Hey all! I hope everyone had a safe and happy Halloween. I had to work, but Kris and I went to Mickey's Trick or Treat party the Tuesday before Halloween. It was very cool, and I absolutely recommend it to everyone! It is pretty expensive, but I think it's worth the money! Pretty much it's a trick or treat party where they have an exclusive Halloween parade, exclusive Halloween fireworks, candy stations, meet and greets with special characters and dance parties for the guests. Plus, if riding rides is your priority (it wasn't for us, because we were really interested in all of the stuff to do that isn't normally there), the lines were REALLY short. Like, Indy had a 10 minute wait most of the night. Plus you get TONS of really good candy! :) Kris and I dressed up like pirates, and it was super cute! We even rode Pirates of the Caribbean, so we could experience the ride as real pirates! (well, sorta). There were so many awesome costumes that people wore, some homemade, others store bought, but the good majority were Disney costumes, which I thought was really cool! There were some cool characters out like Lady Tremaine and the Ugly Stepsisters, Governor Ratcliffe, Hades and other cool villains that aren't normally out in the park. And they also had a dance party in Tomorrowland called Club Buzz, and another one in New Orleans Square called Club Skellington. Overall, the party was just a really cool experience. It's cool getting to do so many new things at a place you go to everyday.
Now, as if Thanksgiving wasn't even a thing, Disneyland is already in full swing for Christmas. The snow is on the castle, New Orleans is all decked out with its' Christmas decorations, even the Christmas Day parade is being taped tomorrow! But I am really excited for the Holiday's at Disneyland. They have some beautiful fireworks, and the holiday music on main street is always a nice change. I'm not, however, looking forward to working Christmas. I'm really glad that I'll be visiting Arizona for Thanksgiving. It's been a while since I've seen my family, and I really miss them a lot. Besides, nothing beats my family's holidays! The food is awesome, and we always have fun. :)
Working at Pizza Port has been pretty much the same. It's been pretty slow, though, so that's been new. I find that I actually like it busier, because the only thing that makes a shift go by slower is being bored. But I did just re-train to the Outdoor Vending carts in Tomorrowland. Tomorrow is my last day of training, so hopefully I'll be scheduled more out there. Being out on those carts is just so much nicer than being in a restaurant. The fresh air is a lot nicer than the hot stuffy restaurant, and you are responsible for your own success, whereas in the restaurant you have to depend on so many others to get the job done. If I run out of food or have a really long line, at least I know it's something that I did, and I can improve myself, but if you're depending on others, then the outcome is no longer in your control. I think I just need that control to feel secure in my work environment. So needless to say, having a change of scenery from what I've been stuck with for the past few months will be a welcome change.
Last week Kris took me to see The Beauty and the Beast musical in San Diego. It was a really good musical! There was a lot about the show that I really liked, and there were some parts that I didn't like as much, but overall I would say it was performed well. The musicians that they hired, however, were not professional union musicians and it really showed. There were a few parts where the Violin and French Horn stuck out like sore thumbs, so much so to make people in the audience turn to each other and ask "What the hell was that?" Yeah, it was that bad. Hopefully Disney learns its' lesson and hires professional musicians again. I mean, they hire professional actors! Musicians are just as important to the success of a show than they are.
I just found out from my roommates that as a thank you to the Cast Members of the Walt Disney Company and to celebrate the movie's huge success, Bob Iger is giving every employee a free copy of the Toy Story 3 DVD and Blu Ray combo pack. I thought that was worth mentioning, because company-wide free-be's NEVER happen. Like seriously, never! Disneyland alone employs 20,000 people, and Florida is far over twice as big as we are! That is some serious money they're shelling out right there. So needless to say, I am very excited to be a part of that. :)
As far as updates go, that's all I can really think of that's new with me. I hope this season is finding you in good health. I hope that everyone gets to spend their holiday's with someone they love. Goodbye for now.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
Happy Halloween everyone!
Hey guys! I hope everyone is doing well. I have been finding that I am getting more and more homesick. This round at the College Program has been significantly easier because I have Kris there to support me and comfort me when I find myself missing my family, but it's still difficult to be without them for so long. Work has been going pretty steady. Next week I will be cross-training to Tomorrowland ODV, where I will be doing what I did the last college program. It's kinda cool, because I'll know what I'm doing already, and it'll be pretty easy to catch on quickly. I'll let you guys know how that goes.
