MAGIC!

I love when I get phone calls at the club desk that start with 'Erica, it's ________, I need to make some magic, can you help me?' I always know I'm about to have a bunch of fun. I got a call like that from one of my managers today and we all sprung into action, making a little boy a birthday goody bag with a plush Tigger (his favorite character) and some special Animal Kingdom Lodge treats. SO MUCH FUN! I just love making magic!!

Also, I love our guests SO MUCH!!! I checked a couple into the club level this morning and they wanteed to go on a special safari so I booked them into the one we have that goes in the evening and includes dinner and wine at our signature restaurant and then when it was done they came back to the dsek to tell me how much fun they had and to show me all their pictures!! How much fun is that??? I just love making that personal connection with them that they get excited to come back to the desk and tell you about their day. It really makes me feel like I've done my job right when that happens

 

I had a 12 hour shift today so I managed to get my 2 breaks back to back and had an extra long time to go to the gym, so I did a  full workout and then sat in the eucalyptus steam room for 15 minutes. That is seriously the key to a happy day, usually I have an hour break so I don't get a steam in, just a workout. When I return to work after a nice gym, I feel like it's a whole new day, so refreshed and alert. I just love it. And eucalyptus really just topped it off, it's got to be the most refreshing feeling ever. I actually felt cooled afterwards for the first time since it got so hot out. I am the happiest of pandas.

Impact

So I know I talk all the time about making magic and how Disney really touches people's lives and I'm sure you don't really believe it. But it's true and amazing. Walt Disney World is a magical place and being there makes people feel more magical. On that note, I wanted to share an email that I recieved via our management:

This is what was sent to me by my manager:

 

Dumela all,

This was forwarded to me from a friend. The Hollands were staying with us from the 14^th through the 21^s in the Jambo House Villas. Thank you all for providing exceptional guest service to them during their last stay. We never know how much of an impact we may have on our Guests by doing ordinary tasks and what the impact may mean for them. Please take the time to read the following.

-Derrison

Dear Teams and Friends,
I lost 2 friends in the Joplin tornado.  They had been home from their 15th anniversary Walt Disney World vacation less than 24 hours when they were killed.  That time had been spent updating family and friends on what a wonderful and special time they had had and, in fact, Lorie was in a Disney Chat talking about it when the tornado sirens went off.  Her chatting about their Walt Disney World vacation was the last that any of us heard from her. Here is a short article about their love of Disney and the impact it has had on the family: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/05/27/2909582/glenn-holland-59-and-lorie-holland.html

We never know when it will be the last time we can make a bit of magic or give a little pixie dust to a Guest.  Whomever the CMs were who impacted Glenn and Lorie's trip certainly did their part and now, friends and family can remember them as just having had a wonderful time enjoying their favorite place in the world together rather than the horror of their last moments.  It is the one thing that is bringing comfort to hundreds, if not thousands of people right now, "At least they just had a wonderful time together at Disney".

I hope we can all be mindful as we encounter each Guest that none of us knows what lies ahead and do our utmost to make the magic happen.  We do not have ordinary "jobs", we have a unique privilege of working where pixie dust is readily available to us and I hope we spread it generously.  I know that's what brought Glenn and Lorie back visit after visit and I know they would want us to continue making our special Disney magic for all of our Guests.

 

 

So, as touching as that is, it means even more to me because the last place that these guests stayed was at Animal Kingdom Lodge. They spent their last vacation with us before they died, and we made them happy. That blows my mind. We have an impact on people's lives whether we know it at the time or now. Unreal.

DLP....hint...the P stands for Paris

So, I said I would keep  you all informed about what happened with Disneyland Paris. So, I recieved an email that they wanted to interview me!! That's a big thing because having my resume pass the initial screening is a big deal, Disney is pretty picky. So I sent them my schedule with when I would be available and I waited and waited for what felt like hundreds of years (it was 4 days) for them to set an interview time. Which they finally did!! So I almost died of nervousness and two days ago I skyped with the recruiter, both in english and french.

 She offered me a job.

IN PARIS!!!!!!!!!!!! FOR SERIOUS!!!!!!!!!!! 

