bottle and then I felt like I needed to sit down. She asked if I could make it to the break room and I told her I kind of need to sit down immediately. So she sat me down on a bench and I instantly felt nauseous and started sweating like I have never sweated before. Like dripping off of me profusely. (And I think the bug bracelets they give us made my nausea worse because they are so strong. They are yellow bungee bracelets that smell like citronella). So Carol went to go get help and came back and told me we needed to go to the break room where it’s cool. So she literally had to hold me up and direct me to the break room because as soon as I stood up I started seeing spots and by the time we got across the Safari road I literally couldn’t see anything and my ears started ringing and I could barely hear. It was one of the scariest moments of my life. Like 10 times worse than marching season practice. LOL. And it all happened so fast! I was fine and then BAM I’m down. So she finally got me seated and then my pant legs started to go up and people started putting cold rags on the back of my knees and my wrists and the back of my neck. I kept trying to put my head down because I still felt nauseous, but they wouldn’t let me do that and then they started shoving these Gatorade like popsicles down my throat. So after about 30 minutes of that nonsense I felt much better and I had color in my face again. (Carol said she’s never seen someone turn that color before in her life). Lol. So we decided to go back to the training trailer and spend the rest of the day inside. So I’m kind of a day behind in training and might have to make it up, but I’m not really worried about. So we went over more boring stuff that I already know because of my last program. But I did find out I don’t have to do most of the E-learning (computer training) because this is my second program. So I was super freaking excited about that. But I did have to take the E-learning about zoonotic diseases. I just like saying zoonotic. Lol. It was kind of stupid. It just talked about rabies and West Nile and demonstrated how to properly wash your hands for like 15 minutes. lol. Which I totally didn’t need because I worked at a daycare and already know how to wash my hands!

Then we ate lunch and went over animal facts, which is like 90% of my job. There really is more to Trails than I anticipated. There are like 10 different positions and different areas with different animals and we have to know facts about every one of them. And then we have to interact with guest constantly and we also have to give out Wilderness Explorer badges at some of the positions.

Let me just take a minute to tell you about the Wilderness Explorers. It’s like the coolest, funest thing ever. Lol. So like I’m sure you’ve already figured out, it’s based of the Wilderness Explorers in the movie UP. Stationed around Animal Kingdom are Wilderness Explorer Leaders who have the best costume ever! Because they look just like the one from the movie. And they give out these booklets and there are 33 different badges (stickers) you can earn from all over the park. But the cool thing is that you have to do different things and find certain places and figure out puzzles in these books to earn your badge. So there are 4 or 5 badges you can earn inside Pangani Trail. There’s hiking badge where you have figure out the name of the water fall by the gorillas, there’s a tracking badge where you have to figure out the different tracks from different animals, and an aviation badge where you find different kinds of birds in our aviation section of the trail. It’s like to coolest thing and the kids love it! I’ve even seen adults with booklets. Lol. But if your stationed in one the positions that has a badge to give out, you get to carry a Wilderness Explorer bag and help the kids earn their badges. It’s super fun.

But anyway…back to training. So there’s a lot to know, but it is sooo much easier than custodial and Magic Kingdom. Lol. (Or as my roommate likes to call it, Tragic Kingdom. LOL. She’s working Tomorrow Land attractions). Like for closing all we do is follow our leader/manager around and put up ropes. Like seriously? Super easy. lol. And no matter what time the park closes, the Trails close at 7:00 because all the animals have to be put up before dark. Super sweet. One thing though that I will miss about MK is having a locker. There are no lockers at AK so there is literally nowhere to put our stuff. You can keep it in the break room, but that’s kinda sketchy. So I guess I’ll be traveling light. Lol.

So around 5:00 Carol decided to try going back on the trails again. And I was feeling much better so I figured I’d be ok. The first thing we did we go to the gorilla outlook and watch what they call the stationing of the gorillas. This is where they put the gorillas up for the night and it’s awesome to watch! Every animal in the park is trained. And I mean every single one. Even the birds. What happens is when the gorillas hesr a certain sound they know it’s time to go in. So the three less dominant gorillas start to go inside, but the dominant one sits on the specific rock while a trainer throws him treats and when she throws the special treat (tonight it was a cantaloupe) he knows she’s done and now he can go in. It really is amazing. I find the gorillas absolutely fascinating!

