Park Audit for my Hospitality class.

Secret Shopper

“You're one with the mouse!”

“Stop pointing that way!”

“Why do you keep singing?”

My family was convinced I had been brainwashed when they came down to see me, and that after this program I'd never be the same again. And you know, it's true. Luckily, it's all for the best, because I've found that being here has instilled Disney's quality standards, imbued me with a second culture, and taught me how to carry myself-- professionally-- in front of others. But like all things, there are those good points and bad points, the latter of which become glaringly obvious when you know how this well-oiled machine should work. I realized that I had become a permanent secret shopper.

I chose Magic Kingdom because it's the iconic park that should uphold the tradition we were taught. It's where the magic is at!

I arrived just when the 3 o'clock was beginning, which is always a good way to start the day. Unbiasedly speaking, Magic's parade has nothing on Hollywood's Block Party Bash, but I'm not here to do an audit on the parades (I do that mentally anyway!). I've been trying to get my friend into Vinylmations and pins, so we stopped by Exposition Hall to buy her first Vinylmation. The cashier, a girl named Caitlin, did not really greet us-- she was more like an automated robot, ringing my friend up. Before we had come to the desk, she [Caitlin] had offered to open the Vinylmation box of the guest before us. The moment my friend pulled out her card for a discount, however, it's like the atmosphere changed. She didn't even offer to open my friend's box, and proceeded onto the next guest behind us, abruptly ending our interaction... what little of it there was. I pointed this out to Vero, my friend, as she painstakingly opened the Vinylmation box. Have you ever tried to manually open one of those things? It's government sealed!

We moved on to Toontown, which I hadn't been to for years! This time, however, we were hunting for pins. Well, I was... Vero was just tagging along. We entered the Hall of Fame tent there, where I found the most amazing Mickey shaped pretzel pin. Why is this exciting? Well, I spend most of my time holed up in the pretzel kitchen at work, slaving over pans and ovens. Yes. It's like Stockholm syndrome-- you don't want to like it, but you break. Eventually. Vero said I had to have it, so ignoring the price (and trying not to die on the inside because of it in comparison to my paycheck), I approached the cue and waited. Geoff, the cashier, didn't even look at me. He reached for what I was buying, rang it up, got frustrated when I took a little time to pull out my cards. Wow. I can understand Tragic Kingdom isn't what it's cut out to be when you're actually working there, but put a little effort forward when you're in Toontown-- everyone there is practically in strollers! No 'have a magical day!' No 'thank you.' Zero, zilch. He completely ignored my existence. Luckily on the way out – pin creeping, stage one! – Disney merchandise regained favor with Jeremy, who greeted both my friend and I and chatted with us about pins. He even gave us stickers! I've never gotten a Mickey sticker before-- I was pretty stoked about that.

That's when I demanded to go to Frontierland, because (weirdly enough) it's my favorite place. We got there just in time for the little jamboree that was going on, and while watching Breer Bear dance, I decided to go buy a pretzel (I told you! Stockholm!). I was crossing my fingers for a better response from these fellow ODFers. Now, I don't want to say I was setting myself up for failure, but... I set myself up for failure. Wes, the cast-member at the register, just barely acknowledged my existence (at least he looked me in the eye?), didn't smile, didn't call out the order, the whole deal. There were two other, younger, cast-members with him, who stood around doing absolutely nothing. They chatted in Spanish with one another and the girl was too busy adjusting her clothes to even greet me. Wes had to remind them to fill the order before they even started moving. I just wanted to smack my face and sigh. After I'd gotten my pretzel (which was not that good, it was time for that batch to be thrown out), we walked back to Fantasyland.

After trading for my amazing pin trade with Jeremy in Toontown, where I found the most awesome Kim Possible pin, Vero saw the light. She wanted to buy some pins of her own! However, it wasn't until I found the pin of all pins for her that she actually went and bought a pin for herself to trade. As we were walking by It's a Small World, I paused to glance at a cast-members pin pouch-- and there, sitting like the holy grail, was a giant Hades pin. Now, I like the god of the underworld just as much as any other person, but Vero is OBSESSED with him. That's her Disney boyfriend, I feel. So when I pointed it out to her, she lit up like the fourth of July. Kimi, the cast-member we were haranguing was VERY friendly in spite of the busy-ness of the ride she was having to direct traffic for. She even flipped her pouch around when Vero told her she'd 'be right back' as she ran off to buy a pin to trade with. That's when I lost her. She ran into Fantasyland, I ran to Frontierland, and it just all went to pot.

Running back to Kimi (because I could not bear to see my friends first trade go awry!), I sacrificed my beloved tangram Goofy for Hades and bolted back into Fantasyland in search of Vero. To no avail. I felt like a lost parent. I headed back to It's a Small World, and lo! Vero was there-- when she spotted me, I handed her the Hades pin... and she handed me my Goofy pin, which she had saved. I HAD to turn around to thank Kimi, who was just glad we had found each other again.

