Tuesday February 17, 2015

Meeting Kylie & McKayla in Magic Kingdom on Mardi Gras Day

This morning I woke up early to go meet up with my friends Kylie and Mckayla and their friend Alexis in Magic Kingdom!  I was so excited to spend an entire day with them!!  This was my first time driving to Magic Kingdom by myself and honestly it wasn't a very bad drive at all.  I was nervous about getting turned around, but it's super easy to find if you're just following all the signs to get there from the moment you drive under the Walt Disney World gates.  I parked my car in the Peter Pan parking lot and rode the tram to the Ticket and Transportation Center.  I felt a little weird doing all of this by myself, but it felt pretty cool at the same time.  I rode the monorail to Magic Kingdom and then had to stand in line at Guest Relations to get my ticket linked since I didn't have my Maingate passes yet.  The lady at the front of the counter really upset me.  I was waiting for her to link my ticket and she told me that if she linked a complimentary ticket to my blue ID, that it was possible that I could get termed for it since it showed up on her records that my Maingates had been mailed a week ago.  I almost cried because first of all, no one had told me about my Maingates being mailed already.  Two of my roommates got emails saying that there's were ready to be picked up at our Clubhouse, but I never did yet.  Also, last night at Epcot, the guy who linked our tickets then never said a thing about possibly getting termed and never said that our Maingates were sent a week ago.  She then told me that I could go ahead and buy a regular one-day park ticket for $105.00 or risk it and let her give me a complimentary ticket.  I was so nervous and in the moment I wanted to cry because I had no idea that linking complimentary tickets before having our Maingates could potentially get us termed.  I just asked her if she could give me the complimentary ticket and she did, but then said "just know that this will be the last time" and I was like "okay".  I was so upset after that and all I wanted was to go meet up with my friends!!

 

I needed to stop on Main Street because the other day when I was in Uptown Jewelers, the lady forgot to take my ink tag off of my Vera Bradley duffel that I bought so I decided that since I was going back to Magic Kingdom today that I could get them to take if off for me.  I had the receipt and bag in a Disney souvenir bag and when I went inside and told the lady what happened, she started pulling the duffel out of my bag without me finishing my story and said "well we need to see your receipt", and I was like if you could hold on just one second I could grab it out of the bag for you.  Then she looked at the receipt and then looked at me funny and she told one of the other cast members there to go ahead and take it off.  She looked at me as if I might have been stealing it, but I promise you I bought it! UGH what a wonderful morning in Magic Kingdom!!!

 

After that I finally went ahead and met them in line at Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin.  We rode that first and then Kylie, McKayla, and Alexis had fast passes for Space Mountain, so I waited for them to go on that since I couldn't get the same fast passes as them.  We danced with the characters from the Incredibles at the Dance Party in Tomorrowland (gotta love my land!!) and then headed towards Adventureland for DOLE WHIPS and let me tell you, they were AMAZING!!!  I didn't want to finish eating mine!  We really wanted to try and meet Gaston, but literally every time we went over there the line was already blocked off, so we made sure to watch the time so we could go try and meet him for the third time!  While we waited, we really wanted to ride Peter Pan since Kylie, McKayla, and Alexis never had, plus I wanted to see the new queue line!  It was so precious and I really love that they did to it!!  After that, my friends had fast passes to do Enchanted Tales with Belle which I really want to do eventually, but I ended up waited for them in New Fantasyland and I went and looked around in Bonjour Village Gifts.  I love looking at all the Beauty and the Beast merchandise, and I ended up buying a Belle sparkly pin for my collection!!  After they finished, we went ahead and waited in line for Gaston!  We only had to wait a couple minutes, but we were so excited to finally be in line to meet him!  He is soo good looking and so funny!!  He made us all laugh!  When we left there, we started walking towards Frontierland and we were hoping to meet Princess Tiana since it was Mardi Gras, but it started raining really heavy and we got stuck inside the Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe.  I decided to wear my brand new Disney Dooney and Bourke bag and I really didn't want to get that wet, so good thing I brought the bad with my duffel in it because I ended up putting my purse inside the bag!!  YAY!  We tried our best to head over to Tomorrowland again because we thought that we might be able to ride Space Mountain since the line might not be too long and it was indoors, so we went there and stood in line together and rode that!!  It was lots of fun being with them!  After that, we all just really wanted to leave because I didn't want to get stuck driving in heavy rain and since it slacked up some, I decided to hurry and come back!  But we had a really good day and I'm so glad I was able to meet up with them!!