So after that we went over some of the positions of the Trail like Greeter and Research and Aviation. Seriously all this job is is standing and talking to guest. Lol. So we get to the Research building which is pretty humid because there’s no AC and the doors are constantly opening and shutting. And I got to see the naked mole rats which I’ve decided are also my favorites along with the gorillas. They are sooo interesting. They live in colonies completely underground and have a queen and workers and soldiers just like a bee hive. The queen is the only one who breeds and can she have up to 27 babies. They are completely blind. Like can’t even see light. And they huddle together to keep warm. I think they’re cute. Lol. But after visiting in there (way too long) we walked to the aviation part and I started to feel light headed. :/ I was like are you freaking kidding! So I told Carol right away because I did not want a repeat of this morning and neither did she. So we went straight back to the trailer and talked about closing instead of actually doing it. Plus it was like poring so it kind of worked out I guess. But again, they shoved those popsicles down my throat. Lol. They’re actually awesome and I need to see if I can find some at the store. Since obviously this humidity and I do not get along. It’s really bad. I’m just hoping I can make it…

So we went over closing and more animal facts and flash cards of every bird in the aviation section. And I have to memorize them. So that’s super fun. And then it was finally time to go home. So I had to go through the scary rotating doors again and catch the bus back home. I love the J bus. It’s so much calmer than the A bus from MK. Everyone gets to sit. Lol. But it does take a full hour to get back home. So that sucks. I got off at 7:30 and didn’t get home until about 8:45.

I have training tomorrow at 8. So I’m going to get up early and eat a good breakfast and drinks lots of water and hopefully I make it through the day. Ugh…I really hope I do. I felt so bad today.

 

 

Tiny Feet

Another day off. I slept in…of course. And then I met Michelle at Disney University so we could go to Company D and Property Control. I bought my Figment lanyard at Company D. Yay!

 

And then I bought new shoes, a shirt, and a jacket at Property Control. I’m super excited about my shoes because my other ones I bought on my last program are a lookin’ a little ratty.

 

It is so hard not to spend so much money in that store. I had to start putting stuff back because I had too much. Then I went on a quest to find my boots for work. Rachael and I walked all over the outlet mall yesterday and I found no boots. I went to sketchers and Wal-Mart today and they both have hiking boots, but only in men’s sizes! And for those of you who don’t know I’m a size 5 in women’s! So I tried on the smallest size they had in men’s and I couldn’t walk in them. So luckily I found some boots in the CHILDREN’S section…I don’t know if they’re going to work because I feel like they don’t look like “real” hiking boots, but I guess I’ll find out Wednesday. If they don’t work I really don’t know what I’m going to do because like I said, I’ve looked everywhere…Good thing about buying children’s shoes is that I only paid $13 for them. Lol.

 

 

 

So after the two hour trip to Wal-Mart (taking the buses SUCK) I came home and actually fixed super and hung out with the roomies. We played a round of headbanz which is super hilarious and fun.

 

I have tomorrow off. I think I’m really just going to stay home. It’s too hot to do anything and I just want to do nothing. Lol.

I’m a Walking/Talking/Moving Information Sign

So I had DAKlamation today! It’s park orientation for Animal Kingdom. So I set my alarm for 5:30 because I had to catch the bus at 6:35 so I would get there at 7:00 and have time to find the building by 8:00. Ridiculous I know. So I had a map of where I was suppose to go, but when I got off the bus I just followed some cast members who obviously didn’t know where they were going so I ended up taking the long way around, but I did get there with 45 minutes to spare.

The park is huge! There are bicycles backstage for cast members to use to get around back stage because the park is so massive. We learned that it’s 10,000 acres and the Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and Hollywood would all fit inside the Animal Kingdom comfortably. Crazy I know! And we walked the whole park for orientation…But we started out riding Kilimanjaro’s Safari before the park was open so we got to see all the animals. That was pretty awesome. All three lions were out, we saw the new white rhinos, and both baby giraffes.

Then after we walked every land of AK we finally got to eat lunch in the Pride Rock Cast Member Cafeteria. And let me just say that the Mousecateria at MK is way better…lol. Then I found out exactly where I’ll be working! I’ll be working in Africa on the Panagani Trail…Jambo J For those of you who don’t know what that means…You know those signs at zoos in front of exhibits that tell you what is in the exhibit and then gives you tidbits of info? Well that’ll be me. I’ll be a walking/talking/moving info sign for the exhibits along the trail. Super exciting I know. Lol. I’m actually looking forward to it. It’s obviously laid back and I get to interact with guest all day. And my costume isn’t that bad. I pretty much look like a Girl Scout leader. No joke. It’s a mint green shirt with forest green pants and I even get a safari hat. Woo hoo. Lol. I’ll post a picture tomorrow.