The pin debacle/triumph made us both hungry, so we headed over to Cosmic Rays for some much-needed grub. While there, we were met with the most amazing server, Ben, who was adorably enthusiastic. He sang to the birthdays princesses and pirates, chatted with us, asked us about our pins. He was just a really nice guy who, from beginning to end, made us feel like he was only talking to us. It was a nice little dinner, and a cast-member in custodial, his name was Craig, was even nice enough to take my tray for me. I thanked him profusely, because he really didn't need to do that; I hadn't even asked! I left Cosmic Rays with a smile, and headed back into Tomorrowland.

Now I had gotten my two merchandise cast-members under my belt, but this next story is just ridiculous. We stopped by a pin station (because Vero is now obsessed with pins), and as we were browsing the selection, there was a mother and child looking at a cast-member's selection of pins, debating on which to trade for. After a while, she tells the cast-member, Eian, that she'll be back, and her and her kid wandered away. In lieu of their departure, Eian muttered “No you won't. You never do.”

Wait. What?

I tried so hard not to laugh in disbelief. I still can't believe that it happened, but oh! did it. When I told Vero, the only thing she said was 'What if we weren't cast-members and we heard that? How would you feel?' And it's true. A part of me was sad about that, but also glad the mother didn't hear it. I can understand a cast-members disenfranchisement, but don't bring it onstage. That's just unprofessional.

We must have passed through Fantasyland a million times. That's where we pin-crept onto a custodial cast-member, Catherine (I believe!), who was earning her ears. She was pretty quiet, but enough joking around about pins, and she started to warm up to us. Cast-members in custodial are always some of the nicest people I've met. They're always really approachable and friendly, going out of their way to come up to guests that look a little lost and help them on their way. I had a cast-member in custodial offer to take a picture for my friend and I a few nights before. There was one drawing water Mickeys on the ground inside of Toontown-- now that was just plain cool! They're always an entertaining group.

Now, the last cast-member I'll mention is Stephanie, a woman working attractions at Splash Mountain. By this time, we had met up with two other friends, and were preparing to ride when my friend Kyle (half jokingly, half serious) asked the cast-member what the probability was that he was going to get wet on the ride. While I laughed behind my hand (it's SPLASH Mountain!), the cast-member was really rough and rather rude about her response. She told him that 'she had a line,' implying that we were holding it up by asking a question. The kicker is that that is a very legitimate question-- while we may have asked in jest, real guests ask in seriousness. She could have sent the guests around us, answered more courteously, done something better than passively imply that we were getting in her way. It didn't bother us, but had we been guests... how stupid would she have made us feel?

For every bad we experienced in Disney, we saw and heard good. There are cast-members out there that, in spite of their own feelings, continue to go above and beyond when they're working. They may be tied down herding guests into a ride, or in the busiest restaurant on site, but they continue to treat each guest as individuals-- to the best of their abilities. So those few that leave a bitter taste in your mouth, you have those who make you laugh, take time out of their day to talk and and get to know you. I had a lot of little moments like that yesterday. We're human, certainly, but we have to be superhuman when in the presence of guests. It's imperative that their experience – in spite of ours – is the best they get. It's Disney World... we need to make the magic happen!

Oasis Canteen and other musings.

Ahh, Dip Site-- a hell hole to end all hell holes-- had been closed for refurb for a while, and just opened back up about a week ago but under the name of Oasis Canteen. Funnel cakes are back, baby!

I still hate it there.

Unfortunately (or fortunately?), Cindy, one of the coordinators, put my name down as a reliable person to work there first. I'm touched that she thinks highly of me (Cindy is so hard to read, so her suggesting me to the managers is an honor), but Oasis is still a sinkhole. Good thing about it is that we're not making the funnel cakes, someone from culinary is. We just man the register, pour the soda, etc., etc.. They did away with the bottles we used to have, so now it's all fountain-- beer included. Ughhh, I hate draft beer. It wouldn't be such a problem if the run-off (because you have to let it run so it's not all foam) didn't go into a jug that's literally the size of a plastic spray bottle, so every 2-3 pours, you have to dump the run-off into the sink or it'll overflow and make a huge, sticky mess... which happened while I was in there. Not cool. Whose brilliant idea was it to use that instead of something a little more effective? Disney makes dollars, not sense.

On the topic of sense, they also put the drain at the front of the cart. Bad show, anyone? Now when we have to reload ice or drain the cart, Stocker 5 (ice person) has to maneuver themselves around the guests. Not to mention the streaks of water that trail from the cart. Sooo ugly... and stinky, occasionally. I'm praying that one day the managers' ideas make sense.

I've been stuck at Coffee Cart most of the past two weeks. Two-three weeks. That is my home. I was once known as Pretzel Kitchen girl and now I'm Coffee Cart girl. Foreverrr and alwaaaays!


00:00 means midnight, by the way. Goodbye, social life!

Definite difference between a manager and a leader.

Leaders don't call you at 9:24 in the morning when you're on your way to work to tell you you're late to a shift you're positive doesn't start until 10:30 A.M. Managers do, and they also switch your schedule first thing in the morning when you just checked it at 12 midnight earlier that day to make sure your shift said '10:30 - 17:00 - BACKLANDS.'

