The Disney Adventure

The Disney Adventure
The Cinderella Castle!

Thursday, June 30, 2011

The New Email Diaries

So, I have some more emails that I've sent to myself lately and I thought you might enjoy reading them:

June 26th:

Today is a magical day! I got to train a new cast member on the desk this morning! It was kind of by accident, his original trainer called out so I got called in and got to train. I loved it!! So much fun!!! I wish they'd put me on training more often but because I jsut got trained up on the club desk I'll be up there most often I think. However today I got to train, which not only is a lot of fun, it also means I get paid more per hour, which I can't argue with at all!!  I managed to sneak in a workout at our lodge gym on my first break, my second break will be reserved for homework. So now I'm up on the club desk, listening to a guest tell us some fun stories. We also have some very important people in the lodge right now, staying on club level! I'm not at liberty to discuss details, unfortunately, sorry!

I just had the best chat with a guest. He's the CEO of Disney English, which runs schools that teach English in Asia. He's going to put me in touch with his hiring team in New York. I would LOVE to relocate to Shanghai! How amazing would that be?! It's unreal how many connections this job offers. I'm so thrilled just to even talk to this man and he spent the last hour at my desk!! Granted I was making dinner reservations for him and his family, but still, that's special interacting time where I can show him that I am perfect for his company!!

June 27th
I had such a nice surprise this morning. I came into work at 8:30am and said hi to everyone and prepared myself for my day and one of the bellmen stopped me and asked if he could talk to me. I've only really ever talked to him a few times, and only just saying hi in the halloways. He totally made my day! He said; 'I just love seeing you because you always have such a good energy, you always smile and wave and when I'm having a sad day, seeing you cheers me up.' SWEETEST THING EVER!! It really goes to show that even when you don't think people are watching, they are. People can be affected by your attitude and behavior without you even knowing!!

June 28th
I love the club desk. One of the funnest things that we get to do is make ammenity baskets for our guests. When they check into the club level, we know if they have any special things they're celebrating and we make them gift bags! I love this part!! We give them cute little books made out of elephant poop, we have little beaded keychains, chocolate shaped like animals, etc! And for guests in suites they get big baskets full of goodies. Then we get to run around the resort, putting the gifts in the rooms along with welcome letters before the guests have arrived. I'm like the easter bunny, but in burgundy!! We also really get to know people up here. I know I've said it a thousand times, but you really do!!. They sit at the desk for hours planning their vacations with us and having us look for reservations, and you really get personally involved with them. They come back and tell you how much they liked the restaurant you recommended, or how fun a certain show was. I think everyday I have a story to tell about my club guests and it always starts with, 'oh my gosh, my favorite guest........' and then 'my other favorite guest' and so on.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Reflections

It's down to 30 days until my program is over and I go home. I can't believe it's almost over. I'm working on my final report for the University of California Riverside and it requires a lot of reflection and its really making me think about the time I've spent here and how much I've learned and grown. I'm also in the process of having final performance reviews with my managers. This has been an amazing process as well. The manager I spoke with today is also leaving the company and we had a really great talk about how we're both moving on to the next chapters in our lives. At the end of our talk I asked her if she had any advice or life tips for me and she said 'Never get upset if you see someone who is possibly not deserving or unfit for a role in which you think you would have been perfect. Your patience will serve you well, and you will end up in the role that is perfect for you. Often people get wound up about roles that they really want to be in when they aren't suited for them, and they end up being miserable. The universe will put you where you're meant to be, and you are destined for great things.' I really enjoyed that and will remember that in the future. Funnily enough if I look back, there have been times in my life when I haven't gotten the role I wanted and I was upset about it and look where I am now. The universe seems to know what it's doing, as my current path is fabulous!! 

Friday, June 24, 2011

Club desk

So this week I'm training on the concierge club desk. It's nice to be back in a desk setting, I feel more like a real concierge again!! There's only a few things that are different up here from the lobby desk, one being that we get to sit down in really comfy chairs. Which is lovely!! We also get to book a few safaris that you must be DAKL concierge club guest in order to book. It's really amazing to have the opportunity to do so much training here even though I'm a CP, I feel really proud that my hard work has payed off, I'm very lucky! We have some amazing guests in the club lounge this week. Yesterday I think I said 'THEY are my favorite guests' six or seven times. I really love getting to know the guests, every day I have at least 4 different families stop by the desk and tell me what they did during the day at the parks, or to ask what I think they should do the next day! It's really magical! lol. I love my job way too much.