I also got the rest of my training schedule and not only was I off the last two days, but I’m off the next two days as well. So I have no idea what I’m going to do with all the free time, but I’m not complaining.

All Play and No Work

 

Today I woke up thinking I was just going to hang out at home and take it easy. (Becuase yesterday I went to MK and Epcot with a couple of roomies and didn't really enjoy it because my feet and legs hurt so bad.)Yeah, that didn’t happen. I ended up going to Epcot with Michelle and Katie. We rode the Ellen ride. I can now see why I never did it on my last program. It’s pretty boring and outdated. Then we headed over to Mexico to eat lunch and took our picture with huge sombreros.

 We walked all the way around the world, rode the Norway ride, and watched a little girl in Japan pick a pearl. That is something I definitely want to do before I leave. You pick a clam out of a tank and they open it up and there’s a pearl inside. And then you get to choose what kind of jewelry you want with your pearl; necklace, ring, earrings, ect. It was pretty cool. Then I subjected the girls to Captain EO and Figment. Neither of them had done either. They are both my favorite!

Then we decided to jump over to Hollywood. We got fast passes for Tower of Terror and rode the Great Movie Ride. But my head was killing me so I decided to catch a bus and come home which sounds a lot easier than it actually is. To get to a CP bus you have to catch a Disney bus to the TTC (Ticket and Transportation Center) and then from there catch a CP bus home. And with my head hurting as bad as it was it felt like it took five hours…But I finally made it home and all the roomies got to eat dinner together. It was the first time we’ve actually all been home together.

Well I have training in the morning. It’s called DAKlamation. It’s just park orientation, but I’ll finding out what I’ll be doing specifically. It’s from 8-2, but I have to catch the bus at 6 :/

The Router Brings All the Boys to the Yard

I didn’t blog anything yester day because I just had the welcome session and I’ve already heard all of it so I was super bored the whole time. Oh but we did have some nerdy boys over to try to help us with our router issue, but still no luck. Which sucks more than you know. But anyway….

Today was sooooo much fun! I know these days are going to pass eventually and this will become just another job like my last program so I’m trying to enjoy them as much as possible. I love my roommates more and more every day. They are the greatest group of girls. I couldn’t have asked for better roommates.

Today was Traditions day! Woo Hoo for becoming official Cast Members. So Lynn, Katie, and I all had the morning session from 8 to 12:30. We walked to the bus stop from Patterson to Chatham and I already had awful blisters. So I knew my feet were going to hate me by the end of the day. I wore super cute itty bitty heels from a thrift store, but I guess my feet didn’t like them. So seriously by the end of traditions my feet were bleeding and I walked home from the bus stop bare foot because it hurt so freaking bad. But I do have better shoes for park orientation on Sunday.

So Traditions was alright. Like the welcome session I was pretty bored because I’ve done it before and knew what was going to happen. Traditions is more fun if there is an element of surprise. But I got through it, got my name tag, and can get in the parks for free now. What what!

So the Woody’s Round-up Welcome party was also today. And because there is free food everyone goes. It was actually a lot of fun. We got cowboy hats and got to see Woody and Jessie and won free SafeD Begins with Me lanyards.

But after about an hour or so of that I was pretty much dying to get to Magic Kingdom. And I knew Lynn was too. This is her first time to Disney ever so I was super excited to be with her on her first visit.

 So Katie, Lynn, and I went to Magic Kingdom and met up with Michelle as soon as she was done with Traditions.

The other girls don’t have it until tomorrow so they couldn’t come with us L The weather was acting kinda funny and couldn’t decided if it wanted to rain or not. But thankfully we didn’t get poured on. But the Dumbo ride was down due to weather and that was the one ride Lynn wanted to ride more than anything. And it was so sad that we couldn’t. But I got to finally see the new expansion of Fantasyland and it’s awesome! Disney never disappoints. So we rode the new Little Mermaid ride. Then got food. I got my corn dog nuggets of course and they were amazing. Lol. Then we watched the Electrical Parade, the new projection show, and of course WISHES!

I didn’t cry like I thought I would, but I definitely sang along like always J It’s so good to be back in Disney! So after Wishes we had about 30 minutes before the parked closed so we rushed back over to fantasyland to see if we could get on Dumbo because it was back up. I have never seen a person so excited to ride Dumbo before as Lynn was. It was awesome. So we rode Dumbo and took lots of pictures.

