My first day!

Hi Y'all!

I am excited to share with you, my friends, all about yesterday! What happened yesterday you might ask? My first day of on-the-job training! Woohoo! I'm so glad that the day finally come. I have been waiting for this day to come for so long. Although, I was nervous to get started. I tried not to have expectations for the first day because I knew that it would benefit my experience in the end. Soooo I didn't have expectations. I did, however, have high hopes for friendships that could blossom with my coworkers. This, for sure, was met. My training shift began at 14:00 (we run on military time here at Disney so technically 2PM) and would get off at 22:30 (10:30PM). Working 8.5 hours on the first day was quite overwhelming but I knew I could get through it. I'm a trooper. In order to set a good first impression, I arrived 30 minutes prior to the time my shift began. When I first arrived, I was told to wait until 15 minutes before the shift to clock-in. During this extra time, I met a few of my coworkers and my trainer for the day, Nicole from Puerto Rico! I also realized that my friend from New Zealand, Razhaan (pronounced Ray-jaughn), was being trained with me. Razhaan and I get along wonderfully and have fun together and that added a certain level of comfort to my first day. On this first day, Nicole taught us where to find the goods for restocking and also how to bus tables (quite self-explanatory). After she had gone over most of the knowledge we needed, business seemed to sky-rocket in the food court. Our leader for the night, Ms. Jill, came over and requested our trainer take over a cash-register to keep business moving. Razhaan and I had to go through the dining area cleaning off tables and restocking. Talking about quick-learning! I would be lying if I said I wasn't completely overwhelmed at the speed we were thrown into the job. I did take it as a complement that our leader had enough confidence in us to get started so quickly, though! After about 3 hours of working the dining area, the day was over and it was time for us to ask any final questions about the knowledge we had learned for the day. I didn't have any but I did have plenty of highlights to share with her. 

My first story I wished to share was about one of my guest interactions. An elderly couple and a family of 4 were sitting at one of our round tables chatting. When I walked past to clean a neighboring table, the elderly man stopped me and began chatting away. We talked about how he and his wife met while working for Disney and were now retirees of the company. We talked about how they met the family sharing this meal with them. We even talked about me and what brought me to Disney. I can't necessarily say there was one thing in particular that struck me as special in this conversation. The conversation itself was simply heartwarming. I learned about their story, and their love for Disney, and it was memorable. After telling this story to Nicole and Razhaan, I began my next one.

I was wiping down high-chairs when a woman came up to me telling me her son spilt all of his chocolate milk on the floor. I assured her would I would right back with more napkins to clean up the mess. After cleaning it up, I went to my trainer who was at the cash-register at the time, and explained to her the situation. I asked if I could get the little boy another Nesquik milk and she said yes. So, I grabbed a chocolate milk and made my way back to their table. When I gave it to the little boy, he looked so ecstatic and as if he didn't even know what to say. It was sweet to see how just one little thing such as a new chocolate milk could brighten his day. That concluded this story.

And of course, I have another story to tell. I was once again cleaning a table when I looked up to see a woman and her daughter looking at me and smiling. I was so confused because I wasn't sure if something was disheveled on my costume or they were just being friendly. After I cleaned up that table, I figured why not go say hi. So thats exactly what I did. I walked over to the table and said "well, hello y'all! How's it goin'?" The mom smiled at me and said, "Wonderful thank you!" I could tell they looked pretty exhausted from a day so I struck up a conversation asking "Did y'all go to the parks today?" The mom said, "Yes we did! It was so great. Today is our first day here so it was a great start." "That's wonderful to hear!" I exclaimed. I then noticed the mom had a tiara on her head but the daughter didn't. I pointed it out saying, "My goodness, I love your tiara! And you little miss priss, how come you don't have one?" And the pre-teen girl said, "I just don't really care to have one." I replied, "Do you atleast have Mickey ears?" And the girl stated, "Yep." "Whew!" I exclaimed, "I will say that it would be heaven on earth if I could get my mom to wear a tiara!" The mom laughed and said, "I wear it because it adds to me and also embarrasses her in the parks." With this statement, I laughed so hard. It sounded so typical of a mom and daughter relationship. It reminded me of the relationship I have with my mom and the fun times we have had together at Disney. To finish up our brief, and humorous interaction, I told the duo, "Well since it is your first day here, I am certain I'll be seeing y'all around! I'm lookin' forward to hearing all about y'alls vacation!" Even this slight interaction made me smile. 