You may (or probably not) have noticed a change in my links ('a wanderer's links' to the right of the blog posts) I've added Disney Food Blog to my list of links. It's a really interesting blog full of fun things to eat and good places to go while you're here at WDW. It gives me lots of cool ideas for my days off and also things to recommend to guests!! Speaking of cool things to do, I really need to do more things!! I have a whole list of things I still need to do before I leave here. It's tough, there's a million things to do here and I really want to do them all plus some things that aren't even on Disney property!! Sigh. I need more time!!

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Silly!!

Welcome to this week's episode of GUESTS SAY THE DARNDEST THINGS!!!!!!!!
A guest the other day asked me if I was British.
'No sir, I'm Canadian,' I said.
He responded, 'But is Canada like it's own country? Aren't you a British citizen?'
Me: 'Nope, we are definitely our own country now. For several hundred years actually.'
Guest: 'Are you SURE Canada is a real country?'
Me: 'Yes sir, I'm positive.'
Guest: 'But your name tag says British Columbia.'
Me: 'Yes sir, that's a Canadian Province'
Guest: 'So you're really not British'
Me: 'That is correct sir.'
Seriously. It happened.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Disneyland Paris

Interesting side note! Recruiters from Disneyland Paris are coming to Walt Disney World to conduct interviews at the beginning of July. I put in an application and hopefully will get an interview. Even if nothing comes of it, you can never do too many interviews. And if something does come of it, you will all have to come visit me in Paris!! I'll let you know if anything interesting develops!!

City on Fire

I've never been as disappointed in Canada as I was this week. The riots in Vancouver after the Canucks lost the Stanley Cup were devastating. It's been really tough being over here this week. Not only worrying about friends in Vancouver, but also dealing with the reactions of the Americans. I spend a majority of my time here dealing with prejudice and ignorance towards Canada. I have spent so much time explaining to my coworkers and guests how beautiful Canada is, how it's not all covered in snow, how we do have cities and culture and how amazing Canadians are. And then something like this happens. I'm so sad about the whole thing. Although to our credit, it looks like we are pulling it together. There has been so many people banding together with a 'love our city' attitude. Which is really nice to see. It's amazing how passionate people are about sports. I see it all the time here with college sports. In Florida, the Gators sports teams are like gods. For us, it's hockey. At the end of the day, I'd rather live in a society that is passionate, even if sometimes that passion isn't properly channeled. All my love to everyone at home, and I hope that no one I know was part of the destruction!

Friday, June 17, 2011

Reflections

I feel like I have a lot to say but everytime I sit down to write about it I have too many thoughts and I get overwhelmed and I stop. We leave in 44 days. I'm sad and excited all at the same time. I'm sad to leave Orlando. I have really built a life here and I'm enjoying it quite a bit. I am also really excited for my trip home. Derrek and I have a really fabulous trip home planned that starts in Bermuda. I can't even tell you how much I enjoyed booking a one way place ticket to Bermuda! It was really really fun (i just pretended that I wasn't going back to Canada from there). From there we head to Nova Scotia and then bus our way back to BC. It will be amazing and I'm really looking forward to seeing a lot of old friends that I haven't seen in a long time. I also really don't want to have to pack up all my stuff and ship a bunch of it home. I'm certain it will cost an arm and a leg. However there's always something to look forward to and I've had such an amazing time here, I'm ready to move onto the next adventure. The people that I'm really close to will stay in my life, that's kind of the way it goes.
 
I love thunder and lightning. There's a crazy storm going on outside right now and I had to go stand outside for a bit and just watch it. I find it so soothing and even at 9pm, it's still very hot and humid outside. The lightning is mesmerizing.
 
I know I've talked about how the American news broadcasts are terrifying. Well that hasn't changed. A perfect example of crazy American news is the Casey Anthony trial. I had never really heard of this woman before we came to the states. Here its all over the news all the time. It doesn't help that she's from Orlando, so it's extra big news here. What blew me away is that they actually had media coverage of the jury selections. JURY SELECTIONS!!! Not just the trial, that part I understand, but selecting the jury?? Really? They were having a huge problem finding people that were impartial enough to be a part of the jury because the media covereage has been so extensive for so long. It's been a big joke around DAKL that they should have some International College Program students go be on the jury because we have no idea who this woman is. Very interesting.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Late

It is very late and I've just finished some homework and I'm about to drift off to sleep, but I did want to share with you a photo of us on our cruise ship because I know you've been dying to see one! What, you haven't? Too bad, you're seeing it anyway!
Aren't we precious!! So much fun!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Taking Care of Business

I can't believe we leave Orlando in 53 days!! It's gone by so fast. This last month is just going to fly by, I can already tell. I'm on break at work, and as per usual, I've commandeered our GSO's secretary's desk and I'm working on my laptop. I'm actually really enjoying our online marketing class. We watch a lot of videos and read articles from top movers and shakers in the advertising world and I'm really learning a lot more than I expected. I really enjoy marketing, it's such a fascinating topic. I also love doing my homework at work. I get a lot done on my hour break, instead of staring into space in the lunchroom, and I find when I sit at the secretary's desk, people stop and talk to me. I was doing a leadership assignment the other day and one of our Guest Service Managers sat down with me and started talking about leadership and how each leadership type can be related to a Disney Villain. It was really interesting. Plus the secretary has a lot of cool random Disney stuff on her desk that I like to play with. Ok, back to work!! Only a half hour left of my homework time, I mean break!