Then we got to meet Ariel because there was no wait and ride the Little Mermaid ride one more time. This time all four of us tried to squeeze in one of the clams and it was hilarious. These girls make me laugh so hard. I know we are going to have an awesome time together in the next 6 months. 

 

I have the next two days of, but I’m not sure what I’m going to do yet. We get into the water parks for free until February so I’m dying to go, but I also want to hit up Animal Kingdom before I start training and scope it out. But I do know that right now I’m going to bed. It’s 2:00 in the morning and my feet are screaming.

Senior Frogs

Here are some pictures from our trip to Senior Frogs last night. We had so much fun!

 

Yeah...That's Not Me

So today was a little less eventful than yesterday. We did get our AC fixed! So we’re not dying any more. I had drug testing at 1:30. That was super fun. Especially since I got all the way to Vista and realized I forgot my Program Guide. So I had to ride the bus all the way back to Chatham and convince one of my roommates to bring me my guide and then hustle back to Vista so I wouldn’t be late. It was stupid. ESPECIALLY since the sticker on the back of my guide isn’t even me! So I get to the place and hand the guy my guide and I was like there were two Megan’s who checked in yesterday and that’s not me. And he was like oh well she’s here too. So I got to meet my twin. Come to find out we even have each other itineraries for the rest of the week, but thankfully we go to the housing meeting and traditions at the same time. So that was kinda chaotic, but then me and some of the roomies ventured to the outlet mall that is literally in our backyard. It’s huge. But we really needed a PayLess so we tried to find one and ended up at the mall! Long story short, it was a crazy crazy adventure. But I love these girls. They are super fun. We’re going out tonight since none of us really have anything to do tomorrow. So I’m sure it’s going to be another epic adventure, but I’m ready J

EPCOT....jk Animal Kingdom....jk EPCOT....jk......

YAY for check in!

So I had to get up at 4:00 yesterday morning :/ But I was so excited I really didn’t mind. We got to Orlando about ten till 7:00 so we were able to stop by chick-fil-a and get some breakfast before I had to head to check in. Check in was definitely different this time around from my last program. First of all they let cars into the complex. Last time we had to line up outside of security. So they dropped me off around 7:15 and there were already a million CPs in line, but I was able to find Rachael and Michelle so that was awesome. I didn’t have to go through check in alone. (Even though I knew exactly what to expect). It was so weird being back at Vista and seeing the building I stayed at last time. But check in was much faster than last time. The DORMS system really helped. All the roommates ended up being together and we’re living in a three bedroom apartment at Patterson Court (our first choice). Yay! My roommates are awesome! We all seem to get along really well.

So we get our apartment keys and have our pictures taken for our housing IDs (which turned out horrible!!). Our faces are so fat and squished. Lol. Then we got to wait in line to get our work locations! YAY! I have been anticipating this moment from the time I accepted my offer to be in the program. I felt like my whole program was riding on this moment. So we give them our name and they put a sticker on the back of our program guides that say where will be working. Well I look on mine and my perner number is different than what it should be. I should still have the same one I had on my last program, but I didn’t really pay attention to that too much because my work assignment is also on this little piece of paper and that’s way more important at this moment! Lol. So mine said EPCOT FW East which means EPCOT Future World East side, but I still didn’t know exactly what ride yet. You usually don’t find that out until you start training. So I was a little disappointed because I was really wanting Animal Kingdom. One because of the hours (the latest they’re open is like 9 unlike Magic Kingdom where I got home at like 3 in the morning) and second I just wanted a completely different experience from my last program. But I was still excited because EPCOT is a great park and two of my roomies were working there. So I accepted it. But on top of that my sticker was colored yellow which apparently meant I had to get drug tested. Yippy-freaking-skippy. So then we got our schedules for the next couple of days. I had casting at 9:30 (right after check in). Then on Tuesday (the next day) I have my drug testing at 1:30 and then Wednesday I have the housing meeting at freaking 4:00 and then Thursday is Traditions. And I’m super happy because I have the morning class so I’ll get to play in the parks the rest of the day! YAY! And Lynn has it with me and this is her first time to Disney so I’ll get to be with her when she goes to Magic Kingdom for the first time J

So we got our schedules then we had to make sure our direct deposits were set up correctly. Well of course mine wasn’t and of course I freaking forgot to bring a blank check with me and my check book was with my luggage with Aunt Christie so I got super pissed because first of all I checked and double checked my numbers when I set this all up online and second because the lady was super rude and I had to be put on a freaking pay card. So even though I can switch over to direct deposit my first two paychecks will go on a pay card >:/

