Deployment

       At Disney World when there is not a high need for workers in your location, you get "deployed." This means that you are working at a different location for a week at a time. On your first day you get a two hour training for the resort before you are on your own. I got deployed for the first time two weeks ago to Saratoga Springs. When I found out I was terrified. I barely felt comfortable at the Boardwalk, how on earth was I supposed to work somewhere new? My only saving grace was that I've stayed at Saratoga Springs before.
       The first day I got there and unfortunately my trainer had called out so I got a mini session instead. Saratoga is such a big resort, so big that people drive and take buses to get from place to place around it. It was a little overwhelming when people would ask me how to get places. I usually ended up asking someone around me who worked at the resort regularly.
       Saratoga was only at about 40% occupancy when I was working there, so the days were really slow. Also there we get one hour long break and at the Boardwalk we get two half hour breaks, which is a nice way to break up the day. I did mostly check-in related tasks at Saratoga and only a handful of concierge related tasks. By the time I was on my second to last day and I had a really complex situation  to handle with I was excited with the chance to challenge myself.
       My second week of deployment was at the Grand Floridian. At first when I learned this I was scared to death because the Grand Floridian is one of the fanciest, best resorts in Disney World. I was afraid I wouldn't fit in and wouldn't be able to handle guest situations. On my first day I had a two hour training with a trainer who seemed to know everything you could possibly think of about the resort. She really prepared me well for my deployment. I ended up really enjoying my time at the Grand Floridian and would definitely pick up shifts there in the future. All of the leaders were fantastic and everyone was so helpful if I needed assistance. I met a lot of wonderful guests and had tons of memorable interactions with them.

 ^My costume for Saratoga Springs

^My costume for the Grand Floridian

The Beginning of September....

       September has been great so far! Zach & I celebrated our 4 year anniversary on the 1st. We got reservations at Be Our Guest for dinner and had the best steak I've ever had. It is without a doubt the best food I've ever had on Disney property.

       The very next day I went to 'Ohana to celebrate mine and my friend Lex's birthdays. It was an amazing atmosphere and the food was incredible. We had such a great night, but we were so incredibly full afterwards we were waddling around all night. 

       I've grown extremely close to the people in the pictures above, Lex, Tabitha & Anthony. They're my Disney 'Ohana and I'm so incredibly grateful to have them in my life. They are truly making my program.

       Last night, Zach & I went to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party as Disney Tourists! There were villains and special characters everywhere, and we trick or treated for more candy than I know what to do with.  My favorite part was the parade, and watching Celebrate the Magic from up close!

^ Zach as a Disney Tourist!

August Recap!

       So I have been really busy (lazy) lately and haven’t gotten the chance to write on my blog in a month. School started this week though, which means my psychology practicum has officially started and I am blogging for a grade, so I will be writing more often.

I’m going to do a quick recap of August!

       In the beginning of August, Zach’s family came to visit. They stayed at POP! Century where Zach works! I was able to see them on two different days. The first day we went to Epcot all day and finished off the night at Magic Kingdom. We ate at Biergarten which is a German buffet. The atmosphere was amazing, it made you feel like you were outside in the middle of Oktoberfest. There was live entertainment, and pretzel rolls that were to die for. The rest of the food wasn’t really my cup of tea but it was fun nonetheless. It was a little tricky to take pictures inside but I’ll post a few to give you the feel for it:

       The second day I spent with Zach’s family was at his aunt & uncle’s house in Deltona where they were holding a birthday party for Zach’s Aunt Jenny. It was super fun, but unfortunately Zach couldn’t get off of work so we had to leave early for his shift.

       

       Towards the end of August my mom came and visited me! We had such a great week together. On the first night we went to Cape May (our favorite!) and the Top of the World Lounge at the Bay Lake Tower Resort to watch the fireworks. That was something we've never done before and it was amazing!

^^The view from the Top of the World!

