I have spent most of this week drenched!! Its normal in Florida to get a Thunderstorm downpour at some point in the afternoon, but the last few days (more importantly on my two days off) its started raining and just not stopped all afternoon which has slightly ruined my plans for exploring the parks!! But before we get on to that I had a second day of training and an assessment day...
Monday 27/6
Today I didn't start work until 4pm so after having a nice lazy morning I went to a cast member only store for a search around for bargains (its a store with lines that are discontinued or out of season). I found the coat I really wanted and for only $20, so pleased as I was fully expecting to pay the full price of over $50 for it. Could definitely go mad and spend all of my wages in there as there's so many bargains to be had.
Training went so quickly today, and I got to work during Wishes which was truly surreal, just loading guests onto the ride with the music playing and the most amazing fireworks going on around us. The training started with lots of reading about procedures for Alladin and also The Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse (the other attraction I work on). I then practised all of the roles on Aladdin again and practised the one position at the treehouse, which is Greeter. Greeter at the Treehouse can be really boring but if you chat to the guests as they pass by it goes really quickly and you can have some really interesting conversations, so I will just have to be proactive to stop myself getting bored. The night was finished off by doing the closing routine for Aladdin which was nice and straight forward; then on a bus home so I could get some sleep as I had to be back at work by 10am the next day!?!
Tuesday 28/6
Today was assessment day!! I was ridiculously tired this morning; I really hope I don't get too many shift patterns like this.
The assessment started with a multiple choice exam to make sure I understood all the safety procedures, and the rest of the day involved me working on all the positions with my assessor keeping an eye on things to make sure I don't miss anything or make any mistakes. The assessor also asked lots of questions to make sure I knew what I was doing for opening and closing the ride and any other situations which didn't happen during the day. The day was no where near as stressful as I had been expecting, in fact it was probably the most fun of all my days at work so far; and at the end I got to remove the 'earning my ears' tab from my nametag.
Wednesday 29/6
It's my Mum's Birthday, Happy Birthday Mum!!!!!!!
I had today off so had hoped to go to Magic Kingdom but the rain and thunder (so lightening too) meant there wasn't much point, I would only have got soaked and most of the rides would have been shut. So today was a less than thrilling day of admin; so a trip to Walmart, cleaning the apartment (for a housing inspection the next day), and washing.
In the evening headed to Downtown Disney. We went to Rainforest Cafe, I was so disappointed with the place; the food wa good but not amazing (and really overpriced) and the service was massively poor; so I won't be bothering with that place again. On a better note I got to look around 'The Art of Disney' which I'd really been looking forward to, spotted some lovely things which I hope to get before I leave, just have to decide what to get and what not to get (there's just too much choice).
Thursday 30/6
My first pay day, hurrah!! I went to Animal Kingdom today, set off early so got a few things done before the usual rain and thunderstorms. We just had a general wander around, met a few characters and watched the Lion King show. I bought lunch with my hard earned money, and we then heading to Expedition Everast . It was raining a little bit, but not enough for me to buy a poncho; boy was that a mistake! By the time we got onto the ride it was raining really heavily and I'd completely forgotten that most of the ride is outside (and high speed) so I got drenched, literally looked like I'd been swimming with my clothes on. So, due to all of us been soaked through, we called it a day after that and headed home for hot showers to warm up.
I spent the evening by the pool (the lightening had stopped); it was great to just relax and cool off by the pool and the fact that it was warm enough to be in an outside pool up until 1am made it all the better.
So tomorrow is my first day, well actually night, of work; no trainer to step in if I make a mistake! I'm nervous but looking forward to it, its a long shift though I start at 4pm and don't finish until 2.45 in the morning! Its a good job I'm a night person or the shifts Disney have given me would be devastating :P
J x