 My experiences didn't end here though. I just simply enjoyed saying "Hey y'all!" to the guests entering the restaurant, or "I hope y'all have a wonderful evening!" to the guests leaving. Some would look so surprised that someone would recognize them, but also so happy to be recognized. I'm grateful that I can do this for people. I can give them a reason to smile and just make the experience even more personalized to them. 

After wrapping up our good stories, I told Nicole and Razhaan about my one embarrassing moment. I was restocking the condiment bar when a preteen aged girl came up to it looking for something. I said, "Hi there! How ya doin' today? Ya lookin' for something particular?" I was very surprised with the girls response. She looked up at me looking confused and a little unnerved and then ran away from the stand. I was so shocked that she just ran away. I assumed it was because maybe I had scared her or her mom needed her for something so I just went on with my job. After I told this story, Razhaan told me she also had an interaction with a little girl and that she had to show her all of the condiment bar because she didn't know English. The girl only spoke Portuguese! I laughed for soooo long about how I didn't even think about how maybe she didn't even speak English! This made the experience all the more embarrassingly hilarious. 

After sharing stories, our shift ended and we left for the day. I would say that my first day was a successful one. It was exhausting, educational, and well-worth the energy you put into it. If there is anything I learned from today, it is that the guests are always what matter. That is why I wanted to work for Disney, for the guests. You can meet so many different people and learn so much about other cultures just by cleaning tables for one evening. I would also that I learned its all in perspective. Many people say working quick-service food and beverage is awful or gross, but I'd say its rewarding. This role gives you a well-rounded objective to working with guests in multiple ways. You make the guests happy physically by feeding them, emotionally by reaching out to them, and mentally by giving them a place to relax. And for all of these reasons, I'm grateful to be doing what I'm doing and to be where I am! Heres to a semester of food and guests interaction! :)

All the big stuff!

Hello Friends!

I'm back! I feel like I have so much to tell y'all! Since I've last blogged I've begun this whole experience. To begin, every day here gets better and better. Never have I had an experience where I felt just right. I can already say that I feel like I belong here and it's only been 4 days (I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S BEEN 4 DAYS). Before I get all deep on you guys, I want to tell you about my first week! You will have to bear with me though because this will be the longest blog I write during my whole program!

To begin, I packed entirely too much stuff and I think it is solely due to the fact I didn't have a packing list (That probably would have been smart). Because of my surplus of belongings, loading my car on Saturday took close to an hour. It was like a puzzle trying to squeeze plastic bins and miscellaneous items into my trunk and back-seat. My grandfather helped me load my car and told me, "Aren't you going to be wearing a costume most of the time? Why do you need all of these clothes?" And my response: "You never know what you'll need." The what-ifs definitely controlled my packing. To give you an idea of my loaded down vehicle:

On Sunday January 11th at 8 AM, my mom and I left for the 8 hour drive to Orlando, FL. The drive was not terrible but I was extremely bored. My mom drove her own car so that she could drive back after move-in on Monday. To pass the time, I would listen to music. One of the funny moments on the ride over was when my mom and I got separated. We had planned to stop at the next rest stop to use the restroom and she would call me when she saw one (since she was in front of me). In perfect timing my mom called me to tell me of an upcoming rest stop. I had no idea she was calling me though because CSpire coverage decided to cut out. So while my mom is waiting at a rest stop for me, I'm driving ten miles ahead of her as if I didn't have a care in the world. Finally she got in touch with me and we met up at a McDonald's. It wasn't funny at the time because of how scared my mom was, but I can't help but laugh at my oblivious driving that I didn't even notice the rest stop. Oh well! Needless to say, after driving for 8 hours with a few restroom stops and a Panera lunch stop, we made it to Walt Disney World's All-Star Movies Resort. Mom and I got a room there for the night so that we could explore Downtown Disney and get MagicBands. Speaking of MagicBands, that was my first one and I am so so so excited about it! But any who, that evening, my mom and I wandered around DTD (Downtown Disney) shopping and goofing off. We had dinner at Wolfgang Puck's Grande Cafe as well. It was delicious! It just so happened that two of my roommates were at DTD that night and so I met them in Once Upon A Toy! That was the first time I had ever seen Anne in person and I could already tell I would love her! Marissa was also with her but I had met Marissa before. After our DTD adventures, my mom and I went back to the resort and crashed. The next day was going to be a long one! It was this first night in Orlando that I had the majority of my negative feelings. I felt scared, nervous, and uneasy about this experience I was beginning. I missed my grandparents more than anything and reality set in that I wouldn't see them for two months (they are visiting in March). I also realized that I was on my own now, away from every comfort zone I once had. My friends, my family, my bed, my university. All things were new. But it was these this reason that I remember wanting to attend the DCP. I wanted new opportunities, new friends, new experiences, new networks. My mom assured me that this is what I needed and that all things would work out in the end. And she was right. And so with that, I begin to feel better and look forward to what was in store.

