Once Upon A Time…Is Now & Training

About two weeks ago well, August 5th to be exact I was officially transferred over to the Magic Kingdom. Once you start working you have a "orientation day" and for Magic Kingdom its called "Once Upon A Time Is Now". I was the most beautiful class I have ever taken in my entire life, other than traditions of course :) 

My class was a 7:15 A.M. and only lasted until 11:15 A.M. so it was a very short shift. I was up and running around like a maniac that day because I had to drive my roommate to her hotel at 5:30 because, well I honestly don't remember why, but thats besides the point. 

We all met inside the Mouse at 7:15 A.M. for Once Upon A Time Is Now and I was surprisingly not tired? I really don't know why because that is really early for me. The people who were leading the class were awesome and so interactive. 

The really amazing thing about the class was that we literally were in a classroom, but our classroom was Magic Kingdom, and we were learning everything about Magic Kingdom down to why there is no bathrooms in Liberty Square (even though I already know why because I am the biggest disney fact nerd ever!)

It was a very fun day, and we even got to ride Haunted Mansion, which means I was crying inside because I was getting paid to ride one of my favorite rides like ever. While the tour was ending we were on Main Street and Dream Along With Mickey came one so we got to hear that, which means I was singing along, obviously. 

After all that you get to meet the Coordinator of Training for your role / location and get your training schedule, which is always exciting. To me its like the first day of school, but thats because I am sorta kinda weird but whatever.

The next day I had my Tier 1 which is day one in your location. Since I was a merchandise transfer there wasn't really much for us to do in Tier 1 so it wasn't that bad. We met at costuming and I got to put on my lovely new costume (photos below!) We then basically just walked around Main Street USA, and my location and figured out where everything was like each stock room (THERE ARE SO MANY!) 

Day 2 of training was technically my last day of training where you go on the register but since I was a transfer I already knew how to do the register so we really did everything ourselves. It was good to have someone there just incase we needed the help though. We didn't even close and got off at 1:30 AM which is pretty early in my location!

I didn't actually do a hard close until about three or four days after my training. When closing in my location you get "closing tasks" where you could be cleaning up trash and the cash wrap, or stocking each zone; it is different each time. After a while you get the hang of everything so it isn't bad at all. Working Main Street does give you crazy hours because we are open an hour after park close so if the park is open until midnight, we are open until 1 A.M. and it takes about two hours to close, if everything gets done on time, if not you just stay later, but you get your time adjusted so its really not that big of a deal.

So far, I love working in my location. I work on the parade route so I get to see Festival of Fantasy (if I work a day shift!) Main Street Electrical Parade, Wishes, and Celebrate the Magic so I love the energy and that the magic is so much more alive here.

Thats all for today, I just wanted to update you all on what is going on with me in the working factor of my College Program extension! If theres anything you would like me to write about don't hesitate to ask, and I will write all about it! 

Surprise… I'm Back!

After a busy couple of weeks, I realized that I haven't told anyone anything about what is happening to me.

First things first, I was selected to work in Darth's Mall, no not Darth Maul, Mall because it's his mall! I seriously had the best time of my life. I had so much fun working in a fast paced environment and I met the best cast members in the world, and even some of my best friends. I will admit, I had never seen Star Wars before that and it really made my appreciate it more. Working in a park is so different than working in a resort. The resorts are so slow, but working in a park you can feel the energy of guests and it really makes the experience there more than anything, I love it.

Here are some photos of the memories I made during Star Wars Weekends!

 

 

From taking goofy pictures in the stock room when we should all be stocking, to taking hour breaks, stuffing our faces with Darth Vader cupcakes, to bonding with my Froland girl, to yes even Star Wars movie nights with my Star Wars family, I wouldn't have traded this month in a half for anything in the world.

Goodbyes

As the Spring programs are coming quickly to an end, I came to the realization that I have not been documenting my program like I wished I was. So, I am going to write one blog post a week to document the rest of my program for the next four months.

I had to say goodbye to one of the sweetest girls that I worked with, Elizabeth last night. I never realized that when people said "The people you meet on your college program are the best people you'll ever meet" I also never realized that when they said the program is horrible because everyone leaves in the end.. this is true. Nathan had his last day of work the other day as well, so the Poly crew is getting smaller and smaller :(

Last night almost all of the Polynesian Kids went to IHOP for one last hooray, we always ended up at IHOP after long crazy night shifts, and tonight never failed.

