8/28/10

Parade Control & Turnstiles!

Watching: A CrAzY commercial about...Snuggies? O_o


Sooooo yesterday at work was somewhat hilarious....well, it is now at least. I wasn't feeling too great yesterday for reasons not unknown to me (girly stuff ya know). So I was prepared for it and also prepared for any situations that would happen while in WDW (or so I thought).

Okay, to start...I have 2 costumes. One is for turnstiles at the front gate of the MK and that costume is a large, striped shirt with orange, pink and light blue in it and it comes with light blue...shorts? I guess you can call them shorts. Then there is the parade control uniform or "PAC" as we call it. The PAC uniform consists of a pair of navy blue pants and vest and a white short sleeve shirt with a weird little dog-eared tie in front. Well, there are some days when you are working both jobs in the same day. I had heard different ways on what to do: wear one outfit and then change later, wear one outfit the whole day, wear the outfit that fits the job you work the most hours in that day but make sure you wear the navy one for the nighttime parades...yadda yadda yadda!!

So, I went with my instinct and I wore the light blue striped one and brought the navy blue one with me. After the turnstiles (which I'm still surprised people still don't know how to use) I went to my coordinator and asked when she wanted me to change. "The events that followed are kind of a blur to me...she began to explain something like..."you should have just worn your PAC outfit/why didn't you know that? and work at the exit right now and I will type in a task for you then that will give you time to change and if you are late to the PAC meeting I will know where you are." I was really, very confused. Task? What? I began to ask her what that meant (I just wanted to do the right thing) and she said the exact same thing...but slower...like I was stupid!! :-/ whatever...so I just did what she asked me and left to change when I found it appropriate. I was a little late for the PAC meeting but was able to get there in time for my assignment: "Castle 1".
      The "Castle 1" assignment means that my position was right in front of Cinderella's Castle and all I really had to do was play "Mickey Says" (Simon) with the kids until it was time to get ready for the parade. Suddenly, it started to DOWN POUR. It was awful because I did not have a poncho! I kept a positive attitude and tried to let guests know that we will have an announcement whether or not the parade would continue. Finally, the announcement came on throughout the park and all it said was that the parade had been "delayed" ! I was shocked! And then it started to thunder and lightening...still, the parade was just "delayed". Finally, about 30 minutes later...the parade (which was an electric light parade) was finally canceled. I was soaked to the bone and shivering. I already had a cold...so that was unfortunate. I worked the exit until I was allowed to leave and I was so happy that I had packed a change of clothes...except my underwear was wet...so I had the most attractive marks on my body :-/
I also had a bunch of dry costumes that I had picked up earlier that day. So I had to not only carry back my wet clothes (including my wet sneakers) but I also had to carry back a stack of dry costumes! Ug. When I was finally able to get on the bus back to my apartment, the bus was full :( so I was going to have to sit on the wet floor BUT my very good friend Mike from good 'ol Cazenovia was there and said that I could have his seat! :D He sat almost right behind me with another friend on the edge of the seat. I sat in Mike's seat and right next to his roommate...who was a really sweet guy! I felt bad because while we were talking I couldn't remember why I liked modern British Literature.... *blush* (Orwell and Doyle!!!!) *cough* anyway...I got home at 12:00am and made myself foods and talked with my roomie Alee for about two hours and watched Alien 3.

Sigh...it was a very interesting night.

*mug shot*

8/24/10

2 Weeks in Yensid

Watching: The Office

(note: code words to be on the efas edis) ;-)

So I have been in Yensid for approximately 2 weeks. There have been many ups but there have also been the occasional downs. All in all though, Yensid is definitely the happiest place on earth for a reason. The people who work here are the heart, soul and backbone of this company. I don't think it would be as successful as this if it weren't for the service that we are taught to give. Seriously, our classes and trainers have to teach us how to be happy...

Now, I am normally a "happy" person...so when they told us certain things like, "wave to people" or "smile" or "say, 'You're welcome'" or "look people in the eye when they are speaking to you" it all sounded very, I don't know...obvious(?) to me. That's probably why I hit it off with my Main Gate trainer, Pattie so well. Let me explain Pattie before I go any further:

[PS: some Yensid-like spoilers below...this might ruin the magic for some little ones!]