Thank you, Managers. Without you, there would be no stress in the world.

Thank you, ODF gods.

Praise be to the ODF gods, who upon knowing it was time to close Coffee Cart at 11 P.M. last night, broke the soda machines at 11:20, successfully stopping the mob of post-Fantasmic! guests, all wanting large Cokes and six cups of ice water per family.

Got out of work at 12:45 A.M. Got home at 1:23 A.M. Today: lather, rinse, repeat.

Cross-post.

We, the glamorous.

Propane.

The rest of Spring Break I was stuck at propane, the most God awful invention in the history of man. They're these gas ovens out at certain parts of the parks that sell hot dogs and soda. That's all. And let me tell you, when it gets hot in Florida, it gets hot. The propane wagon is made out of reflective metal, and when they station you out on Streets of America, where there is no shade and the sun is blazing down on top of you, it's like you're boiling along with the hot dogs in their little tin hot tubs. It's not dry heat, either, which I can deal with-- no, it's humid heat, and it's against policy to lean on anything. Even if you WERE to lean on something, you'd burn your skin right off. The wagon has to be at least above 160 degrees. So if the picture isn't clear enough, let me clarify: hot sun, reflective wagon, no shade.

It was like a tanning salon without the comfort of being able to escape when it gets to hot.

So I was at propane for a good long while during Spring Break. I mostly worked on Streets of America, where New York is, but I was also moved to the propane out in the Icon area-- which is nice because we DO have shade there as well as the High School Musical show to help us keep time, ha ha. Closing is ridiculously tedious though.

Strangely enough, after the first week of Spring Break rush, things started to die down. I heard it was because British Airlines went on strike, so a lot of our guests didn't make it to Orlando. Bizarre much? I'll have to ask Sam about that one.

Sometimes it got so boring at propane that we had to make fun for ourselves. My friend Brittany and I ended up actually bagging 'air' and trying to sell it to the guests. Some were amused, others just wanted their dogs and beer. Oh well. Guess that's how the cookie crumbles!

Or the bun, if you look at it that way.

Backlog on Spring Break

It's hard to keep up with this blog. I have so many unedited, unposted, but saved entries on it.

Work is work, as I always say. I always come home beat, my feet aching and tired.


Spring Break
I just narrowly survived the harrowing first week of Spring Break at work. It was... tough. Real tough. I don't know about the people in the stands, but I was stuck Backstage in the pretzel kitchen... the hellacious pretzel kitchen. They relocated it to Pizza Planet, where we have three different rooms: the prep room, the oven room, and then the freezer way back in Narnia. You'd think that the managers would have taken into consideration that the man usually positioned in pretzel kitchen has a bum leg, but do they? No. They're managers. Anyway, other than being enormous rooms, more to clean, and totally inconvenient, it went... went...

Well, I'm alive. That's saying something. I had two 13 hour day shifts in a row, and just about broke down on the second day from exhaustion after they extended me. I wanted to punch my managers. It seems that Spring Break is the only time they do any work, but also the time where they screw up schedules the most. I mean, who changes a schedule that goes into effect the next day when it's one of the busiest times of the year? How is that convenient-- or smart, for that matter? It's not. At all. Ugh. So basically, I had to come in an hour earlier my third day and stay two hours later when I had worked for 13 hours straight the day before. Thanks, guys. You all suck.

After my day off, which I spent napping and moving very little (as everything from my hips down was sore, sore, sore!), I went back to work in the Sunset zone (we have three zones, Sunset- the front of the park, Backlands- the... essential 'back' of the park [I like to think of it as the masculine area], and Icon- around the hat). I'm usually on Sunset, occasionally Icon, never Backlands. So anyway, I worked at Peevy's the entire day, a boring stand right next to Echo Lake with standing water that smells like a gerbil cage and cheetos fused. Sooo gross. I started missing the pretzel kitchen, which is borderline absurd. I was so happy when Densy came to close me. Oh, Densy, you crazy man, you. The first thing he did when he got to my stand wasn't to be an efficient closer, no. He came up behind me and undid my apron strings. Needless to say, I got him back by hurling a scoopful of ice at him when we got backstage. Closing Peevy's was fun-- not working there.

I did get to talk to a little boy that morning, though, who was waiting in line for Jedi Training Academy (my favorite show on the park; little kids get to fight Darth Vader). He asked me how old you had to be to be on 'this ride' and I knelt down and was like 'Well, how old are ya, buddy?' and he told me four, so I was like 'Perfect! You're old enough to learn how to use a lightsaber and fight Darth Vader-- you know he's been causing ALL sorts of trouble around here in Hollywood. We need a hero!' and he told me how he has two lightsabers at home and fights with his dad and how one was broken... so I told him he was a Jedi already and fighting Vader would be a piece of cake! It's so much fun talking to the little kids... when I left, I got to say 'May the force be with you!'

Dorky moments are the sweetest to me.

Remember the Pretzel Kitchen?

