Earning My Ears.....AND MORE!!!

So I HAVE OFFICIALLY EARNED MY EARS!! (Which means I'm not in training anymore) But even if you have worked for years you are always learning something!!! Its hard not to be able to pull the excuse of..'oh i'm sorry I'm still training'(while holding up the little red piece of fabric that is under my name tag) but everything is getting better, and what better way to learn!

As FOH (Front of the House) FSFB (Full Service Food & Beverage) there are three positions i'm doing..(well more likely just two of them because one - the assigner- is so stressful.) So far I have seater down!!!!!! I love being a seater because all I have to do is talk to people and tell them about Kouzzina!!( and of course seat them :P) Also seaters have to close the Front of the House which is really easy!! As a Greeter I'm still learning and to be honest it is one of the more stressful positions. There is a lot to do...You have to communicate with your Assigner, look at the availability sheet, tell people the RIGHT wait time, make sure you have them on a Call List in case they go outside....I HATE making people upset and as a Greeter it's our responsibility to get them checked in efficiently as possible!!...I guess it's not that bad,  its just i'm still learning and I get stressed when a lot of people come in at once!!! Oh and for any of you reading this..

STILL MAKE A RESERVATION FOR KOUZZINA!!!! hahahah it gets busy around 6 and 8 when people are most likely to eat. Oh and the PIZZA WINDOW!!!!! I feel confident now and it's actually fun but when it's slow IT'S SLOW -_- and working at the Pizza Window is soo long because it closes at 12....Anyway on the bright side, if I have a stressful day at work we have a sweet shop next door!!!!!


On Monday I was Greeter and it was very stressful..thank God the Managers are so nice and it wasn't busy because THEN we'd have a problem...So i went to Seashore Sweets and run to the bus stop... Unfortunately I was late but I and this other CP  got a ride from a wonderful women whose son is in the College Program!!  She gave us all these tips and places we needed to go to!!!!! She said look at these two sites... AllEars.net  and easywdw.com; she was wonderful and to top it off I didn't have work!!! What a wonderful day!!! Ride home!!!!! Ice cream Sundae!!! All my girls up!!!!! YAYAYAYYA

RELAXING!!!!

Oh wow.. I'M BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SO Here is what I have been doing with me free time so far!!!

Paddle boating!! Close to Chatham is something called Mickey's Retreat, exclusively for Cast Members!!1

Mickey Ears, first time at Magic Kingdom!!! 

Magic Kingdom with a friend from New Zealand!!! 

Show at Magic Kingdom!!

Clap Your Hands!!!!!

 Having fun!!!

Carousel at the Magic Kingdom 

Murals that are inside the Castle at Magic Kingdom

Even Mickey is tired after a long day of having fun!!!!!!!

ON THE JOB TRAINING!!!!!

OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ON THE JOB TRAINING FOR FSFB (Full Service Food and Beverage)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!! It was a bit nerve racking to meet new people and making a good impression but I LOVE WHERE I WORK!!!!!!!KOUZZINA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Everyone is so nice and helpful and Kouzzina's theme is Greek family and although...no one is greek we make up for it!!!! Kouzzina only has breakfast and dinner; so I started out on breakfast because its a bit slower and not too overwhelming as dinner. And guess what???? I GET TO TRY EVERYTHING ON THE MENU!!!!!LOVE TH MORNING CAST!!!! ( we aren't called employees, we are called cast members because we are putting on a show for the guest!)  I follow the cooks around and then they give me a little plate and I go to my little secret spot in the back and try it!!! They come plate after plate and its sooooo delicious :DDDD So I have 6 days of training and each day I shadow someone different. On Wednesday I shadowed a cook and a seater. For a whole hour I ate the breakfast food and thought I was going to combust. Knowing the food will help me describe it to the guest and studying the menu before I tasted it really helped!!! Afterwards I shadowed a seater and it's not hard at all!! You have to be confident and loud and know your tables!!!!!!  On Thursday I shadowed a Greeter and I was in the Pizza Window. Yes Kouzzina has a Pizza Window!!!! That was scary because I'm not very fast but I will learn!

I will be working FOH (front of the house). I will be a seater, greeter and eventually a assigner. A greeter is the one at the podium saying hello and asking how many are in the party and an assigner is the one who manages the tables and tells us wait times. It's easy you just have to always be confident, informative and of course smile :) Yesterday Friday Jan 18, was my first day working at night...I LOVE THE NIGHT STAFF!!!!!!!!!!! Everyone is so nice and it was great training with them! They embarrassed me a little bit ( all of a sudden one of the main chefs pulled me in front and I had to announce myself, more surprising then embarrassing lol ) THEN EVRDAY BEFORE WE OPEN AT NIGHT, everyone goes outside and does this little cheer! Of course I was pulled into the middle by one of my cast members but I didn't have to do anything so thank God! Then back inside!!!!! 

