Birthday’s, For Our Guest, Cinderella Castle Suite! OH MY!

This will mostly be a photo dump of the past few days that I have been missing from my past posts. January 25 was my birthday and I spent the whole day in my ATS class but then I treated myself to a day to Magic Kingdom. My wonderful training group made this day so special and magical and even my parents surprised me with beautiful flowers and balloons and treats!

So last Saturday, January 27, Rodolfo and I started our afternoon at the Polynesian Resort. We checked out the resort and ordered a Lapu Lapu which is the big, beautiful pineapple rum drink! We checked out the pools and the lobby and the different buildings I could be staying in this week. After finishing our drink, we walked over to the Grand Floridian. You get to pass right by the Wedding Pavilion and we got to see a bride and groom! We then walked around the Grand Floridian a bit and headed to my favorite lounge to grab a drink! We got the two “Grand” inspired drinks and shared them.

After finishing those, we boarded the monorail and headed to the entrance of the Magic Kingdom. We started our MK Adventure in…..ADVENTURELAND! I rode many Jungle botes including Taylor’s last one! I got to see so many old friends working including TORY! She was one of my Jungle trainers!!

We had so many good Fastpasses, but the moment we were ready to use our Seven Dwarfs Mine Train it went down. So we used our Fastpasses instead at Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear. Oh! I forgot to mention that Dustin joined us around 6 after his shift at the Emporium.

We ended the night before the park closed so we could get back to the car before the mad rush of people also tried to leave. We just had such a magical time in MK and I even got this cute photo to celebrate my time in GR!

Yesterday, I had my final “dressy” training day called For Our Guest. It was less of a walk through of Magic Kingdom and more of a walk through of the transportation side of how our guests reach the MK. We visited Fort Wilderness, Poly, Grand Floridian, and the Contemporary! We made a stop at the TTC and I got to see a few parking familiar faces as well as stopping by the Lost and Found center at TTC. We discovered the many modes transportation that our guests use to get to us! We also got to visit City Hall and meet a few new faces within our line of business. We even got to lunch at Casey’s Corner! A rare treat for us!

 

After everything, we had heard little rumors about going to a surprise place but as hard as we tried not to get our hopes up, we couldn’t help but hope and dream to get to go to Cinderella Castle Suite. One of our own, Chelsea, threw us off the scent by telling us we *might* not get to go and *probably* won’t be able to because our group was so big. And we were all devastated. We couldn’t help but think even though it IS a magical moment, we still DREAMED of being able to experience the most magical moment of all.

AND……OUR DREAMS CAME TRUE! The last hour of our class, we DID get to visit the most magical suite of them all! So without further ado…my magical photos!

Day 4 in Plaid: Cast App Training

Day 4 in my training consisted of a pretty extensive look into My Disney Experience (MDX;the guest view) and Cast App (the CM view). A basic overview is the app where you control your itinerary including Fastpass+, hotel reservations, and wait times (as well as many other resources). Although I did learn a few things about MDX that I had no idea about, most of the interesting training took place in the Cast App side. This is just the cast member’s view of guest’s MDX, we can see modified fast passes, hotel reservations, managed magic bands, and much much more. It really helps us do our job!

I forgot to mention that I got my Plaid the other day! It fits SO perfectly and I can’t help but say how adorable I look! I’ve heard that some leaders can be pretty strict on your Disney Look in the Plaid so I’m hoping I got everything right and didn’t forget any part of it and it fits the right way.

Day 2 and 3 in Plaid: ATS and More

Day 2 at DU was another day of just a guest relations general overview. We explored the Hub much more in-depth, which is our Disney Internet, and found all the different ways we could use it as a resource! It has A LOT more information than I’ve ever given it credit for. But, it will also be home to a lot of the apps we will be using in GR that you don’t use anywhere else on property. So we got to have a crash course on the Hub and then did a fun scavenger hunt on where to find some common and not so common questions we will almost definitely run into while working in MK, we did some D-learning which is basically like interactive slideshows that do the teaching for the facilitator, and learned about one of the applications we will use to book dining reservations!

On Day 3 is where we started really getting into our hands-on training! Today and tomorrow is our ATS or Automated Ticketing System (if you haven’t noticed, Disney loves acronyms) and there is a LOT to remember. And for the most part, it’s all pretty straightforward so far, but there is just a ton of different options someone could want to do! And it’s our job to know the difference between all of them. So yeah, that’s going to take a bit of practice. It was cool to start the day off because we learned about the timeline of our ticketing! When Disneyland first opened, all of the tickets were weighted the same (so there was no A-D tickets until 1956) ad the E ticket was actually didn’t come until later on. Then when we built more parks in 1982, we introduced a multipark ticket! There was even a time when tickets included a photo of the guest to use as a security measure of not sharing tickets! It wasn’t until mid-90s that we switched to our current system (ATS) yep, we are STILL using that system! We then went into great detail of acceptable forms of payment and miscellaneous add ons to your vacation.