I sort of love it now. Really. Last week I worked in there for about three days with Luis, who is the most awesome full-timer at my job. Seriously! He's like my uncle; I adore him. So anyway, I was in there for three days straight, which was somewhat bizarre since I got practically zero guest interaction because of it. The first day I was in there, I had to work Fantasmic... and close. All by myself. Can you say terrifying? Luckily, Luis is just an absolute sweetheart and helped me clean and prep almost everything before he left, which was about two hours before I did. Then he told me to ask a manager about sending in someone to help me so that I wouldn't be by myself; after all, it was my first time closing. So Katherine, a friend of mine, helped me clean up... it wasn't bad at all. Everything was spotless by the time we had to leave.

The next day, I closed by myself. Thank goodness it wasn't Fantasmic, though, and I passed inspection, so that's good. Again, Luis helped out as much as he could before he left.

Day the third, I met Danielle, who is pretty much all flavors of awesome. It was an incredibly slow day, but to be a prelude to Spring Break. We were able to close about half an hour before we clocked out, and spent gigantic gaps of time between orders talking and goofing around in the kitchen. It was nice to be able to gab and talk to another girl at work, especially another CP. After Luis left us to close, we spent the next half an our skulking around the back dock, trying to find something to do. At least, I was-- Danielle decided to take her camera for pictures around the area for Fanatic Cards. Safe-D pictures, that is... which we weren't being in the least. I got into an ice fight with two coworkers while helping someone unload and recount their combo cart, and played hop-scotch on a tram as well as trying to jump on a trolley. It was one of those golden days before my break.

Cheer moms, Cheerleaders, Fantasmic, oh my!

The cheer uniforms just keep getting worse and worse. We had a cheer competition this weekend for young girls, and I swear to you, the girls in our High School Musical 3 performance wear more Disney appropriate clothes. I half wanted to ask half the little girls I saw where the rest of their clothes were. It made me just a little bit sad.

That aside, I opened Tip Board, a combo cart out by Sunset, today. Nothing really happened there. While we had a good amount of people in the park because Spring Break is starting, the cheer competition, and today is one of the only days to catch Fantasmic, it still wasn't as backed up as I expected. I'm assuming tomorrow will be somewhat worse, but I was never too many people deep while working at Tip (they usually get really busy, especially during the parade). A guy swung by to buy a coke and a Mickey bar at one point, and when I asked him how he was, he told me terrible. Surprised, I asked as to why, and he told me because Indiana Jones, his favorite show, was closed because of the cheerleaders. Then he also told me that Backlot, another favorite, it also closed (due to refurbishment) and that all and all, he was having a pretty crummy day. I decided to spoil the coke and ice cream for his birthday-- it was the least I could do. He looked truly surprised and as he took them, he told me that was the nicest thing that's happened to him all day. Then he purposefully looked at my name-tag and thanked me by name. It was a nice feeling.

After Tip, I worked at Hollywood Popcorn, which, thanks to a filler, wasn't at all bad since I had someone else working there with me. It kept me plenty entertained as guests filed back and forth. The motor in the popcorn machine decided to stop working about an hour in, however, which is incredibly inconvenient... and suddenly, when we had but a trickle of people, we suddenly had droves wanting popcorn. People truly want what they cannot have! Cindy, our zone coordinator, had Animation (another popcorn kiosk) make some for us, only when she brought the bag over, the motor had started up again, so we ended up with about four batches of popcorn. A mountain of popcorn. We could have SWAM in it, there was so much! Danielle and I almost did.

I spent my last hour at Rock Station, which is an awesome place. I keep meaning to write about it, but I never get the chance to. It's right next to the Rockin' Rollercoaster and plays Aerosmith all day long. By the way, Pink is one of my favorites of theirs-- and they play it! Anyway, while I was there, I performed a miracle... I made Cindy laugh! Apparently she doesn't do much of that, but as three high school kids came up to my window, the first asked 'How much is water?' I told him. Then he asked how much for soda; we told him. Then, for some weird reason, he asked which was cheaper, and I told him 'Well, the soda is, but it'll also give you a hardy helping of kidney stones down the road!' Cindy actually LAUGHED. I felt so good about myself!

While there, I was approached by a man and a little boy – who was darling and chub! - and the boy leaned against the counter and asked 'What kinda drinks do ya have?' I leaned down and told him, and as I landed on root beer, he shouted 'Root beer!' Then I told him that it could be upgraded to a root beer float. That's what he wanted a second later. His uncle – I thought he was his dad at first – said that he had five dollars and that they could share a root beer, but the boy was insistent. So I decided to spoil two root beer floats and told them that it was on me and that hopefully mom wouldn't mind! That's when the uncle told me he was the uncle, and then they both thanked me.

However, the boy's mother comes by later that evening to thank me herself for taking care of her brother, and that I'm a blessing... just wow. I guess her brother – the uncle – was somewhat, well, I don't know, he seemed completely capable to me, like nothing was wrong with him, but that she felt the need to thank me like that. It was incredible. There are the bad days, and then there are days like this that make up for them.

Popcorn and nuts.

