DHS

Training

| Sarah

Hey everyone. It’s been a while I know. I had a lot going on in my life. I had my niece and nephew, so I was spending time with them. I’ll go into detail on what I did with them in a different post. I also started school this week. That’s fun…not really.

Today we’ll be talking about training, more specifically, training and orientations after traditions. After traditions, you’ll be broken up into groups called Welcome to Operations, then be broken up even farther to Welcome to (insert role here). For example, if you’re in QSFB, you’ll be in Welcome to Food and Beverage.

In Welcome to Operations, you’ll learn about how things work backstage, how to keep yourself, your fellow cast members, and most importantly guests, safe. Welcome to (role) goes to in detail about your general role.

Depending on when your schedule, you’ll have your park/resort orientation. For Hollywood Studios, that orientation is called On with the Show. All of the All Stars Resorts, it’s called Rolling Out the Red Carpet. During this orientation, you’ll take a tour of the park or resort. You’ll learn about the history about the property. During this time I do believe you’ll get your costumes from costuming.

After all those orientations, you finally start your on the job training. The first day your trainer will give you a personalize tour of the property. The following days you learn about the different positions and stations you could be assigned. Once all of that is done you’ll be given an assessment to see if you can work on your own.

That is all I have for you today. Yeah, a bit of a short post. But there is not much I can say without giving a lot away. Also I may or may not of said something stupid to someone and trying hard not to think about it. It was a major faux pas on my part and said it out of no where.

Thank you so much for reading this post. If you enjoyed what you read, please give post a like. If you feel so inclined, please subscribe and follow this blog so you don’t miss out on other content. It really means a lot if you do. It motives to keep going and writing. I still have so much to write about. Stay tuned for that.

Okay I’m going to jump off a microwave now. Stay magical, stay safe guys!

DCP Interview #1 with Rachel R!

| Sarah

Hey guys, what is up? I’m back. Did you miss me? Well I missed your lovely faces.

Today I have my first interview with Rachel R. She so kindly took the time out of her busy life to do this interview. So without further ado, here’s my interview.

What is your name, what was your role, and when did you do your program?

My name is Rachel R. I was at the Sunset Boulevard Quick Service Restaurants in Hollywood Studios.

Was your role your first choice? If not, what was your first choice?

No, I had wanted to be in entertainment as a character attendant or working in attractions as a ride operator.

Can you tell more about your role? Take me through a typical work day?

Depending on the shift I was either “Market” or “Boulevard”. If you were scheduled as Market you would be working Rosies or Eddies; Burgers and Pizza. Boulevard meant working Produce, Fairfax, or Scoops; Beers, Frozen beverages, pretzels, churros. Texmex. Ice cream. You would rotate randomly all the time so it was a nice change of pace. If you had to do condiment bar or bussing it was all outdoors. So in the summer it was tough, but we had cute little ducks that came around so it was a cute distraction from the heat. Filling people’s orders was the best role cause you had a chance to talk with guests while you worked. It seemed so tough a job when I was on my program, but after becoming a real cast member I picked up a shift a few months later and realized it wasn’t as hard as I remembered. I still look back fondly at working there and if I had my alcohol training renewed I would probably try to get a shift there again!

Did you live in Disney Housing? If not, how did you find housing on your own?

Both. I started at Vista Way in a 6 person apartment. I didn’t get along with my partying roommates so I looked elsewhere. I was fortunate enough that my aunt had a friend who lives in Florida in the winter and Pennsylvania in the summer. I was able to house sit for them for the rest of my program.

If applicable, did you get the complex and apartment you wanted?

Yes and no. I wanted the Commons because they were the nicest and had wood flooring. I am allergic to carpet so I put in that medical request when I applied. They gave me a renovated Vista apartment which had wood flooring. As much as I wanted Commons and put Vista as my bottom choice I was pretty okay with it since my brother had Vista on his program too.

How did you hear about the Disney College Program?

My older brother did it while I was in high school.

Why did you want to do the program?

It has always been my dream to work at Disney! I’ve been saying since I was a child. I wanted to live in Florida where its not cold and work at Disney. Here I am now still here!

What did you learn from the program?

I learned how to push myself to work long hours. I learned to not give up and quit just because of people are trying to make you give up. There were many times I thought, “This is the day I quit and go home and never look back!”, but I would cool down and then say, “I’m not gonna quit my dream job over something stupid” and I’d keep going. I also learned a lot about the mouse and how things run and it was amazing! I took Disney History 101 while on my program and that was probably my favorite class I’ve taken in my life! I learned SO much!

Are you happy you did the program?