But anyway I finally let that go because it’s too early to be getting upset. Lol. So I loaded the bus for casting and was with Michelle. Rachael had casting the next day so she was able to go scope out the apartment for us. Casting was so much shorter than last time thank goodness. So the first room we go to they give us folders with stickers on them just like the ones on the back of our guides. Well the lady showed it to me and asked if that was me, but I hesitated because the work location was different! It said AK – Trails Operations. So my first thought is “OMG I’m actually in Animal Kingdom”. But when I asked the next person I came to they said to go by the one on my program guide and that it was a mistake. So my dreams got shattered and I was still at EPCOT….lol. So we move on…wait in more lines…sign our names…get fingerprinted…wait in more lines…sign our names…and then we get to the very last part. I hand the lady my stuff and she hesitates because there are two Megan Johnson’s on her paper. Remember my perner number situation earlier? Well one Megan Johnson has the one that’s on my sticker and one has my old number. So I tell her that I think they are both me and they have just messed up given me a new number for some reason. So she asked someone and they said just go by the new one and maybe they can figure it out at traditions. So I go along my way.

Yay for being done with casting! So Michelle and I got back to Vista and drive her car to Patterson. So we get there and of course we’re on the third floor. So lugging our stuff was a nightmare and freaking hot! All of us kind of arrived at different times during the day. I got all my stuff unpacked and where it’s suppose to be. I was so proud. Lol. Last time I lived out of my suitcases for like three weeks.

So I’m chillin’ at apartment trying to get the freaking internet to work, but for some reason the router won’t connect to the internet and that’s frustrating me to no end! When all the sudden I get an email from Disney. So I open it up on my phone and it says that there was another Megan Johnson who checked in today and she received my welcome paper and I hers. Well I’m thinking, “no, it wasn’t another Megan, it was me just with the wrong number”. But that didn’t matter because further on down it said I was actually working at Animal Kingdom!!!!!! HECK YES! Well it also said there was a letter attached with the right information and there wasn’t…..so I had to call someone at Disney University. And he told there actually was another Megan Johnson from Virginia and our numbers actually did get switched up. So I printed my new papers and sure enough…Animal Kingdom – Trails Operations!

I figured out what happened and when I went to get my sticker at check in the lady didn’t look at my perner number on my boarding paper work, she just looked up my name. (Way to go Disney). But everything is all sorted out and I’m exactly where I’m supposed and want to be and she’s at EPCOT. But I still start training on Sunday.

Then Michelle was nice enough to take us all grocery shopping. I was really stressing out about this because I don’t have a car and I really didn’t want to take the CP bus to walmart for my first grocery run. One because taking the bus sucks to begin with and second because when you live in Patterson you have to catch the bus at Chatham which also means it lets you off at Chatham. There’s no bus stop at Patterson. So I would have had to carry a million and one groceries from one apartment complex to another. So I was very thankful she offered to take us.

Well when we get back to the apartment the AC isn’t working anymore. It was working just fine when we were moving our stuff in, but now there is no display and it’s hotter than you-know-what in this apartment! We tried to call the front desk, but of course they’re closed so I set my alarm for 9 in the morning so I can call them first thing. Because this is ridiculous! I’m literally sweating in my apartment…..

Well we decided to go down to Downtown Disney for bit. Which was so much fun. Then it was back to our miserable apartment.

So now I’m laying on top of my bed wanting to go to sleep because I’m so exhausted, but there’s no way I’m going to be able to sleep because I’m so uncomfortable! Yeah….awesome.

Almost Time...Again

I'm not sure when I'll have access to the internet again so I thought I'd post something while I can.
This time tomorrow Grandma and I will be on a plane on our way to Orlando! I'm so excited and so glad I'm not nervous. I know exactly what to expect and I'm ready to just have fun!
I can't wait to meet the roomates! We all registered on DORMS the other day so we're locked in. Here's hoping everything goes as planned. We're hoping to get a 3 bedroom in Patterson. There's six of us and we seem to be a pretty good fit so far :)
I've got everything packed and ready to go. 2 large suitcases and an empty carry on. I know...I know, it's amazing. lol. The only thing I don't have is my camera :( I still can't find it...I'm really upset that I won't be able to take my pictures, but everything happens for a reason I guess.
So we'll fly out tomorrow night and stay with my aunt Christie and uncle Larry and then I check in on Monday!

On another note...my baby sister is all moved into her dorm in Stillwater. I can't believe she's an official college student. I'm so excited for her and this new chapter in her life! Love you Chicken :)

Well until I have internet again...........