DOLE WHIPS on MARDI GRAS

Me and Kylie!!

Loved meeting GASTON // soooo DREAMY

 

~ Krista Lauren Girod

Monday February 16, 2015

Exploring Guest Service Class

I experienced my first day today taking a Disney class and I absolutely loved it!  I'm taking Exploring Guest Service which is a part of Disney's Exploration series and the class was held at Chatham Square in Classroom 4 which wasn't a very far walk from my apartment.  It's a pretty large class and I met some girls who sat next to me.  Our facilitator is very engaging and I love listening to his stories.  His name is Jeff Bishop and he was telling us how he got his start with Disney working attractions at the Haunted Mansion.  During most of the class, we spent a lot of time discussing our favorite Disney memories and how we think Disney's guest service helps attract guests to keep coming back each and every year.  We talked a lot about SHOW and how it was important in maintaining a good story for the guests.  The rest of our classes seem really fun and interesting!  We have a lot of guest speakers who are going to come in and talk with us about different lines of operations throughout the parks such as Food and Beverage, Park Operations, Merchandise, Resort Operations, and Guest Relations.  One day we are taking a field trip to the Animal Kingdom Lodge to visit and explore the Jambo House.  My class lasted from 11:00-1:00 PM and after I was going to meet Kylie and McKayla in Animal Kingdom, but I ended up not going because they were about to leave the park. 

 

I ate lunch and then decided to go to Publix real quick to pick up some bread, sandwich meat, and some cheese to make sandwiches for lunch for work.  When I came back, Sherri and Catherine asked me if I wanted to Epcot with them so Sherri ended up driving us to Epcot and we walked around World Showcase for a while.  We ate dinner at Sunshine Seasons and then ended up riding Soarin with only a 30 minute wait!!!  LIKE WHAT!?  Usually the wait for Soarin is never that SHORT!!  On our way out of Epcot, I went to visit my friend at Emily at work!  She works at Epcot Future World North and I saw her outside of Gateway Gifts!!  Then we took the monorail to Magic Kingdom for just a little bit and walked on Main Street.  We watched Celebrate the Magic and before heading out, Catherine really wanted some ice cream from the Main Street Ice Cream Parlor.  It was a fun day!

Me and Sherri in ITALY

Exploring Italy with my girls!

 

My FOOD at SUNSHINE SEASONS

 

Waiting for SOARIN

 

OH HEY EMILY!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday February 15, 2015

Kylie & McKayla Come to Visit for Mardi Gras

My last day of Photo Imaging Training was today!  I trained again from 8:00-4:30 PM with my trainer Lisa and we basically just reviewed everything about the photos just because I wanted to make sure I knew it well so I could tell guests the correct information.  I was able to have some more practice with it which was nice and halfway through the day, I had a LEADERSHIP ENGAGEMENT with Debra.  It went really well and we mostly just talked about the point system that Disney has and how it could affect me.  She was very nice!  Then I had to take my Photo Imaging Assessment which was 43 questions, but not hard because my trainer helped guide me to the right answer if I was unsure about one of the questions.  I'm starting to feel a little more comfortable handling all the photos and different types of packages and photo options. 

After my shift, I came back to the apartment and quickly got changed because my friends Kylie and McKayla and their friend Alexis were visiting for Mardi Gras break and they really wanted to meet me in Downtown Disney.  I was so excited to see them here with me in Disney!  We went to eat at Wolfgang Puck Express and I got this really yummy and really big pizza!!  We walked around to a lot of the stores and decided to walk all the way down to Pleasure Island where Splitsville, Disney Quest, and Cirque du Soleil are.  We went inside Candy Cauldron and ended up getting two chocolate covered strawberries to share between two of us!  We sat down behind a stage overlooking Characters in Flight and it was such a pretty view!   We had a really fun night and are planning on meeting up again maybe tomorrow, but Tuesday for sure in Magic Kingdom!!