Today wasn't so bad. It was slightly busier than norm, but considering we're on the cusp of Spring Break, it was like the trickle that will be the precursor to the inevitable bursting dam. I think what made today an all right day is that I wasn't by myself for the most part. It's weird-- for the past week or so, I've been working with mostly full-timers. Today when I got on the bus, it was with a bunch of ODF CPs. The experience was bizarre. There's such a difference between the staunch work ethic of the full-time crew and the flightiness of the college students. Being on that bus was like being amongst peers again, like I had escaped reality for a bit. I can't say it was enjoyable, but it was amusing.

I was at GMR Popcorn for the first half of the day. It was slow. Ridiculously slow. I think people forget that that stand is there, but apparently it's worse at Street combo which is, to put it simply, dead. By the way, have you ever changed and oil can? It's not as easy as the guys at work make it seem. Those cans are about five gallons, and considering I have a skin allergy with the oil they used... it was a nightmare trying to heave-ho that thing back onto the shelf. Anyway, I spent most of the day watching the High School Musical, which became much more fun when my filler, Gastina came in. I was glad to be out of there by break-time, though. Super glad!

The was a filler at Icon Nut until clock-out, which was fun because I worked with this 'Craig – Jamaica' character, whose REAL name is Jorge. Cindy, our zone coordinator was there, and because of the torrential rains from the day before, the water had leaked into the combo carts and had frozen the boxes over. She was using the poles that lock the cart to harpoon the boxes open again. Ice fishing for Mickey premiums, anyone?

A manager dropped by to poke about our freezers and misplace our lemonade display... then he wandered away to do whatever it is managers do. Mess up another schedule and piddle about, I'm sure.

So Jorge decides to 1199 – bathroom break, mind – and doesn't come back. Of course, I didn't realize this until Katheryn drops by to tell me she's my new filler. I just sort of stared at her and told her that Jorge was on register. It wasn't until we called in that we were told he had been changed to a stocker while taking his small break. Geez, way to keep on it, ODF. I would have taken orders all day under his name had I not been informed.

I was glad for the day to come to a close, simply because it was slow... but I have a long day to look forward to tomorrow, hooray! That said, I should probably get to bed.

Long day in ODF.

While I may hate my job and complain about it, I can't say I hate the people I work with. I can't hate people. Ever. There is such a great, under-appreciated group of people working in Outdoor Foods. Under-appreciated by their peers and by themselves, I think.

I saw my mom and brother when I was working a combo cart in front of Star Tours-- they came last Sunday, which didn't work out as well as I'd hoped. That was my first time dealing with a 'Lost Parent.' This little girl approached my cart with a card with her mother's number on it and asked to called. It was bizarre how prepared she seemed despite being lost. After I had dealt with her, a woman stepped up to order and she was surprisingly unhurried, but said 'You did good.' It was nice to be acknowledged by a guest when normally I'd be rebuffed because I'd 'been slow.'

The rest of the day was rough, and though I asked for early release to spend time with my family, I didn't get it. I know that Carlos, my zone coordinator, tried to get me an ER, but no one was biting. He tried, and that's all that mattered. I was grateful and in the end, he ended up tying up the loose ends of my job so that I could at least get out of work... even if it wasn't early. There was real sympathy in his eyes, and I appreciate that.

I had a rough day following the debacle that was Sunday. While I went into work with a high head, the day quickly wore on me. The only thing I really remember from that day is that I spoke with one of the full-timers, Karem; she's from Puerto Rico. And we just talked about food... and somehow, that made me happier.

The next day was the same deal. It started out good. I had to open one of the kiosks and when getting my pretzels for my area, I got to talk to Luis, this older guy that usually works in the pretzel kitchen. He's intimidating, walks with a limp, seems to always be in a foul mood... but he's always sweet to me and seemed real concerned over my well-being. He's like an uncle, real gentle and calls me mami. For some reason, that made my day. My friend Carlos (a different one from the above mentioned-- this one's Portuguese) walked me out to my kiosk and helped me set up. That made me happy; I really like Carlos. The day was relatively unhurried. However, it soon got tiresome as the day progressed and my coordinator forgot that I needed a break. I saw Luis periodically throughout the day when he had to deliver pretzels, and we would chat for a bit, but after the fourth or so hour, my feet were beginning to give out on me. While it wasn't busy, I was getting tired. I finally got my break at 3:40 when I'd been in that kiosk since about 10:30 that morning.

Later, I had to close Icon Nut... which is fine, but I'm notoriously slow at counting bottles and cleaning. I thought I'd never get out of work at a decent hour. After doing my counts, I went to the kitchen to clean the pans for the stand and saw Luis again, and he walked me through where I would clean and whatnot. I like him a lot, I really, truly do. He's such a nice man. Anyway, when I was finally done with all of that, I practically ran back onstage to my kiosk so that I could clean...

...but when I got there, the light was on, and my coordinator, Cindy, was cleaning the area for me. It was done, all of it. I was so speechless, I could have cried. She turned and said: "Well, I saw you put in for an ER and didn't get it, so..."