P.S. You may have noticed that on a few of my posts as of late, the photos have been a little wonky, I'm fixing them I promise. This is because I had to stop using my blackberry (I melted it. Seriously, I left it in the sun, and it melted. Sorry, I'm Canadian, I'm not used to living anywhere that's so hot it melts electronics) and am on my iphone, which I've put a really cool blogging app on, but I'm still trying to fine tune my posting processes. Bear with me!

Monday, June 6, 2011

Disney Guests

I think I might have forgotten to mention the super amazing guests we had last week. They were wonderful! They were here for a week and I met them the very first day they were here.

Background info you need to know: in the concierge lounge we have little windows that we can open that allow us to change the buffet food from within the kitchen. Everytime I open them I feel like Belle from Beauty and the Beast in her opening song when she opens the shutters and sings.

Anyhow. I first met this family because I was cleaning up the lounge and singing quietly. Of course it was a Disney song. Well the little girl (11 years old) heard me and joined in. So We sang the rest of the song together and were pretty much best friends after that. So I told the whole family about how I feel like Belle sometimes. So every day after that, they would come in for dinner time snacks and knock on the little doors and I would open them and sing Belle's song to them. And the girls would song along. I saw them probably twice a day while they were here and got to really chat with them and make friends. The funniest thing happened when the girls knocked on the window when I wasn't there and To the cast member that opened it, said 'bonjour!'. My co-worker was so confused. Too funny. I had a blast with that family!! The things that happen at Disney are really amazing!!
 

Nassau

So it's day 2 of our Norwegian Cruise experience. I'm still loving it! This experience is solidifying my desire to work a term on a cruise line. We had so much fun at the White Party last night. There was dancing and ice sculptures and I think I'd be an excellent activities director!!! Id also just like to mention how fabulous the gym facilities are. All the cardio equipment have tv's on them (I watched Pirates of the Caribbean last night while bicycling) and massive windows so you can see the ocean. There's also a driving range, ping pong tables and a basketball court. In fact I'm going to go practice my golf swing right now!!
Moral of the story is that I don't want to get off this boat!! We were on the island of Nassau today, it was amazing! So beautiful. There's an amazing resort there called Atlantis that we wandered through, GORGEOUS!! I love the world, there's so many amazing things to see!!
Our ship!! 

Great Stirrup Cay

So night 1 on the cruise has passed. We made it to Miami with great success its so nice to be out of orlando. A few days off will be lovely. Our ship is massive!! It's so crazy how many decks and people and activities are inboard. Night 1 was lovely. There was a sail away party on deck 11, with DJ's and dancing and whatnot. We hangout on some deck chairs and suntanned and enjoyed the beginning of our mini vacation. This is my first cruise. Everyone always talks about the food but you really don't understand until you are here. There is so much food everywhere all the time!! And really good food too!! There's fresh fruit and veggies everywhere!! It's amazing and so nice to have that kind of stuff for once. Today we took a boat to Great Stirrup Cay! Its NCL's private island and it's lovely. The girls got some snorkel gear and went snorkeling. I swam along with them but didn't get snorkel stuff. I also fell asleep with my hand on my stomach in the sun and have a hand tan print on my tummy. Seriously. Epic fail. They had a massive BBQ on the island for us for lunch, again, so delicious! I'm currently back on the little boat headed back to the ship so I can go to the gym. There's absolutely no cell service here, which is a fabulous idea but I'm not sure when I'm going to get a chance to post this. No worries, I'm on vacation. The water here is amazing, so blue and warm. I spent a majority of my day just swimming around. I love water, I could swim forever. Tonight we want to play bingo and go to a dance party they are putting on. Should be fun.Paradise!! 

Friday, June 3, 2011

Road Trip!!

So I'm headed off on a cruise with 3 of the South African savanna guides! Very exciting! It's a Norweigan cruise line ship for 3 nights to the Bahamas!! One of the other girls is driving and the first question she asked was 'what side of the road am I driving on again?'. But so far so good! Stay tuned for photos!!