This time I ate all the dinner menu! I ATE FOR THREE HOURS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! omg I thought I was going die!!!!!!!! I WAS SO FULL!!!!!!! Everyone was like yeah you will get so full that you will be sick, and I hit that point very fast, OMG!!!!!! GAHHHHGAGAHHGAHHH...I actually wasn't able to try everything because it got busy but thats okay because I was so stuffed. I told one of my managers if I didn't come in today it was because I died of happiness. lol :P 

Around 8 I went to the bar and although I could only drink the smoothies and kiddy cocktails it nice to talk and ask so many questions; I learned so much about wine!!! It was cool and he was very nice!! It has been a great past 3 days (flown by so fast!!!!) and can't wait for tonight!!!!

FOH or Front of the House Costume 

Culinary Costume   

Sunday & Monday Relaxation

Hello!!! I"m back!!!!! On had two beautiful days off (Sunday and Monday) Visited EPCOT on day and HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS!!!! These are some of the photos! It's great getting into the parks for free!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Beautiful garden in EPCOT! 

Nice street mine act in Italy at EPCOT!!! 

Drum show!

Stunt man!

Got a hug from Winnie the Pooh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!    

First food I bought from Epcot!!! Pandas on the Sauce!

Youngling learn in the Jedi Academy to take on Darth Vadar!!!! 

If you look at the back, it looks like a city but its actually a wall! 

 Went on the Tower of Terror...I don't know how or why I went on it...Fun but NEVER AGAIN!!!!

Parade!!!! Gonna bang on the drum all day!!!!

FANTASTIC ENDING TO TWO WONDERFUL DAYS OFF!!!! A stunt show in Hollywood Studios!!!!

ORIENTATION!!!!!!

Sooo on Friday OMG MY TRAINING STARTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had Orientation which is basically just walking around and learning about the area you are working at and the history..IT WAS SO COOL!!! I work at the Boardwalk and I gotta say Im in love <3. I think the Boardwalk is like another side of Disney.....its very relaxing, quiet yet you can still have fun and its so beautiful walking along the lake and seeing all the restaurants and shops!!!!!! I'm seriously considering buying a book about the Boardwalk, there is so much history there! Taffy was invented there, and the Boardwalk was originally built to keep sand out of people's shoes. What is also cool is that the wood of the Boardwalk is so thick that they have to use a diamond cutter to cut it!!! Also the lake is called a Crescent Lake because from the sky its that shape!!!! Lastly the Boardwalk Inn has so much history and they even have it smell the way it would back in that time !!!! I was walking through the Resort and I feel in the love <33333 I wanted to work at a place that cares so much about their guests and everyone is soooooo happy :) It was an exhausting day but I was so excited to start official training!!!! One day down 6 more!!!!

P.s The Next day you go to a class and learn more about your role, general information and information that will help you in your role :P

P.s.s For the rest of my training I get to shadow people in the restaurant!!!!!!!!!!! CANT WAIT TIL TUESDAY!!!!!!

Traditions

Blue card I'm holding is my pass :) 

Im back!!!!!! It's been a wild and crazy last couple of days..wow can't believe its SUNDAY!!!!!! So where did I leave off?? Oh yes TRADITIONS!!!! Traditions for me where on Thursday (Jan 10) I can't tell you too much because I am the holder of magic now :D but Thursday was when we became officially part of the Disney Family. It is a day where you learn what being part of the team TRULY MEANS!!! It was such an exciting day and to top it off we got our passes into the park and our name tags!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I went with a friend in the evening to EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) and it was so awesome not having to pay....SURREAL!!!!! Overall it was a great day and Friday was even more exciting because that was the start of my ORIENTATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
P.s Depending on your job you get a different number of days of orientation/training, so I started right away!!!
P.s.s When I went to EPCOT I saw the most adorable couple ever!!!!! They were at least 70 years old and they were holding hands and had groom mickey and bride minnie hats on!!!!!! :DDDDDDD

Family Time

Tuesday Jan 8 -

So we had these last two days off and I gotta say it was the little moments that made the days! We are bonding nicely! So on Tuesday we had a nice relaxing day, we slept in and went to the grocery store. It was obvious after three minutes that we all had different agendas but alas we united in the end. We bought lots of frozen food and fresh ingredients from the deli. To be honest I think this is the best way to live during the Disney College Program, even if don't eat in everyday, its always good to have food in the fridge; it saves money and thats very important since we are not being paid yet. We had our first family dinner that night- bow tie pasta with marinara sauce and vegetables and we also had olive oil and Everything French Bread as an appetizer :) It was great bounding! My new family!

We also had a mini movie night, GAME OF THRONES!! and we had m&ms with popcorn!