Tomorrow Kris and I will be going to Mickey's Trick or Treat Party at Disneyland. We're dressing up as pirates, so I'm excited for that. The College Program is also having a Halloween Party this Thursday, which I can use my costume for as well. Pretty much just going to go there for the free dinner, but it should still be fun.
Classes have been going pretty well so far. Marketing You has been very interesting. I made business cards, and I will learn how to write a resume, and other things to help me market myself in the business world. It's a very useful class. The Corporate Analysis class was the one that I was looking forward to becasue it's all about the Walt Disney Company, but it is actually a little more boring than I had though it would be. I had my midterm for that class today, and I think I did pretty well.
So far work has been pretty much the same. Lots of hard work, very fast paced, and annoying guests. I mean, there are some good guests, but honestly there are just so many bad ones, it's hard to reflect on the good. OH, and I also had an epiphany the other day: There is no word that is so awful as the word "Ranch". It is the WORST word ever. Just say it out loud. There is no attractive way of saying that word. The reason I found this out is because ranch not only happens to be the most popular salad dressing, but also a popular dip for pizza. So I literally hear that word about 50 times a day. Also, if you are a ranch fan and are 70% sure you're going to get ranch... just ask for it. Don't ask me to list the 6 salad dressings we have, just so that at the end of that spiel, you can blurt out the most offensive word ever created at me. That's just rude.
Soooo.... I think that's all I have for you for now. Again, I'll try to update more recently, but it's so weird how a month can go by without me writing a blog, and I won't even realize. Goodbye for now. :)
Tomorrow Kris and I will be going to Mickey's Trick or Treat Party at Disneyland. We're dressing up as pirates, so I'm excited for that. The College Program is also having a Halloween Party this Thursday, which I can use my costume for as well. Pretty much just going to go there for the free dinner, but it should still be fun.
Classes have been going pretty well so far. Marketing You has been very interesting. I made business cards, and I will learn how to write a resume, and other things to help me market myself in the business world. It's a very useful class. The Corporate Analysis class was the one that I was looking forward to becasue it's all about the Walt Disney Company, but it is actually a little more boring than I had though it would be. I had my midterm for that class today, and I think I did pretty well.
So far work has been pretty much the same. Lots of hard work, very fast paced, and annoying guests. I mean, there are some good guests, but honestly there are just so many bad ones, it's hard to reflect on the good. OH, and I also had an epiphany the other day: There is no word that is so awful as the word "Ranch". It is the WORST word ever. Just say it out loud. There is no attractive way of saying that word. The reason I found this out is because ranch not only happens to be the most popular salad dressing, but also a popular dip for pizza. So I literally hear that word about 50 times a day. Also, if you are a ranch fan and are 70% sure you're going to get ranch... just ask for it. Don't ask me to list the 6 salad dressings we have, just so that at the end of that spiel, you can blurt out the most offensive word ever created at me. That's just rude.
Soooo.... I think that's all I have for you for now. Again, I'll try to update more recently, but it's so weird how a month can go by without me writing a blog, and I won't even realize. Goodbye for now. :)
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
One month gone already!
Hey guys! So I have been awful about updating this blog, and I appologize to anyone (if there is anyone) reading this. When I came over here, I had planned on doing updates once or twice a week, and here I am a month into the program, and this is my second blog. Oh well, what can I say, I'm a busy woman trying to juggle a full classload, a full time job and a long distance relationship. It's not easy, but I'm managing with lots of help from Kris and the support of my family. :)
So one month working at Pizza Port has proved to be exactly what I anticipated: pretty crappy. I mean, it's an easier gig than ODV was; I've noticed that I don't come home as exhausted as I used to, but it's seriously just not a fun time. I've found out that it's an extremely busy location, so it's a pretty constant stream of stress, with very little down time. My coworkers are pretty chill, but I feel kind of left out because so many of them speak Spanish as their primary language, so I can be working with a couple people, but have nothing to contribute to their conversation because I don't speak or understand what their saying. That is slightly frustrating, and I feel that I have so much knowledge and leadership that I could provide for the company, doing a role that would involve me conversing more with guests, but I'm stuck behind a line of food, serving unappreciative guests who's only objective is to get their food fast and get out. Rarely do I get the opportunity to talk extensively to guests, but when I do get these chances, it puts me in such a better mood! I feel that my resources are being wasted in a Foods location where I hardly ever talk, except to ask, "What kind of salad dressing do you want," or to answer the question of where the utensils are or "Where's the nearest restroom". I feel that even when I was in ODV, I was at least able to answer questions about the park, and direct people to any ATM or bathroom their little heart desired. I could tell them where to get a hotdog, or a cream cheese pretzel, or a good burger (which doesn't exist in Disneyland, by the way), but here, people already know what they want, and they want it fast, with as little conversation as possible. I guess in short, it just makes me feel kind of useless and interchangable: a pawn. Just another hourly cast member with no particular specialty or quality to bring to the table.