I don't even know what I am doing?

Here is a photo of me saying goodbye to Elizabeth last night!

I am going to miss you Princess!

And I present to you the last Polynesian Selfie of all of us for the Spring 2014 Semester!

The greatest people you'll meet :)

One thing when you are on your program you will realize is that the people you work with, are the people you see more than anyone because really, we are always with each other. I am so blessed to have worked with these amazing people and I can't wait for the next four months that the Advantage kids have together :)

Traditions and What Not

Hey y'all! I know I have been really bad at keeping you guys updated but I will be sure to work on that! I am going to tell you all about my traditions class and some things that happened around that time..

I was supposed to have Traditions on the Thursday I arrived but unfortunately my paperwork didn't go through so I received a phone call while I was on the way to Trad with them saying I had to wait until I was cleared, I was very very upset.

So, I waited about 4 days and then I received a phone call from someone saying that they had my training schedule and they would see me the next day… when I hadn't had traditions yet. Needless to say I freaked out. Worst part is this all happened when I was at Magic Kingdom.

Worse, Disney University's phones were closed so I had to travel there myself. I went home got dressed in professional attire and made my way to Disney U, where I waited for about a hour to speak to someone about all this. Unfortunately there was a mix up and I never received a call that I could attend traditions. They told me they would call me the next day…. three days later I never heard anything back so I had to call again and they FINALLY gave me traditions.

But, Traditions is the best day of your life. I literally cried the whole 8 hours I was there. BUT LOOK AT THE WALLS I MEAN COME ON NOW ITS PERFECT.

We got to take a visit to the Magic Kingdom and learned a lot of things, I am not going to spoil it for anyone but it was amazing. 

The Boss even came and visited us, AND GAVE US OUR NAME TAGS.

Check In

Hey guys! I know I haven't been posting a lot but its because I am extremely busy, but I am going to write a post about check in day!

My roommates and I all met the night before (except for two of them!) and we were all so very excited. We ate at Uno Pizza with our families so we could all formally meet! I had actually met Caitlyn (photo on left) the Saturday before check in at Magic Kingdom! In the right photo there is Caitlyn, Kelsey, me, and Alli



The following morning we all met at the hotel at 6:45 AM and walked over to Vista Way! We got there around 6:55-7:00 AM. They started letting people through at about 7:15 AM. There we got our Program Guides!

And here is a selfie with all of us except for Alexis (we lost her at check in!)

After all that we got our housing ID's and our locations… and I am working at…

DISNEY'S POLYNESIAN RESORT!

I was so happy!

We then took a bus to casting!

Where we just did a bunch of paperwork and got our finger prints and our training schedule! 

After casting we went and moved into our apartment in Patterson! I will post pictures later! I am off to work right now, but I am going to make another post really soon about the next couple of days!

My Vacation

Hey y'all! I am officially all moved into my apartment! I am living in Patterson Court, which is beautiful let me tell you. I love it so much! The first few days have been crazy busy! But I am going to give you a breakdown of everything!

I had an amazing vacation before my trip and I got to hang out with a ton of my friends and family so that was amazing! I also rode Space Mountain for the first time… ever! (I know crazy!)

I saw Wishes with the Dream Lights on and they were AMAZING!

I also got to hang out with some amazing people, so I am just going to put my favorite picture below!



I had a ton of fun and I even got to meet some of my roommates while I was down in Disney for vacation, but I will talk all about that in my next post!

Goodbye North Carolina, Hello Florida!

Hey guys! Today is the day that I have been waiting for all my life.. TO MOVE TO FLORIDA. Although I didn't know exactly when this was going to happen, I knew it was going to happen sometime. Thankfully the DCP did that for me. I remember the day I got accepted I set my countdown to my arrival and it was over 100 days, which I was not cool with. But, the time sped by, and I am about to leave for Florida in a little less than two hours!

My Car All Packed! 

I literally did so much today. Normally, I would sleep in till at least ten or eleven so the day would go by faster, but I got up at 8 today. I had to finish packing, clean my car and vacuum it, pack up my car, go to the post office, donate my old clothes at good will, so see my grandparents, and go pick up lunch/dinner or as in my family we call it "Linner"!

We are leaving NC around four and we are going to drive to Jacksonville, Florida and crash there for a couple hours, then make our way to Disney! We normally drive the whole way through, but since we are leaving earlier we decided to make this our plan!