I almost died. I won't be able to work front desk there, because you ned to speak three languages for FD and I only speak two, (learning spanish is on my list of things to do, I'm getting around to it!!) so the positions she will be able to offer me are in food and beverage. Which I'm thrilled with. I love food and beverage, that's where my roots are, so I'm happy to return to it. There's a few tricky things, first of all, I need a visa, which I need to be in Canada to get. So I need to do that as soon as I get home. Secondly, because I can't start until september (I need to go home, I miss my family), it means I'd be starting in their low season, which means that they have to find a position to put me in that someone else is taking a leave of absense from. The recruiter is trying to find me a position with more responsibility because of how much experience I have in that area. So I now have very little time at home. Which is ok because my family will come see me!! I feel like it hasn't sunk in yet. I'm excited but not, because I'm afraid to get too excited in case something happens and it falls through. When I'm on a plane to France, THEN I'll be excited. I can't help but think that this is the reason that the Universe (or US immigration, but I feel like they don't know as much as the Universe) didn't let me take the position at Hilton Head, so that I could be free for when this opportunity presented itself. 

Dear Universe, Don't let me down, I promise I'll work really hard!!

PARIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMGOSH.....I can't even think about it, it's too much, it can't be real. 

 The castle in Paris is PINK! Pretty!!!

New Orleans

I have so much to say!!! I need to get all you lovely people caught up!! New Orleans, let's start there! I LOVED New Orleans!!! It's amazing. The whole city has so much character and heart!! It's like you can see history unfold right before your eyes!! There's still some places where you can see the leftover damage from Hurricane Katrina, and then there's buildings that are brand new and massive. I spent most of our time there just wandering the streets and taking pictures. I love jazz so I also wandered into as many little jazz bars as I could find. Bourbon St is unreal! People everywhere, drinking on the streets, people I'm balconies flinging beads into the street, it's like everyday is Mardi Gras! There's a really cool walkway thing that's along the Mississippi river with shops and restaurants. I also adore Cajun food!!! It's so flavorful and delicious!! I am so happy that I had a chance to visit this amazing city before I leave the states!!!

Gorgeous buildings!!

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Bourbon Street!!

The architecture is so fabulous!!

Exposed brick everywhere!!! This is in one of the hotels I stayed at

Crazy voodoo piano in a store in the french quarter

Crazy animal on the wall in a store in the french quarter

The ceiling in a fabulous cajun restaurant!

I adored this building. So much character

My favorite gate!

Hotel room

Really tall building in the sun!!

Quaint little shop's in the french quarter

They get a little angry when you try on the masks and take pictures of yourself in the store!! Whoops!!

In the arts district

SO MANY MASKS!!!

Steamboat that goes up and down the Mississippi

Warehouse district

The Mississippi River!

Run down building in the art district

As you can see, I LOVED New Orleans!!! Everyone should go!!

Birthday Poster!

I just Love the birthday board that goes up every month!!! This month it's theme is 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Sequels!!' hee hee!!
 
   

St. Augustine

One of my favorite things, as you know, is traveling! So it's really cool to be in a different part of the world is getting a chance to explore it! So I happen to have five days off and I'm on a little road trip! Today we are in St. Augustine, tomorrow we head to New Orleans! St. Augustine is actually the oldest city in the US and is absolutely gorgeous! It's got so much history and beautiful architecture! It was founded in 1596 (I think) and it's lovely. Theres an amazing fort where we actually got to see Men dressed as soldiers shoot a real working cannon!! So I thought I'd share some photos!  

Graduation!!

So we are officially graduated from the University of California Riverside program as well as the Disney College Program!! It's very very exciting. It's a lot of fun graduating from the Disney College Program. There's a bbq at one of the housing complexes and the characters come to say hi and we get graduation hats with mouse ears on them!!! So here's a few photos of the festivities!!

This is Lindsey and I with Karen, who is from UCR, she's been looking out for us since we got here. She's amazing and it was so nice that she made it out here from California!

My certificate!!

Linds and I!!

The crew!!

Can't get enough pictures with characters!

The boss is proud of me!

So that's what a Disney graduation looks like!!