^^My strawberry lemonade with lime foam :)

       On the second day of her visit we spent the day at the Orlando Premium Outlets and ate at Big River Grille. On the third day we went resort hopping. We visited the Animal Kingdom Lodge which is somewhere we'd never been before. We ended the night watching Frozen on a big blow up screen on the lawn of the Boardwalk!

^The inside of the Animal Kingdom Lodge lobby

^The resort's resident Giraffe!

^Me on the big couch at the Boardwalk:)

       On Thursday we went to Magic Kingdom and ate at Be Our Guest for lunch! The park was empty, and we were able to go on all of the rides we wanted to by 7 o'clock so we decided to head over to Hollywood Studios for a few rides and the Frozen Fireworks!

       It was a great week with my mama and I didn't want it to end. We are planning a trip for her to come down in November though and I planned a spontaneous trip home next week!

1 Day: 4 Parks

      Last week I decided to challenge myself and do all 4 parks in one day with Zach. The original plan was to wake up early and start in the morning, but when my alarm went off I texted Zach and we mutually agreed we needed more sleep to accomplish it.

      Around 1 o'clock we made our way to Hollywood Studios where we were meeting our Disney Heritage class. Our class that day was a scavenger hunt around the Studios. It was the most fun I've had in class yet. We started with trivia about the park, and then went to the attraction "One Man's Dream" to find a bunch of facts about Walt Disney. It was so fun to run around and compete in the park, it was something I had never done before. We find out how our team did in class next week. After our class ended we got kids meals at ABC Commissary, took some pictures in front of the hat, and were on our way to Animal Kingdom.

     When we got to Animal Kingdom the first thing we did was eat at Pizzafari (yes, more food). Then we got to meet Mickey & Minnie together at Adventurer's outpost! This is the only place in Disney World where you can meet them at the same time.

The third park we went to for the day was Epcot where we headed right for The Seas. We road the Finding Nemo attraction and then visited with the manatees in the aquarium. The seas is one of my favorite places on property, so I always make it a point to go there whenever I am at Epcot. I also finally got to take a picture in the Shark's mouth! After The Seas we headed over to the Electric Umbrella for Zach's third meal of the day (not that I didn't eat half of his fries....)

We ended our day at the Magic Kingdom where we headed for the Incredible's Dance Party. Afterwards we went on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority People Mover which has been down for refurbishment since we've been down here. Unfortunately the attraction was having some issues so we weren't able to get the full experience. Afterwards we ate our final meal at Cosmic Ray's in Tomorrowland. Following that we ran to the Seven Dwarf's Mine Train which we had yet to ride. It was only a 45 minute wait so we decided to stick it out. It was exactly a 40 minute wait. While we waited we played the game Heads Up on my phone to help pass the time. The attraction was very smooth and the scenes they recreated from the movie were great, I just wish it was more of a rollercoaster, or had more scene recreations.

After the Mine Train we ran to Winnie the Pooh to meet up with our friends. Winnie the Pooh has become one of my favorite attractions here at Walt Disney World, it is most definitely underrated. I finally got to ride Peter Pan's Flight, which I have been dying to do since I got here but the wait has always been too long for me. We also went on Splash Mountain... I did not want to get wet at all so I sat in the middle by myself.... Of course I ended up getting the most wet out of anyone.

We ran to Space Mountain to make it before closing time at 1AM and were some of the last to go on the ride. We finished up the night watching the Kiss Goodnight on Main Street USA and getting Minnie's Bake Shop's famous cookies.

All in all it was a great day, but I am definitely a one park per day type of gal.