After our learning, we got to do “real-life” scenarios using ATS to print a paper ticket and also adding them to media like magic bands! There’s a lot to the system and i’m grateful we get two days to learn it all. There just doesn’t seem like enough time with all the different options and things that could go wrong!

But so far I am LOVING my training and the people I am training with! There are 5 of us total (Chelsea, Raevon, Katie, and Mohammed)! It’s like we were meant to train together because we all get along soooo well! I mean, there’s always that bond when you go through life milestones together and I think we were all just lucky that we have such a small group that we really get to know each other! And we are all heading to MK so it’s fun!

Day One in Plaid: Guest Relations Overview Day 1

As of today, I am officially in training for that Golden D pin and pretty Plaid vest! I have been searching the WordPress universe for months for something to prepare me for my next two weeks of training. But nobody documents their time in Guest Relations apparently. People going through the training could be super excited or not really into writing about their experience or some other reasons! So I am here to up the post quota!

So Day One: here it is.

I started off the day at 6:30am! TWO hours before my clock-in time, I had my business suit and heels laid out and my hair and makeup done and left the house by 7:40. I had my coffee in hand and I was getting SUPER excited driving to DU (Disney University). I wasn’t even tired even though I was on like 5 hours of sleep. Once I got to DU, I followed a small group of people into DU who either knew each other or made friends really fast. Either way, I walked in solo and waited behind the bffs group and they checked into the ladies handling the welcome wagon, they were checking into their day one class of Club 33!! AND they had GOLD NAMETAGS! I was sooo jealous. I want fun name tags! Anyway, back on track.

I was given my room number but still had about 15 minutes, so I decided to find the room and then maybe sneak a few pictures!

We had a small, “candle-lit dinner” size of class as my facilitator called it and we all started feeling like a GR Fam very quickly. Most of the class was a general overview of the role description and learning about a few in-depth details to our Disability Access Service (or DAS) pass and dealing with difficult situations. For the most part, I felt as if I could handle what is about to be thrown at me these next few months!

We had to read OG (operating guide) about the DAS and I would say that was the only part that made the day slow down, everything else we talked about was super interesting and I am just so excited to learn more about the role! We even got to learn a little bit about the history of the Guest Relations role and who the first GR cast member after Walt was and she has a window on DLR Mainstreet!

Tomorrow will bring even more overview of GR but more in-depth on the applications we will use as tools in our everyday tasks.

Oh and here is our GR Training Fam Photo:

Until tomorrow! TTFN, ta ta for now!

From Casting to Parking to Guest Relations

From Casting to Parking to Guest Relations: A Definitive Timeline.

This is a pretty long post, fair warning.

Today, I’m going to be talking about my journey from Point A to Point GR. For those of you who know me or keep up with my blog, it might seem like it was a super fast transition and comparatively, it definitely was a super fast transition from not being with the Company to being in Guest Relations. But a lot is considered when being offered a role in GR. So let’s start from the very beginning…

Around November 1: I had been eagerly looking for an hourly job posting on the Disney Careers page. The one that kept popping up consistently for months was Parking. So I applied. Why not? I have talked to two people who went into a parking interview and the interviewer placed them in attractions, so I decided I had a shot at that also! Plus, if that plan didn’t unfold, I felt as if I could handle Parking for 6 months until I could try to transfer somewhere else. I breezed through the web-based interview and scheduled my interview for as soon as possible.

By November 6: I had my interview with Cathy a Parking Leader from Magic Kingdom (on a TA in HR) and I went into the interview with my Merchandise and Jungle Cruise resume and she hired me almost on the spot; after asking a few Disney Look and availability questions. The interview was so fast and I couldn’t believe she offered me a job right then and there (almost unheard of, I now know). That same day I received my offer acceptance email and I accepted it right away. I won’t lie and say I wasn’t a teeny, tiny disappointed Attractions never came up in the interview, but I also knew that was a possibility and I just have to say I was more excited to just be back with the company!

Between then and Nov 13: I fit in my Onboarding meeting, which is a security and background check where they take fingerprints, photo for your blue ID, and fill out your paperwork. I also did my drug screening test, done if you are working in a safety critical role such as Attractions, Monorails, Busses, Parking mostly because the guests safety is directly in your control. And I also made my Safety Critical Physical appointment, which is just an overall physical to make sure you can see and hear and are physically fit to perform the role you were offered.