Anywho, that's enough of me feeling sorry for myself. I believe that everything is for a reason; maybe I was meant to learn something from my experience in Pizza Port. Or maybe I was meant to hate it, so I would be pushed to pursue a career that would be more personally rewarding. Who knows.
So let's get to some good guest interactions, because the best stories are the extremely bad, and sometimes good guests.
1. (Good guest) I was working Pastas one day, and a lady asks for a kid's meal of spaghetti, but she made it explicitely clear that she didn't want any cheese on top. I asked if it was due to an allergy to the cheese, and she said yes, her daughter is allergic to dairy. I then told her about the meatballs having a cheese product in them, so I would be sure to give her the marinara sauce only, and leave out the meatballs. I really didn't think that this was out of the ordinary for a cast member to do, but the lady thanked me over and over for being so curteous as to be looking out for the guests so attentively. She seriously thanked me about 5 times, saying how much she appreciated my concern, and wished that all Cast Members were like me in that regard. Although I thought that it was a normal thing, I guess it meant a lot to her, so I was really glad that I could make her day that much better. It's the little things like that that really make a difference to someone's day.
2. (Bad Guest) So just so everyone knows this, Pastas is the busiest station by far, mostly because it takes so long to make a plate, where as with salads and pizza, you can make 7 salads, or 7 servings of pizza at once. So I was working Bev Tech, and I am filling the refridgerator of drinks, and the Pasta line is seriously backed up, but it was a dinner rush on a weekend, so it was nothing out of the ordinary. Anyway, the beverage case was getting low, so I go to fill it, and this lady in line for pasta looks right at me and pretty much yells, "Can't you guys put more people on this station, this is just ridiculous!"... I didn't have anything to say to this woman so I ignored her, and kept on going with my case of drinks. I really just can't justify ever treating someone like that. I understand that it sucks waiting in lines all day, but you're at Disneyland, for goodness sakes, this 5 minute line for pasta that you're waiting in is the shortest line you've waited in all day. I'm sorry, but when you come on a weekend, and you're sharing Disneyland with 50,000 other people, you're not going to be the only one hungry at 6pm. Just sayin.
3. (Cool experiences) I've seen Kyle Masey from Disney Channel's "That's So Raven" (And now from Dancing with the Stars), and I've also seen a Disney Channel Original Movie star (not sure which, though. lol), and the guys she was with were super nice, and famous (I think from a band or something, but they were definitely famous too, because people were asking for autographs and pictures with them). One of them came up to me and started making conversation about how I liked working at Disneyland and making pizzas. I kinda joked with him, but wasn't overly outgoing, although I wish I had been. I was just in a terrible mood, but I didn't realize that he was famous until after he walked away, how lame is that?? Just my luck. :P
4. (Dumb Guest) So I was working Pasta (and I'm just realizing that all of my notable stories are from this station... maybe I should avoid working at this one), and it was another one of those dinner rushes where the line is out the door for pasta, and I am dishing up the Countdown Chicken Fusilli, which is by far the most popular dish, mostly because the Alfredo Pesto sauce is the only white sauce pasta we offer. Anyway, I can almost guarentee that 60% of the people in line were waiting on that dish alone, but the line wasn't moving for a bit because someone was getting spaghetti farther down the line, and the guests still have that Elementary School mentality about buffeteria style, where jumping ahead in line is bad. Well in Pizza Port it's not, if the meal you are waiting for is ready, and no one is getting it. So I call out to the line that I have a Chicken Fusilli ready for whoever wants it. This disgusting white trash lady with about 5 kids (and who no doubt is getting this Disneyland vacation courtesy of her big fat Welfare checks) comes up, sticks her nose at that plate and says, "Yeah, if you think I'm going to be paying $9.50 for a plate that's been sitting here, getting cold for 5 minutes, you have another thing coming, Sweetheart" I respond with, "Ma'am, this is our most popular dish, there's no way you could wait in that line for 5 minutes and not have one person want this plate. I JUST put it out, and it's still steaming." Regardless, I could not convince her otherwise, so I made a "fresh", perfectly portioned plate (I always over portion my plates because I feel the guests pay enough for it, they should get their money's worth... so this plate had noticably less food on it), so that if she complained to a lead/manager, and they weighed it, I would not get in trouble, because it's the right size. She saw that the plates were different portions, so she says, "So it's gunna be like that, huh?" and grabs the bigger of the two... so obviously she couldn't have thought it was too old if it was worth being cold because it had more. Ugh, people like that just plain suck.