Absolutely! If I could go back in time I’d do it again sooner!

Did the program have an impact on you?

Of course! It was my first time being on my own paying for all my own expenses! I had studied abroad before, but my host family paid for most of my expenses as well as my mom. This program gave me the chance to see what it was like to truly be on my own! I learned to overcome a lot and it has helped me on my journey of adulthood.

What do you wish you did differently? Any regrets?

Only regret was not being able to click with my roommates. I wouldn’t change having a bad living situation cause it made me grow more. Some of the girls I lived with are still here at Disney too which is why I regret not really befriending them.

Did you make a bucket list? How much of the list did you complete, if it all?

My bucket list was to get every characters autograph before my program ended. I did not complete it haha. I got about 40 autographs I think, but some characters are only out for special events so it was fun trying. Too bad I still haven’t done it.
Another bucket list I had was to work at all 4 parks. I was never able to get a shift outside of Hollywood Studios even when I tried to trade and other leaders at other locations would be like “sure we will put that trade through” and they never would. Proud to say though now as a Park Greeter (this is my 3rd location now) I have finally worked all the parks! Now ESPN, Typhoon Lagoon, and Blizzard Beach are my new bucket list!

Did you network? Take any classes or seminars?

I only took Disney History 101 on my program. I never got a chance to network because my work hours got in the way of the networking times.

Did you extend your program? If so, did you stay in the same role and location, or did any of that change? Did/would you do another program?

I applied to be Part Time/Full Time at 5 other QSR (Quick Service Restaurant) locations; Be Our Guest, Libery Tavern, Electric Umbrella, Sunset Boulevard, and ABC Commissary. I had wanted to work at Epcot and there was only 2 QSR that an American can apply for since you need to be from the country to work there. I had applied for 2 Hollywood QSR since I thought I had the best chance for those locations and then I applied for Be Our Guest cause I loved that restaurant, but thought there was absolutely no way I’d get it. While waiting to see if I had gotten a Part Time/Full Time position I had applied to extend as well. They told me if I accepted the extension and got offered a job after I could just keep the job instead of the extension so that’s what I did. I got accepted as Part Time at Be Our Guest and I was stoked!

Would you recommend the Disney College Program to a friend in college?

Absolutely! Its a great chance to grow and looks great on a resume! Also a great way to get your foot in the door at Disney!

Lastly, what advice would you give to future CPs doing the program?

Hang in there! It’s a lot of hard work, a lot of hours, but when you look back on it, it will be one of the fondest memories you’ll have!

Thank you so much Rachel R for taking the time and doing this interview with me! I hope this gave some insight on QSFB (Quick Service Food & Beverage) on Sunset Boulevard. I hope for those who have this role at this location learned something and cleared up any questions. I hope all of you reading this enjoyed this first in what I’m hoping will be a series on my blog.

Please be sure to subscribe to this blog to learn more about the Disney College Program, Disney/Disney travel, and tricks and tips. See you guys in the future!

As always guys, stay magical!

Stories From the Lot

| Sarah

Hey guys. It’s Sarah, coming back at you with another post from…my bedroom. I just finished my last post, “Parking Cars, Taking Names” (if you haven’t read that post, I highly suggest you go read that. I’ll wait. Go ahead. I’ll be here…done? Finally. Welcome back. I missed you.)

Insomnia sucks. So what do I do when I can’t sleep? Write. I’ll be sharing some random stories from my program. A lot of these stories are gonna be when I’m at work. I’m trying to save other stories for other topics, so be on the look out for that.

**cough** subscribe and stuff to be notified when I update so you miss don’t a thing **cough** Oh, excuse me.

Story 1

This first story was during the holiday season. It was just one of those days where you were just mentally spent. A lot of us were getting yelled at for enforcing safety rules and things that were just out of our control. A couple walking through the parking towards the main entrance sees me and begins approaching me. Here I’m thinking, oh great, here’s another couple here to complain and use me as their personal punching bag. I wonder how they’re going to tell me that I ruined their vacation.

But instead of yelling, the wife comes up and gives me a hug. I was confusion. She tells me, “Thank you for all that you do. I know you guys work so hard, especially during this season, often times in the heat and people can be rude for no reason. I just wanted to let you know that you’re doing an amazing job and keep up the good work. Can we get you anything to eat or drink?”

I politely declined but she kept on insisting. I had to tell I couldn’t take anything from her like that. It was too much but I thanked her for her kindness and generosity. CMs take a ish from a lot guests, some days more than others. But it was moments like those that working at Disney a whole lot better. It made me feel like I was doing something right.