Thinking about it still brings tears to my eyes. God was at it again. Little things, small kindnesses. He knows me too well.

Yesterday was tough again... just because it was long. I asked for an ER, planning on heading out early so I could go to Wal-Mart. I'm literally out of food. By 5:30, however, I realized I wasn't going to get it. I felt like my insides were wilting. I was so tired, so very tired that I couldn't even keep the corners of my mouth up in a smile. It's terrible, really. I'm an awful liar and I couldn't even feign happiness for our guests. I just wanted to go home. I had to close a combo cart, which included counting and restocking, which I abhor because I'm so slow at it. The guy that helped me close (I don't know his real name because he wears a nametag that says 'Craig -- Jamaica' and he's clearly Hispanic), he'd helped me close before, and I was under the impression he hated me. He looks so serious, so mean. As we were getting ready to go, I asked about a Petco coupon and headband someone left behind, told him I'd feel bad if we threw it away. He laughed and asked if I had a pet.

I said yeah, a dog, to which he responded that I could use the headband as a collar and just use the Petco discount card. I laughed and told him the sparkly, green headband wouldn't exactly fit around my 95 lbs. Doberman's neck. He was surprised I had a Doberman-- apparently that's his favorite kind of dog. He told me how his aunt had two, she had to put them down, then we headed out on our way backstage.

We met up with another stocker and the three of us moved our carts backstage. On our way there, 'Craig' asked if I knew how much stock goes in the cart, and I told him no, I hadn't memorized it yet and that I'd never get out of work on time because of it. He told me the numbers and then let me take my cart in first. And I made it past the corner without crashing! THAT was a feat! He humored me by telling me I deserved a fanatic card.

Well, anyway, I went into the office to return my money and sort through my cards, then I had to plug a bunch of undocumented spoils into the machine I'd been using. Ugh, time consuming. When I FINALLY got outside for reload, my cart was gone... and around the corner, 'Craig' and another guy were doing the counts for my soda and reloading for me. I ran over to help, not without being stunned to silence, of course, and tried to get some work in. After I'd parked the carts, we were walking back and Craig said 'See? And you said you wouldn't get out on time.'

It was something like 7:49 P.M. Let me tell you what a feat that is. When I close, I usually have to stay 45 extra minutes afterward because of how slow I am. I don't even know what to say....

The people in ODF are wonderful. I love the people I work with, even if they're not aware of my respect for them. They need more than free hotdogs to commemorate their hard work, but that seems to be all management thinks they deserve. And what of management? I could care less for them; they hardly pull their weight and often mess up schedules. But the full-timers... they're amazing and blessings to us CPs, though a lot of us have yet to realize it.

Ketchup I.

Or rather, catch-up. The past two weeks have been hectic, so I'm trying to summarize what has happened to get back on my feet and then start over again.

The Friday following my first two days was with Steven, which was a change from what I had originally been scheduled to do. Since my schedule coincided with my class, I had to change it out so that my Thursday was free. Everything worked out, praise be, but my trainer seemed to want to do nothing with me. In fact, I don't know where he is normally, but I never see him around backstage, so perhaps he was a phantom!

I got to work at Dip Site with him, which was a relatively slow, all things considered-- I hadn't been certified for Responsible Vendor, however, so I had to get that done before I was set to work. Steven made training edgy. He was curt, disinterested, quiet. He wasn't terrible, but I think he was more interested in his iTouch and what was going on with Tiger Woods than to a trainee with a million questions. We had to close Dip Site, which, while not my first closing, was a bit of a nightmare as it was my first time cleaning a popcorn machine. Surprisingly enough, the popcorn machine gets a bad rap. It really wasn't that bad-- in fact, I found it therapeutic. It's tedious, yes, but it's a great way to wind down after a long day at work. I like Hollywood Studios, but it's a park that definitely caters to adults as well as kids, which makes it tough sometimes. Adults are difficult to deal with, especially when they stop being adults and turn into parents when they order beer. Big thing at Hollywood Studios: it isn't a dry sight. If you don't carry beer, you will get the most ridiculous pouts from adults unlike you've never seen!

I was nervous that my assessment was going to be the next day, but it wasn't. I had another training day to make up for my replaced day and that was with Denise as my trainer. I wasn't alone with day, either, which was a total plus. Bridget, another trainee, was there with me, and the three of us tackled Rock Station, Tip Board, and the dreaded Gertie's. Of the three, I preferred Rock Station because the atmosphere was really calm (also, Aerosmith over the loudspeakers? I was won over!). The Tip Board was a nightmare. It's a combo cart that sells soda and ice creams only and being outside, we're stuck with portable Matra systems. These are the portable registers, by the way. They function on radio waves, so half the time,they were slower than all get out. Being stuck at the front of the park with a line that's 20 people deep and a freezing Matra... is not fun. Everyone seems to want a fifty Mickey heads on a stick. I wanted one out of sweet vengeance.

The sad thing about those combo carts is that it was difficult even for three people-- they're usually manned by one person. I believe two people will be there during peak season, but otherwise it's a solo act.