Pattie is a short, thin and wrinkly 70 year old (71 in a few days) woman. She is from New Orleans, LA originally and was most certainly a Southern Belle at one point in her life. She has a son who is going to school to become an artist and she has a daughter who is a lawyer for Congressmen at the White House (she almost served President Obama...but he chose someone else I guess). Pattie has been working for Yensid Dlrow for 5 years and has been a trainer for 2 years. She is so good apparently, that they are sending her all over the world (most recently Hawaii) to train people into becoming great Yensid Cast Members (Cast Members = employees in Yensid language). I was fortunate enough to have her one-on-one as my trainer. Pattie is a heavy smoker by the way...so on our 10 minute breaks we would have during training she and I would take them backstage, behind the walls of the MK. Oddly enough, the smoking area is right next to the doors to where the parade comes through so many of the actors/dancers sit there and smoke as well. It was cool to talk with most of them about their experiences but half the time they are on their phones texting...so that's when I turn to Pattie and hear stories about the old South and raccoon hunting and whatever else.

Anyway, Pattie is great and very informal about the history of Yensid.

I love my job. When I am not telling silly tourists how to place their finger on the biometrics scanner or stopping foreigners from stealing others tickets OR keeping other Yensid Cast Members from sneaking people in...(whew!) I am giving out Cinderella stickers to little girls who are coming to the MK for the first time, I am giving high-fours ;-) to little boys dressed as pirates while I wear my Mickey glove at the exit, I am sprinkling pixie dust on kids who are having a hard day...or to a little girl who was just adopted from another country and her new parents are bringing her to the MK (she was so cute by the way). Some of my fellow Cast Members (but most certainly not all) are a little...testy...but try to look over them and focus on my goals for the day. Tomorrow I start training for  Parade Control then I will be an official Yensid Cast Member.

I love going into the Parks for free too! I never thought it would be so much fun to walk around by yourself! I've been having a great time finding presents for everyone. It's also nice because I can just play all day! Go on rides, shop and lose weight. Yup. I went down one pant size since I've been here. It's kind of really amazing ;-) and I cannot stress enough how awesome my roomies are. They are simply the best. Some of us went to Daytona Beach for the day and just chilled. We had a blast swimming in the ocean and talking about our jobs. <3

Well, that's all for now! TTFN! Ta ta for now!


  PS: A little word from your friendly neighborhood Arcade Fire:

8/12/10

Finally in Disney! + A message to my Best Friends.

Talking with my new roomie, Kellie.

Heya friends!

I am finally living in Orlando, Florida and working for the great Walt Disney (God rest his soul :P). So far it has been a great few days (two to be exact) and I have met my roomies in the process. They are really, very nice and I adore them completely.
Kellie is from Colorado and is interested in doing the Professional Disney Internship in the spring next year just like I am. She wants to be a special event planer. Arielle is from New Orleans and would like to work with Hospitality in the future (she is also an avid tea drinker like me!). Bis is from Massachusetts and is a little bit like me in weird ways (I can't even really explain it...we just get each other! We must have known each other in a past life). Allie (pronounced "Ah-lee") is from Puerto Rico and was recently married to a Marine who is being stationed in Texas. She joined the Disney Program so that it would give her something positive to do while he was away. Karaline is from Connecticut and is sort of the supplier of the apartment (she bought most of the cleaning products, food and wine for the place! whoa!). All and all we get along swimmingly (of course it has only been two days...but i have high hopes for us!).
I do miss all of my friends and family from home...it has been hard for me to figure out my feelings about certain things in life and accomplishes that I want to make. I sort of discovered that there was this weird hole in my heart that I kept trying to fill, not knowing how to do so. Luckily, my church's convocation in L.A. helped me when a nun giving a talk said that when she lost someone she was very, very fond of (she didn't mention whether it was a lover, friend or family member or whether it was from death or a fickle heart) before she became a nun, she cried and cried for days. Finally, she meditated and prayed and asked God what she should do. She still had all of this love to give and now that that person was gone she had no one to give it to. Then she said that she felt this loving voice come to her and say, "Give that love to Me." So, since then that is what I have been trying to do.

This summer was a bit sad for me. I had already left my best friends and I knew that I would be leaving my family soon. I had a job but it didn't keep me as busy as I had hoped and I was able to see some friends sometimes but not as much as I really wanted. I wanted a career. I wanted to make people happy and I wanted to love someone. More importantly, I wanted someone to love me the same way in return. And you know what? I am so lucky that I have such good friends (you all know who you are) who do just THAT for me: love me like I love them. The ones that don't leave me in the dust and although I always knew that you were (and still are) there for me...I don't think I appreciated it as much as I do now. So, I'm just going to say: to all of you, I love you and miss you so much. You are a part of my family and I never want to lose you...you are too cool and too awesome. You guys and God fill that hole in my heart for me...you make up for all the heartaches and heartbreaks that I've had. That is so important to me. Thanks, yo ;)

I will have pictures and updates asap! Love & Peace <3

- Gracie