My super cute Disney Bags!

We are going to be getting up early tomorrow morning and finishing our drive to Orlando! We check into the Beach Club and I am so excited!

So, I will talk to you guys sometime before check in! But to keep updated with me you can follow me on the sites below!

Instagram: disn3yw0rld
Vine: disn3yw0rld
Twitter: www.twitter.com/disn3yw0rld
Tumblr: www.disn3yw0rld.tumblr.com

A Guide To DORMS

Monday night, I got an email from Disney inviting me to pre-register for housing. DORMS is a process that Disney Programs came up with and started using in the Fall 2013 Semester. Before DORMS you had to get to check in at early hours in the morning (hours before check in starts at 7:00 am) with all of your roommates to make sure you got the apartment you wanted! DORMS just makes life easier, and makes the check in process go by faster as well.

There is a short few day period to fill your information out, so don't forget to fill your paperwork out. :)

My roommates and I all live in different time zones, so it was hard to decide the best time to do the DORMS process together, so around 11:00 my time (Eastern) we all got on google chat and started the process. 

But most importantly… What exactly is DORMS?

DORMS stands for Disney Onsite Resident Management System, not actually dorms like in college. This is a site where you can request your roommates, but your apartment size and complex preferences, and put your vehicle information in, if you decide to bring a car!

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You will receive two emails back to back, and the first email you get is your temporary access code, which I am not going to post that email, but this is the official email that they send you.

Be sure to add disney.housing.no-reply@disneyparks.com to your address book to ensure delivery of your invitation to pre-register.

When getting this email, it tells you your temporary access code, and you roommate ID number, which you have to have in order to link your roommates together! One person has to be the leader and start the process first, and then link everyone together, so they need to know your roommate ID. I didn't have to input anyones roommate ID's because one of my roommates went ahead and did it for it, and it automatically synced to my list. 

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First off, we are going to start with the first thing you do in the DORMS Process. The first part of the DORMS process is the Participant Profile Page. 

In the Participant Profile Page you will be asked to put in you permanent address, your cell phone number,  listing an emergency contact, and you will select yes or no to: opting out of Disney housing, If ADA Housing is required to you, Married/Same Gender Domestic Partnership Housing Requested, and if over 21 if you would like to opt into alcohol prohibited housing, and lastly if you are bringing a vehicle. If you are bringing a vehicle, please have all your information with you!

For those bringing a vehicle (like me!) you also had to fill this out!

They ask for this now, so you can have your parking sticker issued to you during check-in. You must bring your car's registration, proof of insurance, and your U.S. Drivers Licence to get your parking sticker.

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The second part of of the DORMS Process is the Forms Pages. This is dedicated to completing all of the housing paperwork. Below is an excerpt from the Disney DORMS site saying what forms are filled out and a description of them.

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Next, the real important stuff. This part of the process is ROOMMATE PREFERENCES. 

You are able to link up to 7 roommates, with my arrival date some people who had a group of 8 people were unable to stick together, I don't know if it is just for my arrival, or all arrivals. 

"If you are choosing to select roommates, please select one person in your group to login and register for housing first. This person will need to know each person(s) roommate number (found in their registration email) as well as the complex and unit size preferences."

"Once the first person logs in and registers for housing, each linked person will receive a confirmation email to login and either complete their own registration by accepting the roommate match and housing preferences or break the match and reset their housing preferences."

The information below is VERY IMPORTANT:

"If someone selects to break the match, they will not be able to link to that same person(s) again. However, they will be able to link to other eligible participants from their arrival date."

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Next, almost just as important as Roommates, is Housing Preferences.

All the prices are listed above, for each complex and unit size. Not all apartments have certain unit sizes.

For example:

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After you have filled everything out, this page will pop up!

This is your on boarding pass, which needs to be printed, along with the other forms as well. To print the other forms you need to exit out of DORMS, and renter the site. On the top right corner there will a tab that says "Print All Forms" and then you print. I had trouble with this because mine kept printing blank pages, so I emailed DORMS Technical Support and they sent my forms to me in a PDF File!

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Now you are officially done with your housing registration! All you have to do is bring your printed paperwork, your I-9 Documents, and your car information (if bringing a car) to check-in and you are good to go!

For more information on DORMS you can visit the Disney Internships & Programs Blog Post on DORMS here.

I hope you have a magical day and I will see ya' real soon! :)