So yeah, that's my good guest stories for now. I'm sure I'll have plenty more to write about in the future. And I will really try to update more often. Goodbye for now. :)
So one month working at Pizza Port has proved to be exactly what I anticipated: pretty crappy. I mean, it's an easier gig than ODV was; I've noticed that I don't come home as exhausted as I used to, but it's seriously just not a fun time. I've found out that it's an extremely busy location, so it's a pretty constant stream of stress, with very little down time. My coworkers are pretty chill, but I feel kind of left out because so many of them speak Spanish as their primary language, so I can be working with a couple people, but have nothing to contribute to their conversation because I don't speak or understand what their saying. That is slightly frustrating, and I feel that I have so much knowledge and leadership that I could provide for the company, doing a role that would involve me conversing more with guests, but I'm stuck behind a line of food, serving unappreciative guests who's only objective is to get their food fast and get out. Rarely do I get the opportunity to talk extensively to guests, but when I do get these chances, it puts me in such a better mood! I feel that my resources are being wasted in a Foods location where I hardly ever talk, except to ask, "What kind of salad dressing do you want," or to answer the question of where the utensils are or "Where's the nearest restroom". I feel that even when I was in ODV, I was at least able to answer questions about the park, and direct people to any ATM or bathroom their little heart desired. I could tell them where to get a hotdog, or a cream cheese pretzel, or a good burger (which doesn't exist in Disneyland, by the way), but here, people already know what they want, and they want it fast, with as little conversation as possible. I guess in short, it just makes me feel kind of useless and interchangable: a pawn. Just another hourly cast member with no particular specialty or quality to bring to the table.
Anywho, that's enough of me feeling sorry for myself. I believe that everything is for a reason; maybe I was meant to learn something from my experience in Pizza Port. Or maybe I was meant to hate it, so I would be pushed to pursue a career that would be more personally rewarding. Who knows.
So let's get to some good guest interactions, because the best stories are the extremely bad, and sometimes good guests.
1. (Good guest) I was working Pastas one day, and a lady asks for a kid's meal of spaghetti, but she made it explicitely clear that she didn't want any cheese on top. I asked if it was due to an allergy to the cheese, and she said yes, her daughter is allergic to dairy. I then told her about the meatballs having a cheese product in them, so I would be sure to give her the marinara sauce only, and leave out the meatballs. I really didn't think that this was out of the ordinary for a cast member to do, but the lady thanked me over and over for being so curteous as to be looking out for the guests so attentively. She seriously thanked me about 5 times, saying how much she appreciated my concern, and wished that all Cast Members were like me in that regard. Although I thought that it was a normal thing, I guess it meant a lot to her, so I was really glad that I could make her day that much better. It's the little things like that that really make a difference to someone's day.
2. (Bad Guest) So just so everyone knows this, Pastas is the busiest station by far, mostly because it takes so long to make a plate, where as with salads and pizza, you can make 7 salads, or 7 servings of pizza at once. So I was working Bev Tech, and I am filling the refridgerator of drinks, and the Pasta line is seriously backed up, but it was a dinner rush on a weekend, so it was nothing out of the ordinary. Anyway, the beverage case was getting low, so I go to fill it, and this lady in line for pasta looks right at me and pretty much yells, "Can't you guys put more people on this station, this is just ridiculous!"... I didn't have anything to say to this woman so I ignored her, and kept on going with my case of drinks. I really just can't justify ever treating someone like that. I understand that it sucks waiting in lines all day, but you're at Disneyland, for goodness sakes, this 5 minute line for pasta that you're waiting in is the shortest line you've waited in all day. I'm sorry, but when you come on a weekend, and you're sharing Disneyland with 50,000 other people, you're not going to be the only one hungry at 6pm. Just sayin.