We dropped by Gertie's at the end of the day, which is a tiny 3x3 (maybe!) room in the belly of this glorious beast:

Imagine three people packed in the belly of that beautiful, green creature, practically hurling waffle and sugar cones at soft-serve craving guests. Vanilla, soft-serve craving guests, who won't get their vanilla because the vanilla soft-serve is frozen solid.

This is an accurate depiction of what occurred in this situation.

What was that, Denise? We're closing Gertie's? Two un-eared trainees and a smart-mouthed trainer-- sounds like a delightful plan! So after Gertie the dinosaur closes her belly for the day, we stay back to clean her up. Remember how she's frozen solid? We have to wait for her to thaw out to actually get the blades out to clean... which involves one full-time: Carlos, a makeshift power-hose, and constant hot-water splashes. We had to MacGuyver that situation. What is that my dad always tells me? Improvise, adapt, overcome! Let sit for 20 minutes while we poke our heads into the Coffee Cart at the front of the park before leaving again. Fun, fun! Gertie's took about an extra hour and a half to actually close for the night, and when we got back to the back dock, we smelled like warm, watered-down milk. Not a pleasant scent, mind. Bridget was miserable-- she still wants to switch to merchandise. The likelihood of that is slim to none.

There's talk of shutting Gertie down permanently, and while I didn't enjoy my experience there, I'll be sad to see her go. After all, Gertie the dinosaur was a precursor to animated works-- they said she inspired Walt to create Mickey in the first place. I hope they keep her in the park, even if she closes for business.

It's hard remembering that I'm adult now and a whole 20 years old at that. I still think of myself as Mami and Papi's little girl, but I've come to the realization that I need to grow up. That I have and I haven't. I'm getting there, but there are stages I have to go through and steps I have to climb to get there. I'm beginning to understand where my parents are coming from, and how important it is for a crab to have its green shell. I have a new appreciation for what my mom and dad went through when I was growing up, of the sacrifices they made for our (my brother and I) benefit. It's amazing how much a person's eyes can open in just a couple of days, and to think they're not even fully opened yet.


I'll post again tomorrow of the fun times and moments I've had within the past two or so weeks, then hopefully I'll be able to go back to keeping a regular journal.

An amalgamation of training hell.

Let's play catch-up, shall we? This will be cross-posted into my family blog, Mickey Mouse Means...

I've literally been so busy that I haven't had time enough alone to even pick my nose. Wacky is an understatement, zany too. Anything synonymous with 'crazy' doesn't even cut it! This is whiplash in the most epic of proportions and the only acceptable response to all of it is 'whoa, what?' Needless to say, I've been whoa-what-ing a lot.

This entry is going to be epic, I think, and not epic in the sense that it's going to be awesome-- epic in the sense that it's going to be large and in charge! So let's get to it! I'm hoping that once I manage to hit a sort of level ground, I'll be able to update accordingly. Until then, here's a block post on what I've gone through!


Park Orientation
Saturday, Feb. 18, 2010

I'm stoked. Incredibly stoked. So stoked it's a little ridiculous. So I'm working outdoor foods at Hollywood Studios, formerly MGM. This is pretty much a dream come true for me. When I stepped onstage (as they say here at Disney), I felt a rush of wonder at how right everything felt. It was incredibly cold and cloudy and a pretty ugly day, but the park stood apart from that. 30s-40s inspired, playing swing and big band, stepping into the days when Disney was at large-- it was perfect. Not only that, but it was a geek's (i.e. me) paradise. Star Wars, the Animation Courtyard, Pixar Place, Power Rangers, even Alien is on the Great Movie Ride. It's like, hallo, I'm home!

I had a really great time wandering around my latest stomping ground. Towards the end of the tour, we all got our schedules and our costumes (once my camera works, I'll post a couple of pictures)-- I'm super happy with mine. It's pretty cute! Also, they played Prince while we were in Costuming. It's a sign!

It's all about the show and history and storytelling-- everything that's right up my alley. Disney treats their guests like they're the next big star in the Hollywood that never was, ready to be plucked off right there on the corner of Hollywood and Sunset. There is something so admirable about how they teach you how to conduct yourself around others and how you should treat the guests. What happens here is magic, all cheese unintentional. You have to go above and beyond with guests-- serving people, that's what I wanted to do and that's what I'm here for. I can't wait.


Icon Nut
Monday, Feb. 15, 2010

Training day, just like the movie. A nightmare? Not quite, but almost! I did see Darth Maul skulking around backstage, which was a total plus, but his scowling was so on-point that I didn't want to bother asking him how the force was. I couldn't tell if the cast-member under all that paint was going out of his way to be threatening or if he was just having a bad day. Maybe I'd be sour too if I got beat up 8 times a day by kids with plastic lightsabers.

The first half of the day they stuck me behind a computer to work on some training modules. They're all right, if not a bit outdated and plenty boring. Clocked hours in front of a screen working on those things? Probably eight to twelve, just on training; at least I'm getting paid? I was so nervous about working. I've never had an official job before, and despite my experience in volunteer work and club activity, I was still very jittery. Luckily, I my trainer Ronnie (a fellow Puerto Rican!) was really, really nice. I was also working with Kyle, a guy I met at my orientation. Had it not been for those two -- Ronnie being incredibly understanding over my nervousness and Kyle for his theatrical and over-the-top ways -- I would not have made it through the day.