Nov 21: I went to my Traditions class at Disney University. It is the class that every single Disney Cast Member takes. I had them for both college programs and they were each about 4 hours. The one for part time was 8 hours (I have no idea why, because they fit the exact same information and tour into both the 4- and 8-hour). I received my Blue ID and name tag that day.

Somewhere between Nov 21 and Nov 26: I had my Welcome to Operations and Welcome to Park Operations class. They do sound the exact same, but each class was about 4 hours long and it was facilitated by the wonderful Jennifer. Just a quick overview, Welcome to Ops is a class about the 4 keys (in-depth), keeping yourself safe with your repetitive motion movements, and in case of general emergencies in the work place. Welcome to Park Ops is more in-depth customized by cast members working in various areas such as: transportation, parking, attractions, custodial, vacation planning, quick service, etc. So you learn about the everyday tasks involved with your specific role but the class is usually a group of about 20 or so various roles, my class was 4 people 2 in parking and 2 in quick service food and beverage.

My facilitator, Jennifer, introduced herself that she was finishing her year facilitating at Disney University but works Guest Relations in Animal Kingdom and she is also a Legacy Award winner. This is a special award to those who solely embody the traditions Walt Disney wanted passed on in his company. I pulled her aside during one of our breaks and asked if I could set up a meet and greet with her to pick her brain about getting into Guest Relations sometime in the future. She gave me her email and told me to email her my questions and although the meet and greet never came about, it was because we were both so opposite in schedule and she took care of all of my questions and more through our emails.

November 26 (a day off): I had been checking the internal job postings and saw a Guest Relations TA posted. Knowing nothing about the GR interview process, I asked Rodolfo to help me spruce up my resume, and I applied. Almost all GR Hosts or Hostesses are given a “trial run” through a TA or Temporary Assignment for a specific period of time to see if you can keep up with the every day tasks of GR with the possibility of extending and/or going full time. However, the TA becomes your role. You can pick up at your previous location, but you are solely scheduled shifts in your TA role.

December 1: I received an email asking me to schedule my interview for GR, I could choose between a phone interview or in-person interview. I felt as if an in-person interview is much better for someone living in the area because they can REALLY gage your personality and Disney Look. But the only two days available for the interview was when I was flying home to be with my family for the holidays. I called my mom who changed my flight for December 11 6pm and I schedule my interview for that same day at 11am. I should also note, I couldn’t believe my eyes seeing the email for me to schedule an interview. I felt my resume was strong but after years of job rejections, I couldn’t believe this one was pushing me through to an interview.

December 1-December 4: intensive Parking Training and Assemement to get signed off to be on my own for Parking.

Between December 1 and December 10: I reached out to everyone possible that I could think of for any preparation tips and interview tips. I had a pretty good idea what I was up against for my interview and I am thankful for those people who helped me get there!  I was confident, because I felt prepared. All those people I have networked within guest relations and management really helped me out in this department.

December 11: I was both incredibly excited for this day and incredibly nervous. I had my interview in the morning and I was flying home to be with my family for a week, later that night. But I took this day one step at a time. I woke up pretty early and just ran through some questions in my head. I got dressed in my red business suit (this was one of my business suits from my pageant days which I was SUPER thankful I had and it was tailored and fit beautifully). And Rodolfo gave me some last minute tips and wished me luck and I was on my way to kick booty at my interview. I talked to my mom the entire drive over to Casting and she calmed me down and helped me remember the goal. I went in about 10 minutes early and opened those beautiful Alice In Wonderland Doors. I checked-in and watched Mary Poppins for about 10 minutes while also taking in my surroundings. I love Casting. I love the electrical, static-y magic in the air of eager people looking to become Cast Members! I was called back with Ryan and we knocked our interview out of the parks!

After the interview I called my mom again and gave her a general overview and at that point I told her I felt confident but I was nervous so maybe my excitement didn’t translate in my interview, but it was out of my hands at that point (which she reminded me) and told me to put it in the back of my mind and just focus on the flight in front of me…she knew I hadn’t packed yet and so I went home to pack and tried not to focus too much on the negative of my interview. I guess I can’t say negative but I definitely doubted myself 50% of the time I looked back on my interview. I have this higher, goddess-like admiration for the Cast Members in GR because they are the elite, and I just didn’t know if my 30-minute interview showcased me in that light.