Story 2

A bunch of us CPs were leaving work. Two CPs that lived in housing drove to work and had enough room to take everyone home. So they offered to give us a ride. I was in a with three other male CPs. I was still kinda new so I was just mindlessly on my phone while the other three talked, the driver flipping through the stations on the radio. He finally settled on one.

Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You came on the radio. I didn’t think much of it at the time. Suddenly I noticed all three guys are singing along. Okay, no matter. It’s a good song to sing the car. I was slightly amused. I went back to my phone. Then the moment of truth came.

“Annnnnd IIIIIIiiiIIIiiIIiIiI WILLL ALWAYS LOOOoVE YOOU I WILL AllllLLLlllWayS LOOoVVEE YOOU IIIIIiiiIiiiii WILL ALLLlllWAYS LOOOVE YOU OHHHHH”

I am confusion…AGAIN.

Here I was being treated to a concert of three male 20 somethings belting out Whitney Houston at the top of their lungs. The guy next to me was really getting into it. I was both surprised and amused.

(Side note: I’m writing this later on. I had to at least try and get some sleep because I had to take care of some car stuff early the next day. Yay for adulting…eye roll.)

Story 3

Another car story for you guys. Four of us interns where leaving for the night. One of the CPs was kind enough to give the three of us a ride back to housing. It was towards the end of our program and we all knew each other pretty well at this point. We all knew each other pretty well at this point.

We had to walk through DHS to get to the car since CMs had to park in a different location during the holiday season. Seeing the park all empty and dimly lit was such a surreal feeling. Just walking through the lowly lit streets, feeling the late night December air against our skin, no music playing, no guests talking. It would of been a great moment to take photos with your fellow CPs. But I doubt that was allowed after hours so I didn’t want to risk it.

We hopped into the CP’s car and drove back to housing. We all just sang songs by Adele and other artists that came on the radio. It was a nice way to end the night. Just a group of us finally being able to relax and enjoy a moment of fun. We spent the past few months dealing with whatever guests threw our way. We all formed this bond and overtime, they became like family. We all this running gag that my last name sounded good with any name. But more in that in a second.

Story 4

This isn’t much of a story as much as it an ongoing joke. I have a very common name. Basic white girl name if you will. In my location we had three other Sarahs. Often times I was referred to “CP Sarah” since I was, well, a CP. I was the only CP with the name. While talking with people in the break room. Someone who was supposed to break a Sarah but wasn’t sure if it was supposed to be me or the other Sarah. He asked me for my last name.

Now usually people are confused by my last name. But everyone commented on how unique my last name sound. They even said it went with every and any name. One even started to rename everyone with my last name. According to them it rolled off the tongue. They were going to name his kid after my last name. I’m pretty sure they were joking but I found it amusing. Since people in my location called me by full name. Which I thought was pretty cool.

That’s all the stories I have for you today. At least the ones that I want to share for now. I have more, but I want to place them in different topics. If I can think of more, I’ll make a part two to this post. Be on the look out for future posts. I have so many ideas to share with you all. Until the next post, stay magical guys.

Parking Cars, Taking Names

| Sarah

Hey you all. It’s Sarah, back at it again with another post about the Disney College Program. How are you guys?

During my program, I was a parking attendant at Hollywood Studios. If I’m being completely honest, I didn’t know this was even a role, much less a role a CP (Disney College Program participant. Basically what you’ll be called if you do the program). But what do parking attendants do? Let’s take a look.

On my first on the job day of training, I met my trainer who first took me to get my costume. Then she showed me the break room and how to use CDS on the computer. She lead me outside and we walked around the parking lot safely for a brief overview. Next on our tour we went into DHS (Hollywood Studios) and she showed me some of the main attractions, pointing out some trivia and other little facts along the way. She introduced me to some people and other coworkers. After that was done, we went backstage (the place guests don’t see) and showed me the workings that go on backstage.

Noon rolled around and we broke for our 30 minute lunch break. I was introduced into more parking CMs (cast members) during that time. Me, the introvert, was starting to feel a bit overwhelmed with the amount of people I was meeting.

All too soon our break was over and it was back to training. My trainer had me read from a binder to learn about safety stuff. I read, while trying not to fall asleep. That concluded day one of training.

The following days my trainer showed me the different things you can be assigned to do. I was trained to do opening/morning, regular, and night/closing shifts. The opening training days was hard since I had to get up early. The sun wasn’t even warm yet…

Who am I kidding? It’s Florida. It’s warm 24/7.