After the exciting round of modules, Ronnie picked Kyle and I up to go change stations at Icon Nut, a stand right outside of the Animation Courtyard, for work. Totally awesome right? Until I find out we're the only stand that serves Bavarian nuts. Yeah. One stand out of like, a billion on site. And the nut machine? One bag takes about 25 minutes to make and only makes 8 single cones of nuts. We serve like, a hundred people every half hour. Okay, so that's an exaggeration (or is it?), but all of those customers want nuts! I could make a terrible pun right now, but I'll refrain. I think you guys get where I'm going.

It wasn't as tough as I'd thought it would be. I was bumbling moron at first, but when you get kids swinging by that can barely reach the counter, but look happy, or see a little girl with a giant pink bow on her head, dressed in a princess jacket and holding the hand of her father, who is, in turn, wearing a Peter Pan shirt and toting around his girl's flagrantly pink, princess tote, you can't help but grow fond of these customers, even if they're in and out in a hurry. Sure, some of them drop by, grab what they want and get gone, but there are those that really stand out. The ones that are at Disney for the first time, the ones that make you, the cast member, laugh when they tell you they're celebrating a day off. People come to Disney to be happy and it's infectious.

Oh man, but towards the end of our shift, it did get a little hectic. Those Bavarian nuts? I can tell you right now, I never want to see them again! People stood around waiting for them and one group of kids - some high schoolers from New York on a marching band trip - started haranguing us for the nuts. I mean, I guess if I had come back on 4 different occasions and my nuts weren't made, I'd harangue me too (what?), still-- I definitely had to grin and bear it With Disney having the status it does on customer care, we decided to make this last group of kids some nuts free of charge... even when we were supposed to be closing up and heading home.

So yeah, I ended up working overtime my first day of work. Good stuff!!

To be honest, it wasn't that bad. I can hoot and holler about how it was a complete nightmare, and I sure do!, I can't say it wasn't... nice. Except taking inventory. That was a monstrosity, especially when you just want to curl up and hope to God your feet haven't exploded (mine were in dire need of a magical moment). When I got home, I only had time enough to eat something and then go to bed-- had to get up early and do it all over, after all!

Hours worked: 9-10, give or ta... give. Give a lot.


Pretzel Kitchen
Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2010

Welcome to hell.

When I walked into work today, I thought the Pretzel Kitchen was a stand that sold pretzels, like Icon Nut sold nuts. Holy crap, was I wrong. The Pretzel kitchen is exactly that... the kitchen. And pretzels. It was hot, it was cramped, and it was the most under appreciated and overworked thing I've seen yet. I would take making nuts for crazy fifteen-year-olds over making pretzels and churros for four hours straight. It wasn't hard, but the constant beeping of ODF stand call-ins asking for 32 more pretzels and 40 more churros JUST as the delivery guy came back from sending them their first order was, in short, insane. I hated it, I hated the heat, I hated the fact that everyone was stressed out and there was nothing we could do but hurl more pans of pretzels into the oven while hoping to God that no one would call in again. Why did they have two people doing a kitchen-sized job? I have no idea. I just hopehopeHOPE I don't get stuck in there again or, at least, I'm not by myself and it's not as busy as it was today. You have to throw perfectionism to the wind when you're tossing churros onto trays. Caring about how much salt is on a pretzel or how much cinnamon is on a churro is, apparently, for tools. You just have to be efficient, quick, and unrelenting. Boy, is that tough! Especially since I'm the type of person who once stood in front of a poster board for 45 minutes, trying to line up two pieces of paper!!

I broke three churro sticks, I also ate one-- I guess I know why they're in high demand; they're delicious. Still, if I have to see another one - or a pretzel, for that matter - in the next month, I'm going to stick it up my nose and run screaming from the park.

Around 1 P.M. we (my trainer Stephanie and I) moved to Herbie's... something or the other. It was a little stand just outside of the Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show. Let me just say, working with customers is sooo much nicer than working backstage in a hellacious kitchen. After your initial uncertainty, you fall into a routine as you serve up guests, and before you know it, it's time to clock out. Boy, was I excited to see the clock tick from 3:29 to 3:30, just as the door to the stand opened and the heavens sang as my replacement came in. Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty, I was free at last! And totally one Coke icee and corn-dog richer for it (have you ever carried a corn-dog in your pocket? it's an experience that everyone should... well, experience!).

Don't let yourself feel vulnerable. You have no time for it when you're practically throwing corn-dogs and nachos at people. Save the Bambi-eyes for later. A customer is not going to remember if you were miserable or not, they won't care, but they will remember if you got their order wrong.

We're automated robots, hello, what can I get for ya! That tough skin my mom told me I'd have when I got back... well, I will just say that I can feel that baby skin of mine callousing over already.

Hours worked: about 8 hours