For the next week, I spent relaxing, quality time at home with my family and celebrated Christmas. It was lovely to get away from work and stress in Florida. For some reason, I could have swore Nathaniel mentioned we would hear within the week and I kept my phone ringer on the highest setting for about 2 weeks. I kept thinking “today’s the day” while I was home….(it wasn’t) and I was scared I had missed the call. At that point, I also didn’t have my voicemail set up and even if I missed the call, I would have no way to contact that person who called. So on my way to the airport, I set up my voicemail. I was so scared I would step on that plane, turn off my phone, and miss the phone call that could determine my fate. Well I didn’t need to worry, because I didn’t hear anything until December 23.

December 23: I received a phone call from a “407” number and I KNEW this was it. I was in the shower when the phone call went through and I had a new voicemail (bless Voicemail systems)! I listened to the voicemail and Nathaniel asked if I could call him back so we could talk about the feedback on my interview. I realized this could go either way and I called back (after dialing the wrong number the first time) and I prepared myself for the bad, just in case. But I didn’t need to! Not only was I accepted to the Bench but I was already offered a TA in Magic Kingdom (AHHHHHHHH WHAT?!)

Today: Now I am currently waiting for my email with my training details! I know I start my TA January 21, but I am not positive if my training will come before that date or during that day. Until then, I still work for Seaworld and MK Parking. And we will just have to be ever so patient until I find out my details. Luckily, the worst wait is over (and I cannot even complain because my wait was nothing compared to some people who are still on the bench). I cannot wait for the next chapter of my Disney Career and cannot believe that my dreams really are coming true! After looking back on my interview for parking, I now realize this is the way it was supposed to be. I wasn’t supposed to get accepted into attractions or merchandise this time around, and I really DO love parking. It’s a great job! But I had the motivation to aspire to be a Guest Relations cast member ever since I went into my Welcome to Ops class. And that all started with Parking. I am truly ever so grateful for my journey the last 2 months has brought me with the Company. And of course, pictures will be posted the moment I get my Plaid!

Until next time! TTFN.

Ta Ta for Now!

 

Regrets

There are many things in life that are worthwhile. For me, the personal growth through a blog is one of them. Self care is another. Between writing down my thoughts and taking mental health days away from work and people, I have been successful in my hopes to remain happy and healthy while living on my own in Orlando for the last 3 years (off and on). As 2017 comes to an end, I am reflecting back on my blog.

As this post is titled, there have been some posts in the past that I wish I could erase. But I feel as though it is not fair to myself or my blog to just simply delete part of my past. It has made me who I am today. And though I am struggling with myself on this decision to not delete any posts or sentences that remind me of the past, I am happy that I can always look back (should I choose to) and not remember only the happy but also remember the full extent of my time with the company.

There is also the major and main regret that I have with my blog: I only did one or two full, complete posts with my time at Jungle Cruise and Pirates of the Caribbean. I was extremely busy working 6 days during my second college program, but I feel as if that is not a good excuse. Looking back I really wish I would have blogged more about it. It is now only a memory of my last year and half in Adventureland, but I made very good friends at my time with Jungle. Without any one of them, I would not be thriving in Florida. I can say that with certainty. They are the ones who got me this far and I can’t imagine life without them now.

As I start the next chapter of my life within the Walt Disney Company, first with Magic Kingdom Parking and next with Magic Kingdom Guest Relations, I enjoy looking back to see where it all started. I have never more related to a quote before but here it is:

“Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we’re curious…and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”

Major News!!

This is the post I have been dying to write! I have accepted a TA (temporary assignment) in Guest Relations in Magic Kingdom! I still cannot believe this has happened. I am still in shock! I had just gotten home and showered when I noticed a missed call and voicemail. I have been waiting on this (407) number phone call and immediately assumed this was it. I listened to the voicemail and heard Nathaniel’s voice asking me to call him back for feedback on my interview for Guest Relations. I wrote down the number and called him back immediately, after realizing I dialed the wrong number the first time, I quickly rechecked the number and slowly dialed the RIGHT number this time. Nathaniel answered and I had no feelings, I was pretty numb trying to feel out the conversation. He kept his voice calm and professional, I had no idea what to expect, but I mentally prepared myself in case it was bad news.

He started out by asking me how I felt about my interview. I confessed that I felt confident in my answers, but felt as if I was nervous and didn’t let my excitement shine through. He quickly disagreed and mentioned how he really enjoyed me stating how much I really liked parking and that it stood out to him! He also mentioned how he liked how much of a diverse Disney background I possessed being in Merchandise in Epcot, Jungle Cruise in MK, and Parking in MK. He then said the words I had been waiting for. That he was happy to announce that I have been accepted into the GR Bench. To put in terms most people understand, I had been put on the list of possible people to be pulled from and could be placed in a park/Disney Springs. I could be pulled at any time from the list and I know people who have been on the list for months. BUT IT GOT BETTER. Nathaniel then asked me if I was ready for the next thing. I said, Yes. Not daring to get my hopes up. He then casually mentioned that I have been pulled for a TA Guest Relations in Magic Kingdom if I would like to accept. I ACCEPTED RIGHT THEN AND THERE! Because DUH! I LOVE Magic Kingdom! It’s been my home since Summer 2016! And I am going back into the park and I am so happy!