3. (Cool experiences) I've seen Kyle Masey from Disney Channel's "That's So Raven" (And now from Dancing with the Stars), and I've also seen a Disney Channel Original Movie star (not sure which, though. lol), and the guys she was with were super nice, and famous (I think from a band or something, but they were definitely famous too, because people were asking for autographs and pictures with them). One of them came up to me and started making conversation about how I liked working at Disneyland and making pizzas. I kinda joked with him, but wasn't overly outgoing, although I wish I had been. I was just in a terrible mood, but I didn't realize that he was famous until after he walked away, how lame is that?? Just my luck. :P
4. (Dumb Guest) So I was working Pasta (and I'm just realizing that all of my notable stories are from this station... maybe I should avoid working at this one), and it was another one of those dinner rushes where the line is out the door for pasta, and I am dishing up the Countdown Chicken Fusilli, which is by far the most popular dish, mostly because the Alfredo Pesto sauce is the only white sauce pasta we offer. Anyway, I can almost guarentee that 60% of the people in line were waiting on that dish alone, but the line wasn't moving for a bit because someone was getting spaghetti farther down the line, and the guests still have that Elementary School mentality about buffeteria style, where jumping ahead in line is bad. Well in Pizza Port it's not, if the meal you are waiting for is ready, and no one is getting it. So I call out to the line that I have a Chicken Fusilli ready for whoever wants it. This disgusting white trash lady with about 5 kids (and who no doubt is getting this Disneyland vacation courtesy of her big fat Welfare checks) comes up, sticks her nose at that plate and says, "Yeah, if you think I'm going to be paying $9.50 for a plate that's been sitting here, getting cold for 5 minutes, you have another thing coming, Sweetheart" I respond with, "Ma'am, this is our most popular dish, there's no way you could wait in that line for 5 minutes and not have one person want this plate. I JUST put it out, and it's still steaming." Regardless, I could not convince her otherwise, so I made a "fresh", perfectly portioned plate (I always over portion my plates because I feel the guests pay enough for it, they should get their money's worth... so this plate had noticably less food on it), so that if she complained to a lead/manager, and they weighed it, I would not get in trouble, because it's the right size. She saw that the plates were different portions, so she says, "So it's gunna be like that, huh?" and grabs the bigger of the two... so obviously she couldn't have thought it was too old if it was worth being cold because it had more. Ugh, people like that just plain suck.
So yeah, that's my good guest stories for now. I'm sure I'll have plenty more to write about in the future. And I will really try to update more often. Goodbye for now. :)
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Welcome to Sunny Southern California
Hey guys! So ever since I moved back to Arizona last year, I was looking for a way to move back. I really missed Kris, and long distance relationships are not terrible, but definitely not easy. So I decided to move back and work for Disney again. I moved back August 18th. I got a one bedroom apartment, and I share that with 2 other girls (there's a bunkbed, but thank God I got the twin bed). My roommates are very nice, Hannah works as a cashier in The Stage Door Cafe, and Laurie works in merchandise in The Emporium. I am a Host in Red Rocket's Pizza Port. So far I don't love my job, but it would be a rare thing to find an entry level job at Disneyland that is amazing.
My first week here I went to Traditions, which is where they teach us the history and details of the Walt Disney Company. It's pretty much just 8 hours of sitting in an auditorium and listening to people talk about Disney. It's nice that it's a full paid day of work for doing basically nothing, but it's also extremely boring. I met some really great people so far, and I think that this round at the Disney College Program is going to be pretty awesome.
Training went well. We only had 3 days of training, which taught us the necessities of working at Pizza Port. We learned how to close the beverage island, which is called Bev Tech. We also learned how to close the pasta station, and how to make all of the salads, serve the pastas, and cut the pizzas into 7 equal slices... it's easier said than done. I haven't been getting great hours so far, about 30 hours a week, but I should be getting more in the following weeks. I'll update in more detail later. Until then, I hope everyone that reads this is having a great begining of their school year, and life is treating you well. :)
My first week here I went to Traditions, which is where they teach us the history and details of the Walt Disney Company. It's pretty much just 8 hours of sitting in an auditorium and listening to people talk about Disney. It's nice that it's a full paid day of work for doing basically nothing, but it's also extremely boring. I met some really great people so far, and I think that this round at the Disney College Program is going to be pretty awesome.
Training went well. We only had 3 days of training, which taught us the necessities of working at Pizza Port. We learned how to close the beverage island, which is called Bev Tech. We also learned how to close the pasta station, and how to make all of the salads, serve the pastas, and cut the pizzas into 7 equal slices... it's easier said than done. I haven't been getting great hours so far, about 30 hours a week, but I should be getting more in the following weeks. I'll update in more detail later. Until then, I hope everyone that reads this is having a great begining of their school year, and life is treating you well. :)
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