Here are some pictures from that day:

The next day, Monday January 12th, Move-In day, has honestly been a blur! The excitement was overwhelming for sure. When we first arrived, I went to check-in with my roommates (or hopeful ones should I say). They gave us most of the information we would need for scheduling the week ahead including casting and training. Most importantly, I found out I would be working at Port Orleans French Quarter and that all of my hopeful roomies, actually became my roommates! (Shout out to Anne, Michele, Marissa, Amy, and Mollie!) It was definitely a perfect check-in. We had a break after check-in so me, my mom, and the roomies went to our apartment and unloaded a lot before we had to head to casting at 12:30. We were in a major hurry. I'm so thankful my mom came along to help!! At casting, we mainly did business paperwork as well as background-checks. Fairly simple stuff, and I got out before the rest of my roommates. After casting, I went back to the room where I had to drive my mommy to her car at All-Star Movies and kiss her goodbye. It was a pretty sad moment because I knew I would miss her. After, my roommate Mollie and I went and grabbed Chick-fil-a before heading back to the room. For dinner, all six of us roommates headed to Kona Cafe at Disney's Polynesian Resort for dinner. I had PanAsian Noodles and two Sangria (Talkin' about delicious). We had a photo shoot on the monorail leaving Polynesian heading to Magic Kingdom. That was hilarious. We later finished off the day by gifting our presents to one another. I got everyone matching tanks with our initials on them! All of them looked adorable on! That's about all for that day. Here are some pics from that fun day:

    

       

  

On Tuesday, January 13th, we stayed pretty chill. We had a housing meeting to cover housing rules that afternoon and also made a trip to the grocery store. We basically spent our life savings on day 2...Not joking. 

On Wednesday, January 14th, the roomies and I went to the local Orlando Outlets to go shopping (spending more life savings), went to the Port Orleans French Quarter to try the beignets, and traveled to watch Epcot's Illuminations at Disney's Boardwalk Resort (We couldn't get into Epcot until after Traditions). At the outlets, I got a super cute Vera Bradley lunch box to pack my work lunches in (I feel so grown-up!) At Boardwalk, I was extremely thirsty and was craving hot chocolate. I got lucky because the Boardwalk Bakery sold hot chocolate. Needless to say, I was a happy camper watching Illuminations with a warm cup of hot chocolate in my hands.

 

On Thursday, January 15th, I had TRADITIONS! It was by far, the best orientation I could have had. The leaders were phenomenal, my table was phenomenal, and the fact I'm working for Disney was/is beyond phenomenal. I consider all of Traditions to be top secret so I won't go into detail, but I will say that Disney knows how to treat their new employees right.

On Friday, January 16th, Anne, Michele, Amy, and I went park-hopping with our new Disney employee ID's! It was magical! We started in Epcot, made our way to Hollywood Studios, and lastly finished off in Magic Kingdom!

                  

Saturday, January 17th, I had my first day of training. It was a broad training strictly about how the company operates and our importance in its operation! We also went to the grocery store that evening (no pictures to commemorate that Walmart experience).

Training continued on Sunday as well. Sunday's training focused on my introduction into food and beverage. We learned a lot about food handling and the proper way of feeding our guests! Sunday night, the roomies and I had a spontaneous game of Disney HeadBanz just for kicks and giggles. Here are some funnies from our first round (Michele isn't shown because she was asleep):

                                     

Yesterday, Monday January 18th, I was off and had "Princess Day" with Anne. We went to Magic Kingdom for the day. We met Ariel, Gaston, Lady Tremaine with her daughters, the Fairy Godmother, and Peter Pan! I'd say it was pretty successful! One of my favorite times was eating Pecos Bill (so happy I finally ate it!). I got the BBQ Pork sandwich and put some of their absolutely delicious sautéed mushrooms and onions on it with lettuce and tomato. Talkin' about a good sandwich! To make the meal even more memorable, one of the cast members there brought us two free desserts just for being College Programers. It made my day. After meeting all of the famous people, Anne and I made our way down Main Street U.S.A. to Town Square to get our "I'm Celebrating" buttons that say "DCP 2015...Mae." So glad that we got them as souvenirs. When heading back to the apartment, Anne and I rode a boat to the Grand Floridian to walk around and do touristy things (just because we can!). I definitely think one of my favorite parts of being here is that there is no time crunch as if you were on vacation. I'm here on a 5 month vacation, and that my friends is still surreal. 