So of course I called all my family and friends who have been there supporting me from the start. I STILL cannot believe this is happening. My TA starts January 21 (so soon) and I believe I have training before that. I am just waiting on an email to give me the official details of my training! And will be even more excited when I get the details because that means everything will be official. I am so happy I cannot express it in just a blog post!

So until that email arrives, I am still officially in Parking which I picked up a nice short shift today because duh, overtime pay! So I am working 16 days straight and killing it.

Well I am off to get ready for my shift! TTFN, Ta-ta for now!

‘Tis the Season

‘Tis the season for Disney to have their holiday decorations up and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party in full swing. And with the holidays come guests. LOTS of guests. So Disney is preparing appropriate defense mechanisms by hiring from within their ranks to fulfill the needs. So once again…..

I did something crazy and I applied for a PT TA in GR. For those of you who don’t speak Disney acronyms: that is a part time temporary assignment in guest relations.

!!!!!!

And I got an interview. My interview is scheduled for December 11 at 11:30 am and boy am I nervous as can be.

As I didn’t truly believe I would make it to the next step, you can imagine my astonishment when I read the email confirming my next step was to schedule an interview.

I have already been reaching out to people for help and advice on how to nail this interview, because honestly this is what I came for. This is where my talent lies. I can rock guest relations and this is my chance to shine through and show them I can. Okay, that was super cheesy. But to be honest, I have always looked at GR as a foreign concept to me and something I could never take on. But after working for Seaworld GR, I feel as if this is my next step in the world.

I’m trying not to get my hopes up, but at the same time I am trying to believe in myself , which is a hard line to toe. I’ve known so many people in Guest Relations and they did their job well and loved it. Now it’s my turn!

---

I’ve had this post on hold for awhile hoping to write more about my interview and my feedback from the interview. So let’s start with the interview!

On Monday, December 11 at 11:30 I was sitting in casting once again, one of the few who were in interview business attire and wearing a name tag. At casting, the only people who get to wear the name tags are the people currently employed by Disney, which seems like a no brainer, but usually once you are a part of the company, you have very few reasons to return to casting because most of the internal promotions and transfers are done online and with your managers. Guest relations is not one of them. I checked into the front desk and sat down with a handful of others who had no nametags while Monster’s Inc. was playing on the TV screens (during my initial company interview it was Mary Poppins).

After a few people came down the long hallway and checked into the front desk to see who had checked in to their interviews, they called our names. “They” referring to our interviewers! And I definitely recognized a familiar face. The person who called me was Nathaniel, 2016 Walt Disney World Ambassador and current Guest Relations of the Magic Kingdom. I followed Nathaniel and another guy who I guessed I would be interviewing alongside for the GR job. Which was really weird and cannot imagine why they set up the interview like this. Besides Nathaniel, Nona and Francesca were my other two interviewers. And the name of the person I was interviewing with was Ryan.

First, the interviewers introduced themselves giving very brief information. They gave us a rundown how the interview would take place and then start asking us questions. I went into the interview thinking they would have 2 interviewees asking one a question and then asking a different question to the other. But they said we would both get a chance to answer all the questions which made me feel like it was a fair fight. Then they started with Ryan, asking him to tell them about himself and why he wants to do guest relations. The other questions were:

1. Talk about a loss to win guest recovery.
2. what is the “GR role” to you?
3. Do you feel like technology is important?
4. Tell me about a time when you partnered with another line of business.
5. Do you have any questions for us?

I feel like both Ryan and I answered the questions fairly well to the best of our ability. But now the wait has been agonizing. I mean, the good news is I will always have parking to comfort me at night, but to be placed on the Guest Relations Bench would be a dream come true. A dream I had no idea I was in reach of. But I am also concerned if I don’t impress them this time, how can I possibly go through all of this again. What if in their minds, you only get one shot at this? These are just the negative things going through my brain as I wait for that fated phone call! I keep hoping “today is the day” but so far it looks like Monday might be my shining day. Hopefully. The good news is that I felt confident and ready to take on the role of Guest Relations, let’s just hope the interviewers felt the same way!