All of us on Splash Mountain^

^Waiting on the que for Winnie the Pooh

^Zach and Lex killing time in the arcade outside of Space Mountain

^Tabitha & I sleeping on Space Mountain

^All of us hanging out in Gaston's Tavern

Mom & Kat Come to Visit

          Last Monday my mom & sister Kat flew down to stay with me for a few days. We stayed at Saratoga Springs and spent every second we could together. As soon as they stepped off the Magical Express I started crying because I was so happy to see them.
          We spent the first day swimming and then went to dinner at Beaches and Cream followed by Hollywood Studios. It poured raining about an hour after we got there. I was determined to do all of the rides though. We were able to do Toy Story, Tower of Terror, Rockin' Rollercoaster, and Great Movie Ride before we left. We were absolutely soaked despite my rainjacket and their ponchos.
          On Tuesday we took the boat to Downtown Disney. About 45 minutes after we got there we went to Planet Hollywood for dinner. When we left it was pouring rain. We got absolutely soaked and the boats stopped running so we had to go to the buses. The only problem was the buses were located on the complete opposite side of Downtown Disney. We were soaked to the bone and the bus was so cold!!!!!! We got home and dried off and then went to my apartment to show Kat and went to Twistee Treat which is a great family owned ice cream place down the road from Vista.
          On Wednesday we went to Epcot and met up with Zach. We got there at park opening and ended up staying until 6. We got to do Soarin' twice thanks to the kindness of an attractions cast member who gave us a fastpass after my mom didn't open her eyes at all during the ride. For some reason we were sitting front row in every ride. I don't know if anyone's ever sat in the front row for Ellen's Universe of Energy but let me tell you it is SCARY!!!! After Epcot we ate at Cape May. YUM! Afterwards we were able to watch the Frozen Fireworks from the parking lot.
          On Thursday we spent our last full day together swimming and being together. We went to Downtown Disney as well and did some shopping for souvenirs. At night we ate at Big River Grille at the Boardwalk which serves my favorite burgers on property. We watched the Frozen Fireworks again from the bridge of the Swan & Dolphin.
          On Friday it was time to say goodbye which was heart-wrenching. I didn't want them to leave at all. I wish that they were down here with me at all times. I miss them more than anything and I had an incredible time with them.

A Summary of July

          July was a bit of a roller-coaster for me. Transitioning into concierge was difficult because there is so much you don't know how to do until you've done it before and a lot of things don't come up in training. The first week I was on my own I was convinced that I was never going to get a hang of it. But now I am starting to feel that I am able to do a good job and make a difference in guest's vacations. I've gotten my first Four Keys card which is a recognition for doing a good job. I got one because in a guest's survey after their vacation they mentioned me and that I was a perfect example of the great service that you get at Disney World.

          Aside from work I went on a few adventures and ate a lot of food (like 10 pounds worth..see you at the gym). I explored the parks and went to a few restaurants around town and on Disney. Zach and I got our haircut at the Kingdom Kutters in the Magic kingdom. I visited Zach at work at Pop Century and had Mickey Waffles with my good friend Mickey. I went to Chef Mickeys with Zach, Anthony and Zahrie, Zach's friend who was visiting from Queens. I also went to Cape May a couple of times which is my favorite restaurant on property.

^Zach enjoying unlimited crab legs at Cape May.

Pop Century, where Zach works.^

Zach getting his haircut at the Kingdom Kutters.^

^Riding Rockin' Rollercoaster for the first time this year.

Meeting Minnie Mouse at Chef Mickey's! ^

Zach and his idol Goofy with Anthony.^

Concierge Training Day 1&2

Yesterday was my first day of on the job Concierge training! (It was also the fourth of July. Disney was a madhouse!) My trainer is awesome and I'm already sad I will have to part with her soon. She is great at her job and I'm so lucky to be learning from her.
I am loving the concierge role so far. No two guest situations are the same, so things never get boring. The days go by super quickly and I feel a great sense of accomplishment when I am able to assist a guest.
Just a quick list of things I've gotten to do so far:
       -Set up & change fastpasses
       -Create/change/cancel dining reservations
       -Print boarding passes for guest flights
       -Set up/change Disney's Magical Express reservations
       -Set up a My Disney Experience account
       -Link magicbands to reservations and tickets
       -Sell/upgrade tickets to our theme parks
I love that I get the chance to spend more time getting to know our guests and helping them plan their vacation. I can't wait to get to work tomorrow!