 

Today, Tuesday January 19th, I had my resort introduction training! It was fun because we were able to walk around both Riverside and French Quarter looking at all of the amenities and activities including a few rooms! One of my favorites was seeing Princess Tiana's Royal Rooms in Port Orleans Riverside Magnolia Bend. They were absolutely stunning. The story is that Princess Tiana had a sleepover with all of the princesses and each one of them left something in the room. You see things such as Cinderella's coat rack, Jasmine and Aladdin's magic carpet, and Prince Adam's (The Beast) foot stool. I have set a goal to stay there at least one night before leaving my DCP! After that training I got my costumes and made friends with a boy from Australia and a girl from New Zealand. I'm feeling pretty cute in my mustard. Tonight, we all decided to try on our costumes and spontaneously play just dance in them. We looked silly but also like really happy cast members. Later, we all (minus Marissa who had work all evening) went for food at Chipotle, Jimmy Johns, Wendys, and Ben & Jerry's (We all went different places haha). I got a milk shake from Ben & Jerry's and friends from Wendy's. Mollie and I finished off the night watching Sleeping Beauty until we fell asleep. A great day it was!

 

       

                               

It's the first time I've blogged.

Hi Friends!

So this blog is way over due (Probably should have written this first post a long time ago). But I assume that it is better late than never! But any who, my name is Maegan and I am from the deep south in the great ol' state of Alabama. I attend college at Southern Miss where I am proudly a Delta Gamma! Shout out to all of my DeeGee sisters! And thats enough about me. The reason for this blog, as you may notice, is to follow all of my experiences while on the Disney College Program. I plan to write about the various shenanigans my roomies and I get into, but also my awesome experiences as a Disney cast member. 

To begin, my story with the Disney College Program is fairly simple. I have always loved Disney, but never in a million years would I have thought I'd be working there. Needless to say, My journey all began in Spanish class with my dear friend Courtney. On the first day of class, our professor had us go around the room and expound on a few facts about ourself. So of course I had to say one of my favorite places is Disney World! Courtney, an excited, quirky kinda girl, pipes up, "OH MY GOSH, ARE YOU APPLYING TO THE DISNEY COLLEGE PROGRAM?" Taken aback by her enthusiasm, I laughed and replied, "I honestly never even thought about it." And in that moment, I knew something was in store and it certainly wasn't on that college campus. Fast forward through a few informational sessions with Courtney and I decided to apply in the beginning of September. 

The application process is when things become a little sticky. I spent the majority of my semester waiting on egg-shells for that very important acceptance email. As some may know, the DCP (abbreviation for the Disney College Program) has a 3 step application process beginning with the written application, followed by a web-based interview, and ending with a phone interview. I waited one day between my written application and my web-based interview. Following that, I waited two weeks to receive my email to schedule a phone interview. And to top it all off, I waited a whopping month for my beautiful acceptance email. And just for kicks and giggles, here is a picture of it for you!

After my acceptance I was over the moon. I couldn't believe it was actually happening. This experience had become something I was saying I was doing but honestly didn't know if I would follow through with it. There were many things that would hold me back, and I definitely had people give me every reason not to attend. Whether it be my scholarship, my distance, or my education, I heard it all. Despite this, I knew that only I could make this decision. I always play it safe in life and  to take this chance and do something this drastic would be a learning and growing experience. Taking this leap was not easy at first due to the debby-downers, but I gained my own confidence in my decision to attend the program when I prayed for the Lord's will in my life. It was clear to me. The Lord wanted to take me out of my comfort zone so he could work in my life in beautiful ways! And now after living here for two days (I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S BEEN TWO DAYS), I can already say it has been one of the best decisions of my life. 

To wrap it all up, I hope that you will continue to read my story here and hopefully become inspired to take chances in your life. Stay tuned to tomorrow (well, I guess later today since it's after midnight) and I will be giving the run-down on packing, check-in, casting, my roomies, and our first housing meeting! I look forward to sharing again!

Much love,

Mae ˚O˚