Some of the jobs you can be assigned to comes in two groups: trams and the actual lot. I’ll start with the trams. You can either the driver or spieler. Driver is self explanatory: you drive the tram. You learn how to drive the tram, the different signals, how to start it, how to shut down, and how to make turns. The spieler is the person on the back of the tram telling you all the corny jokes. Spielers tell you where the tram is going, gives you some important information about the park for the day, and makes sure everyone is safely in their seats.

A lot of the lot tasks include directing traffic to the actual parking lots, telling you where to park, and if it’s busy, help people load the trams. It will take too long to go over every little job. They are like 7-9 jobs depending on the time of day.

Then came the day that would showcase everything I learned; my assessment.

The first part of my assessment was to take a test. My assessor checks it and goes over what I got wrong. We moved on to the actual testing. I do all the positions while answering questions thrown my way.

Remember how I said I was introverted? Well, I am extremely introverted. I’m so painfully introverted that I failed the spieling part of assessment. I cried. I literally cried. I wish I was joking but I’m not. I’m super hard on myself so that the fact that I failed hit me hard.

And guys, let me tell you this: if you fail your assessment, it’s not the end of the world. You’ll just get more training on what you failed then get reassessed. It’s not a big deal if you fail. I was reassured by many people in my location about failing. Other CMs told me stories on how they messed up while testing.

During my break on my assessment day, two of the parking CMs did their best to try to cheer me while trying to get to know me. They took me on a walk backstage to help me calm down. That meant so much to me. It made me feel like they cared. It did help me feel about myself. They didn’t have to do that but they did. They could of been mean or not acknowledge me since I was only a CP. It’s something I’ll always remember.

I passed the spieling part of my reassessment after a couple of days. I was finally able to be on my own. Being on my own for the first time was intimidating to say the least. But over time I got over that fear. I fell into the groove of things.

Working during the fall program meant I would be working the major holidays: Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve/Day, and New Year’s Eve/Day. I will say this; I’m so glad that I was placed in DHS rather than Magic Kingdom during these holidays. From what I heard, it was crowded AF at MK (Magic Kingdom). Like it was shoulder to shoulder, can’t move a muscle crowded. People could only ride 3 rides all day because it was so crowded. I don’t doubt it.

When I was working my Thanksgiving shift, it was pretty empty for a major holiday. Well it was reasonably empty for when I was working my 2-8 shift. I can’t speak on what happened in the morning or during the closing shift. But for the most part, it was pretty chill. I was surprised.

Working the Christmas and New Year’s shift was a bit of a different story. From what I heard, the parking lot got filled real quick Christmas morning. People had to redirected to Epcot. I was closing the night shifts for both Christmas Eve and Day. The lot was fairly full but we were parking people in our own lot. Cars were coming, but not as frequent.

Let me tell you a story. During my Christmas Day shift I was in the lot. Part of the job I was doing required me to call in to my coordinator when I was open and close rows over the radio. I was with another CP, just casually talking. I called in to my coordinator that the current row was full and we were opening a new one. While I was waiting for a response, a guest was passing out candy canes with a thank you note attached. The other CP asked what the guest gave me.

At the same time, the coordinator responded. I, without thinking, held down the button on the radio and, instead of replying to my coordinator, I answered the other CP and said, “Candy cane.” We both looked at each other for a second and bent over laughing at my error. In between gasps for air I corrected myself and open and closed the rows.

Working the New Year’s shift was magical in its own right. We were coming in during the night to ring in the new year. After a while it slowed down to almost a stand still. I was on break when the clock was about to strike midnight. The coordinator working that night called everyone in the break room to come outside. We counted down to midnight as a group. At the strike of midnight, fireworks from all the parks went off at the same time. We all hug each other, wishing each other a happy new year. Getting to see all the fireworks from all four parks was something I never thought I would experience if it wasn’t for my program.

Like with any job, there are ups and downs. Highs and lows. But overall I loved my time there. Being a parking attendant wasn’t my first choice, but I don’t regret my time spent in the parking lot. The parking CMs became my family. I got along with the other parking CPs. I can tell you many other stories and magical moments with guests, but I’m planning to write about that in a different blog post.

That is it for this post. Thank you so much for reading. I hope you enjoyed what you read. Be sure to be on the look out for more. I still have so much to share. I hope this gave some insight on on-the-job training and by overall parking attendant journey.

On a random, unrelated side note I’m finishing this post at 1:16 am again. This time I’m not on the couch watching Degrassi. I’m in my bedroom listening to The Psychology of Azula by Hello Future Me on YouTube. Did any of you watch Avatar: The Last Airbender or Legend of Korra? I did. If you did, you should check out his channel. He makes a lot of great content about Avatar and other movies/shows.