McKayla, Alexis, Kylie, and Me

 

~ Krista Lauren Girod

Saturday February 14, 2015

Photo Imaging Training Day 1

First of all, Happy Valentine's Day everyone!  I hope you all had an amazing Valentine's Day!  Today was my first day of Imaging Training!  I trained from 8:00-4:30 PM with my trainer Lisa.  Since my location includes Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin, the gift shops after the ride handle the process of purchasing the guest's ride photos.  I'll be honest, I was super nervous about dealing with all the photos because there is a lot to know and it can seem very confusing at first.  I've been familiar with Photopass before because my family and I used it a bunch of times when we came to the parks when I was younger.  Now that the Magic Bands have been a thing, a lot of new technology and features has been introduced for guests to use.  MEMORY MAKER is one of the new features that guests can purchase for $199.00 and they can have access to all there pictures digitally and can download them form MYDISNEYEXPERIENCE.COM.  Another very neat option that guests can purchase is an ATTRACTIONS PLUS card in which they can have access to all RIDE photos only and the card is good for up to two weeks, or fourteen days, from purchase.  Dealing with the Magic Bands and Photopass can get a bit confusing so I won't go into too much detail, but if a guest has a Magic Band, their photos should automatically be synced to there bands, but it might take up to 24 hours to view them online.  I learned how to work the photo machines and how to search for guest's photos.  I trained first in the Space Mountain Shop and for this ride, it's important to ask the guests which side of the ride they stepped off on so that we can search for their ride photos more quickly since Space Mountain has two sides running - ALPHA & OMEGA.  I learned how to print ride photos and how to ring them up on the registers for guest's to buy. 

I also trained in the Buzz Lightyear Shop, which tends to be a lot more crowded and loud so it's hard trying to speak with guests and take care of regular purchases as well as photo purchases.  It's a lot to balance all at once so I'm sure it will just take some practice until I feel one hundred percent confident handling it all!  But, today was really fun and my trainer was very nice and helpful!  I love how much we rotate in Tomorrowland and there's eight different locations that I could work in which is exciting!!  I love changing stores every once in a while so I can always be doing something different!  I love it so much!!

~ Krista Lauren Girod

Friday February 13, 2015

Oversleeping for Training...

My worst nightmare happened to me this morning!!  My alarm never went off for my Once Upon a Time is Now training orientation!!  I had it set to wake me up for 4:45 so that I could meet my friend Erin whom I met at check-in and my Merchaintainment class so that we could ride together to Disney University.  I was supposed to be there from 7:15-11:30 AM and I ended up waking up at 7:20 AM and my heart immediately sank!  My mom had left me like five messages and called me twice to see if I had remembered to wake up since I had told her the night before what time I had planned on waking up and I usually always text her in the morning.  I cried my eyes out because I really didn't want to get in trouble for oversleeping.  I had to immediately call my mom to tell her what happened and then quickly call the Merchandise Training Office to let them know what happened and why I was late.  The girls name was Blair and she was soo sweet and made me feel so much better about what happened since I was so upset before!  She told me that they would have to reschedule me for another day, but that missing that orientation wouldn't affect the rest of my training schedule.  She told me that she couldn't even tell me how many times she overslept on her College Program which made me feel better too!  I cried for a while after still just because I was so mad at myself and my alarm for not waking me up.  I felt bad for Erin because she had also sent me like seven text messages wondering where I was and telling me that she just had to leave because she was going to be late when I didn't respond.  I told her how sorry I was and that I wanted to make it up to her.  My lovely roommate Janet cheered me up by making me some HOT CHOCOLATE and it helped just talking about it with my roommates in order to move past it. 

Sherri asked me if I wanted to maybe get my nails done, which I had never gotten done before, and I said sure!  We went to the nail salon and I just got my nails painted a really light, nude color.  It was nice and relaxing and brightened my mood a little bit!  After that we went to Walmart so I could pick up some groceries for the week and then we decided that we wanted to rent SHE'S THE MAN and watch it when we got back to our apartment. 

We went to the LEARNING CENTER at Vista Way to see if they would have She's the Man to rent, but they didn't.  So we ended up renting How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days and Horrible Bosses.  We came back to the apartment and they decided to cook some mozzarella sticks, potato wedges, and mini buffalo wild wings so that we could eat something while we watched the movie.  We had a lot of fun and it ended up being a better afternoon.  Of course I still thought about what happened the rest of the day, but I know it wasn't the end of the world and at least they could reschedule me for it!  YAY! 

~ Krista Lauren Girod

Thursday February 12, 2015

Three Parks // One Day!!

