Sunnys Days Of Disney: CM

Showing posts with label CM. Show all posts

Friday, August 5, 2016

As many time as people have tried to convince me otherwise, The Sassagoula River Cruise is no longer part of Recreation, it does belong to the Transportation line of business. So, I got to go through Welcome To Transportation. When I first looked at my schedule, I was so confused, because Welcome to Trans was 7+ hours, whereas Welcome to Rec was 2. I assumed something must have gone wrong with my schedule... but no.

I walked into DU, asked about Welcome to Trans and one of my facilitators, Steve, was standing there, and greeted me with "It's our Recreation friend!"...what? So we get into the room and I realize, there are only 3 of us in the class and I'm the only female, so of course they knew who I was. This should be fun. It gets better. Both of the boys in the class with me are very young and very shy. I am not. I am a very loud person when I want to be, and so I think I ended up making them nervous. Oops.

We sat in the room for 5 minutes, got a new water bottle [Hallelujah, my old holder was so ratty] and immediately hopped up and got on a bus driven by a lovely woman named June. Mode of transportation number 1. We headed over to the TTC where the monorail was down [boo] for testing, which it always is, and we hoped on the Ferry Boat. There are 3 ferry's, and they can hold several hundred people at a time. The training for those captains take's about 6 months, so I consider myself lucky for not ending up there [even if they do get paid more].

Then we walked into Magic Kingdom [how I've missed it. I need to go back soon] and saw all of the old school car's that drive up and down it during the mornings. We walked into the theater, and then backstage, and just chitchatted about guest relations, etc.

After that we hopped on a bus over to Old Key West [where I have never actually been] and took the Sassagoula River Cruise up to Disney Springs. Hopped on the bus again and it was back to the TTC to talk to our COT and then lunch! After lunch we rode the Epcot loop of the Monorail, where our other facilitator, Ralph, assured us our driver was currently going through training [which no one wants to hear], Then we headed over to transportation costuming for the boys, and they told me I would have time to get my costume during my Day 1. I got to talk to June, who is just a sweetheart, and then they drove me by Sassagloula's office's so I would know where to go!

After that it was back to DU for fire safety training, and we were done! I was not nearly as painful as Welcome to Opps or Welcome to Rec, which are both very necessary but long classes full of video's and e-learning. I enjoyed the class, and I'm excited to get started with Sassagoula!

Thursday, August 4, 2016

Okay, the best news I have for ya'll is that it's all over. Moving out of CP housing and into an apartment in the area was more stressful than I ever could have imagined. Until just a couple days before we ended up moving, I actually thought we were going to be several days between moving out of CP housing and moving into our new apartment... but more on that latter.

We moved to a beautiful apartment complex in Kissimmee. As soon as we knew we were done with the Disney College Program, I started searching for apartments that would fit our criteria. There weren't as many as I had hoped. We have a 40 lb golden doodle that will be moving down next month, so we had to find a complex that would allow her to move in, along with someplace that has a porch/balcony and fit's within our budget. We narrowed it down to just a couple choice's, went and visited at the beginning of the month, and immediately decided to move into the complex we live in now.

Unfortunately, the agent who helped us was more than slightly unhelpful [And is now gone]. She insisted we would have to move in by July 15 at the latest, but our CP didn't end until the 28th. On top of that, my sister and I were out of town for most of the time between visiting and when they wanted us to move- that was a no go. So we went home, looked on their website, and saw they had an apartment that wasn't even going to be available until July 15. Then, when we got home from the Midwest, we saw another apartment becoming available on the 23th. So much for limited availability, huh?

We applied on July 15th to move in on July 23. Decided to wait a few days to call them so the background check and credit check could go through. Called on the 20th. No answer. Called on the 21st. "I can't help you, I'll have someone call you back." 22. 5 "Someone will call you back. 23. No answer. 24 - Sunday, office was closed. Now it's July 25, 2 days AFTER we were supposed to move in. Kallie [our roommate] and I went over to the apartment complex, only for them to tell us they couldn't see that our application had been approved or denied. We sat there for an hour and a half, refusing to leave until they figured it out. They found our approval, and like magic, we got the ball rolling.

I'm not going to lie; I was a nervous wreck. I was a complete and total bitch, I was rude to people, I was in full on panic mode. I don't do late. On time? That's late. Early. Early is good. So I spent the entire week in a fit of nervous rage, and it only settled once we actually made it into our apartment and had the keys in the door.

We had to be out of CP housing by 11am July 28. I had an am IST from 7:30-9:30. [Spoiler: we didn't get out on time]. I was supposed to work an afternoon shift that same day that I thankfully was able to give away. We couldn't move into our new apartment until after 2pm the same day. Our lease didn't come through to be e-signed until the morning we moved in. Once we finally got there, it took over an hour to get our fobs to work so we could get in the gates, and even then one of them ended up not working that night [mine] Everything was a mess. A meticulous planner's hell.