  Okay now Tuesday night got a little crazy....apparently there are some international students living kitty corner to us... my roommates met one of them and we found out he's french! So all the girls went crazy because who doesn't when they find out a cute french guy is their neighbor? Eventually he came over and we talked for hours and were up until 4am -_- (we gotta enjoy the late nights while we can lol) His accent was so awesome!! and he was teaching us how to say phrases and words and he explained that the french 20 different ways of saying the same thing, and that IS SO AWESOME! and that their alphabet isn't letters its numbers.......it was a great night and we all CAN'T wait to meet his other roommates who are from New Zealand and Australia! 

Wednesday Jan 9 -

So this morning was fabulous! I went for a jog and got to see Chatman and the Commons apartment buildings! I have discovered that while I am here I love to be active and that's very important because you need to get in shape for our job (even if its just standing, get some LEG STRENGTH!!) and to be healthy in general is good :) Also we had omelets and got all dressed up for a beautiful day of shopping!!!! 

We did some fun shopping but also professional. We went to Payless and found some great work shoes! We also had a relaxing afternoon and lounged by the pool.  We also met some more neighbors and they brought the groceries and we had fajitas! Tonight we fought against the temptation of eating out and chicken is so cheap and beautiful delicious anyway so hooray!!!  :) AND IT'S SO EXCITING TO MEET NEW PEOPLE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

P.s Of course women in the kitchen and men eating the food. 

P.s.s Tomorrow we are starting something called Traditions. It's an very IMPORTANT DAY and we are going to learn all about our job. We have to get up early and dress professionally. I'm not exactly sure what its all about, but after tomorrow we are able to get our passes for the parks and perhaps our uniforms!!!!!! How am I going to sleep!!! 

Arrival Date Jan 7!!!

Today was check in day! This is my original four roommates and they are the sweetest girls ever! We got up at 6am to get in the lines because its first come first serve! The lines started moving at 7am and we were off! Today went basically like this...get in line, wait, shuffle, sign papers, go in another line, wait, shuffle, sign more papers......The first half of the morning  involved getting one of the many picture IDs,  confirming our names, addresses and birthdays and picking our apartments. There are three apartment complexes. The oldest and the original disney college apartment is called Vista Way, then Patterson, Chatham and the Commons. We planned to get Chatham but couldn't because there were no available rooms so we ended up with Patterson, which also includes another room, so 2 new roommates!!! ( They are so sweet :) and we shouldn't have worried)

Patterson Court in Little Bryan Lake, Orlando Florida 

Picture of where I sleep because thats not creepy!!

We also got to find out where we are working and I'm working at the Kouzzina Cafe on the Disney Boardwalk, (which is right at the edge of Epcot Park). This Cafe is owned by CAT CORA!!!!!!!!!! (one of the first woman iron chefs on the Food Network); and I found out that she visits and even cooks, so what a great surprise!!!!! That all ended at 10:30am and then we had to go to CASTING!!!!! Casting is where they get the more important info like I-9 forms, fingerprinting and background checks. Oh and because there are so many people they split up times for check in and casting, so MY casting started at 11:30am and ended around 2pm....It was sooooooooo long...when we first got there we literally stood in the same place for at least 30 minutes...but the great thing about that is I got to meet lots of new people!!!! Made new friends and even met identical twin sisters! At the end we got information on how to get to work and information about our Orientation and Training. I start Orientation on Friday and then my on the job training on Saturday. After that was over we had the rest of the day off (Thank Goodness..) So I hung about, ate food and got settled into my apartment. We are officially settled; with the Wifi working, kitchen all furnished and Tv set up :) What is also awesome is that -except for a mandatory housing event tomorrow- we have Tuesday and Wednesday off!!!!  So its time for an adventure!!!!!!!!! Its time to "Reach for the sky!" ~ Woody (Toy Story)

Twas the Night Before Disney......

Twas the night before disney,
and everyone was busy.
Clothes were amiss
and Mickey wanted a kiss,
But alas excitement filled the air!
It is quite a scare!
Being so close to a dream!
Being so close and yet so far!
So bizarre that the world should come to this-
an fantastic adventure,
in the sunny bliss
of Walt Disney World!!!!!!!

Just felt poetic tonight, I think i'm still in denial...OMG DISNEY TOMORROW!!!!!!! Right now I'm just feeling anxious, I don't know how i'm going to sleep..... But i'm really excited for tomorrow despite the fact I have to get up at 5am and be on a plane..ugh..but that's how life is! Today was a crazy day. I was running around and buying running shoes - literally- and trying to make sure I didn't forget everything. I was packing like a mad women today and I got soooo anxious; but 30 minutes later, with rearranging one bag twice, Im calm as a cucumber and thinking now what? NOW WHAT!!!!??????? Til tomorrow morning! And probably no one is going to read this at this hour but I don't really care since its my blog :D. Okay i DO CARE, its just i cant sleep and i'm really excited about tomorrow and happen to be really inspired! ill promise not to be so late and if you are reading this and its not Sunday yet, Bravo!! Well goodnight and sleep tight :) and remember, "If you can dream it, you can do it!"

P.s. Mickey and Minnie are just as excited!!!!