This morning, I slept till about 8:00 AM and took a shower and then got myself ready to go to the parks for 11:00 AM.  Me, Emily, and Bonnie were off and my friend Courtney from Southern Miss who's also staying in Chatham walked over to our apartment and I gave her a little tour which was fun!  It was really chilly, so Emily drove us all over to Courtney's apartment so she could grab her jacket and show me her apartment as well.  After that, we drove straight over to the Contemporary so that we could park close to Magic Kingdom and then just ride the bus over to Animal Kingdom.  I was so so excited about going there because I had been wanting to go there for a while now for some reason, so we went there first!  We have to go to Guest Relations every time we want to go to a park because our Main Gate Entrance passes haven't come in the mail yet!  So the line for that took a while.  Once they linked our free cast member entrance passes to our tickets, we could enter the park.  We ended up riding Kilimanjaro Safaris first, then Expedition Everest, and then Dinosaur.  I just so happened to see a girl that I recognized from her DCP vlogs on YouTube named Rachel who works at Expedition Everest, but I wasn't sure if I would be interrupting her while she was working, so I didn't say hello or anything, but she told me later on Facebook that she saw me!  HAHA!  We had such a fun time at Animal Kingdom.  The weather was so nice and it was just overall a very pretty day!  Bonnie met up with two of her friends who rode Dinosaur with us, and then her and Kristen's friend Lindsay met us at Pizzafari for lunch before spending the rest of the night with us! She was super sweet and we seemed a lot alike!

 On the bus from Contemporary to Animal Kingdom

I was just a LITTLE EXCITED!!

 Me & My Girls Ready to Take on Animal Kingdom

 

Lindsay offered to drive all four of us to Hollywood Studios.  She goes to school at UCF in Orlando and has an Annual Pass so she can park for free like us.  Since our tickets were already set back in Animal Kingdom, we didn't have to go back to Guest Relations to get our tickets set again, thank goodness.  We went straight to the new Starbucks in Hollywood Studious and I absolutely loved it!  I got a Passion Fruit tea and me, Courtney, and Lindsay pretended to be one of the princesses when they asked for our names.  I was Belle, Lindsay was Sleeping Beauty, and Courtney was Ariel.

I LOVE Starbucks SOO MUCH, especially when I'm enjoying my Passion Fruit tea.  We started walking towards Tower of Terror on Sunset Boulevard and Emily reminded herself that she wanted to look at the bags and purses in one of the stores.  I honestly forgot what the name of the store was called, but we all went inside and I was looking at the Disney Vera Bradley duffels because I really wanted to buy one with our holiday discount with this being our last day to use it.  I decided to wait on it until we went to Magic Kingdom later so I wouldn't have to carry it all around with me for the rest of the day.  Bonnie and Lindsay just so happened to be looking at one of the jewelry cases in the store and they both glanced at this rose gold Mickey bracelet and FELL IN LOVE with it!  It cost about $80.00 and with our 40% holiday discount, it was about $50.00 or something around there.  I feel in love with it too and I love dainty bracelets so I bought one too and now we're all TWINNING!!

After doing a little bit of shopping, we went ahead and rode Tower of Terror!  We got the front row and we dropped first!  We were all laughing and having a great time on it!  We didn't have time to ride Rock n' Roller Coaster, but we did also ride the Great Movie Ride before driving to Magic Kingdom. 

Courtney, Me, Emily, Lindsay, and Bonnie

Waiting for Tower of Terror

It was starting to get dark about the time we got to Magic Kingdom.  Lindsay parked at the Ticket and Transportation Center and we took the monorail to MK.  She wanted to meet up with her friend from her hometown in Pennsylvania who just transferred to UCF this past fall.  Her name was Alexis and she was buying a snack from the Confectionary on Main Street.  She was super sweet too and we ended up talking and getting along automatically!  I was really happy I got to meet them both!  We went to Uptown Jewelers first so that I could buy the black Disney Vera Bradley duffel which I forgot to take a picture of, but it's super cute!  I actually need to bring it somewhere in order to get the ink tag removed from it because the cast member who checked me out forgot to!  I also bought a Mystery Pack of trading pins that were hot air balloons and I really want another pack to see if I can collect any others!  We then crossed the street and went inside the Emporium and walked around for a bit before Kristen and Lauren came and met us after training.  Lindsay surprised her which was cute and then Sherri and Catherine came and met us just for a little bit too!  The store was sooo crowded and we were hungry so as Wishes was just about to start, we hiked our way over to Pecos Bill and I got chili cheese fries and a drink.  Kristen was buying a Minnie baseball hat just like the one Bonnie bought when I bought my sparkly Minnie ears and she came and met us at Pecos Bill.  We literally walked right on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and had the BEST time!!  Then me, Bonnie, Emily, Kristen, Alexis, and Lindsay rode the Haunted Mansion.  I LOVE that ride so much!  It's such a CLASSIC...  We walked back to our cars after riding those two rides and called it a night.  We had such a busy day, but it was so much fun!!!  I definitely want to try and complete the FOUR PARK CHALLENGE one day soon!!