But it was worth it once we got into the apartment. We still don't have a couch [coming this week!] or a dinning room table [not here until labor day], and I'm sleeping on an air mattress until my bed gets here Labor Day weekend with my mom, but it's ours. Our apartment. No inspections. We can open the windows if we want. We can burn a candle. It's so lovely to be out of CP housing, because as much as I loved my CP, I did not love their housing.

Now we have the next month or so to get it set up how we want it, just in time for the rest of our stuff to get here and us to rearrange. I'm so excited, but for now I'm content to have a moment to breathe. So I'll sit on a pallet on the floor with a cup of coffee in front of the huge beautiful sliding glass doors in our living room, and I'll just take a moment to reflect. And when things get crazy again, and life picks up, hopefully I'll have the energy to meet it head on.

Thursday, July 14, 2016

Dumela! I am so sorry for dropping off the face of the Earth. Needless to say, I'm kicking myself more than you are, because I have so many things I forgot to write down. It hurts to think of all the memories that are slipping away even now.

A lot's happened since I last wrote. I got extended through the summer as a lifeguard. Animal Kingdom Lodge and Coronado Springs got divorced, which was a huge change. I'm the only CP that got statused at Coronado. I hardly ever worked there for the first month, I was constantly getting deployed, and I loved almost every place I got deployed to. I, along with all of our spring CP's, got denied for an extension through the fall. It was crushing. I can't tell you how many times I almost quit and went back to camp. Even now the mountains call to me every moment of every day. But I'm determined to make my dreams a reality, and to follow this through.

So I decided to stay in Orlando full time. Which is... wow, it's hard to make that kind of choice with so little time to follow through. My sister is staying with me as well, and our puppy Ginger will eventually be coming down. We've gone through a few potential roommates, and now we know for sure we're going to be living with another guard I work with, Kallie.

Trying to get a job is the worst part. As a CP, you can put in for a full time/part time transfer 6 weeks before the end of your program. I applied for Attractions and Resort Activities (CAC), which requires an interview to make sure you're an appropriate choice for the role. During my CAC interview, they asked me if I had an prior experience with children, and I nearly fell out of my seat laughing, since that's basically all I have experience with. There were no open positions in either of my chosen roles, so the wonderful recruiter who interviewed me helped me find a position that was open that I would be willing to take. I ended up accepting a part time job in watercraft at Sassagoula.

It's not something I ever would have imagined myself doing, but I'm excited about the upcoming opportunities. I'm always willing to try something new, and it's not lifeguarding! I'll be able to talk to people and get the guest interaction I came to Disney to get.

I will also be able to pick lifeguard shifts for the next 6 months as long as I continue IST. That being said, I can't rely just on a part time job. So last week I had an interview at Universal for an Attractions job. It went really well and she said that I (and my sister) had both been put through, but they want us to finish our program. So we go back next week to decide what we want to do.

I'll admit, I'm a little nervous. They interviewed me for a leadership position, which I had originally decided I didn't want to try for yet. I have no experience with working in a theme park, which I would like to do before working a leadership role there. Ultimately, if that's all they're willing to offer me, of course I'll take it, but I'd rather build up some experience first.

A lot of not work related things have happened in the last few months as well. For as big of a disappointment as my first set of roommates turned out to be, my second set more than made of for it. Mary, Jenna, and Courtney turned out to be some of my best friends on this program. I was heart broken when they went home, and I can't wait until they come back to visit. At first it was awkward, because I was so messed up from the weirdo's that were my first roommates, and because our schedules so often didn't line up. In fact, I didn't even meet Courtney for the first week. Eventually though, things got worked out and we became fast friends. It just goes to show that sometimes rando's are better than people you plan on living with.

We had terrible tragedies strike Orlando one after the other. Going to work after everything that happened got more and more difficult. Disney was amazing with the way they responded to things and offered their cast members any support they needed. But, inevitably, people will take their frustrations out on you. Guest interactions were intense for a few days, but it's amazing how short people's memories are...

I went home this last weekend. I'll do an entire post on my love of Chicago, but right now I'm just sort of overwhelmed. Coming back to CP housing was and is strange. I feel all sorts of out of place and in between adventures right now.I wasn't ready to leave the Midwest, but it's time for me to start something amazing.

At 24 years old, I'm finally starting to feel like a adult. Not a college kid, not a teenager playing grown up, but an actual adult. It's a scary feeling. Picking out an apartment, job hunting, and knowing this time I don't have anything to fall back on. A big part of me wants to run back home with my tail between my legs. How could I ever think I could move so far away from home and everyone I love. A significantly smaller, but infinitesimally more stubborn part of me is insisting I stick it out and work through the panic attacks and the anxiety. I can do this. I can live my dreams and my life without letting things get me down. I will do this.