~ Krista Lauren Girod

 

Wednesday February 11, 2015

First Day Off Spent in Downtown Disney & Dinner at BOMA

 

Today was my first day off and I was soo excited!  Working in Tomorrowland has been so much fun and I'm so excited that I was placed there!  I woke up around 9:00 AM and edited one of my vlogs and then decided to wash my clothes and do laundry around noon.  Tomorrow is our last day to use the holiday discount on merchandise in the parks, so my goal today was to go to Downtown Disney and do some shopping.  I really wanted someone to go with me, so I waited for Emily and Kristen to meet me down there!  I was proud of myself for finding my way to Downtown Disney perfectly and for finding a place to park since most of that area is under construction due to the upcoming addition of Disney Springs.  They wanted Starbucks, so we headed over there first, but I didn't get anything.  We then went inside World of Disney and I ended up buying a set of princess trading pins and the new Dooney and Bourke purse that I had been keeping my eye on since my roommate Emily bought one for herself.  Oh and I also bought the Magic Kingdom Alex and Ani bracelet since it's my home park and I fell in love with it!  We also went into Co-Op and I bought a HOT PINK Minnie phone case! 

 

 

We met up with Bonnie and shopped a little bit more with her and then the three of them were supposed to meet with some friends for their friend Marissa's birthday dinner at Boma.  I knew Marissa through my friend Courtney, but I only had met her once last week.  I started walking back to my car since Sherri decided she just wanted to stay in instead of meeting me there and on my way back Courtney had called saying that Marissa was wanting me to come to their reservations also!  I felt kind of bad since I wasn't originally invited, but she insisted, so I drove myself from Downtown Disney to the Animal Kingdom Lodge and met up with everyone there!  That resort is one of the nicest I've ever been in!  It's so pretty inside and very well-themed.  Boma is a buffet so we ate so much food and I tried this really YUMMY guava juice!  I really enjoyed it and I'm so thankful for Marissa letting me come along!  I followed Marissa back to our apartments and then got ready for bed!  My first day off was a success!

 

 

 

~ Krista Lauren Girod

Tuesday February 10, 2015

Register Training in Tomorrowland

Yesterday and today I had my two days of register training on location in Tomorrowland.  My trainer's name was Sarah and she was super sweet and so helpful in teaching me everything about the register's and allowing me to have enough practice time and interaction with the guests that I needed to feel comfortable working there.  So far, both of my trainer's have been awesome and I couldn't have asked for a better way to be welcomed to the company and to my location. 

 

I worked a morning shift yesterday from 8:30 - 17:00 so it was nice getting to welcome the guests to Tomorrowland when the park opened.  I was placed on the registers for about twenty minutes or so and I was a little nervous since my Merchantainment training wasn't very long enough and I still didn't feel one hundred percent confident being on the registers alone.  My first transaction was for a pair of socks from a lady and everything was working fine until she paid me a large bill and I got a little confused when I was trying to count back her change in the Disney way and then she got a little flustered and I felt really bad, but I knew it would only get better from there.  The lady standing behind her told me not to worry and that I was doing a great job and her transaction went a lot smoother.  Within the first transactions I did yesterday, I kept hitting the cash button on the register before typing the amount the guests paid me.  When you hit the cash button before you type the amount they pay, the register automatically assumes that the guest paid in exact cash, so I learned quickly not to do that and to type in the amount the pay before hitting cash on the register.  We walked around to a lot of the different locations I'll be working.  Since we were working 8 and a half hours, we get two 30 minute breaks during our shift so around 11:45 AM, me and Sarah took a break, or should I say, went to FEED STITCH, and ate lunch in the Mousekateria.  Once we got back, it was pouring rain outside, so I had to grab my raincoat and me and Sarah walked over to the Space Mountain Arcade Shop and it was very crowded in there since all the guests were inside wanting to buy ponchos.  Sarah placed me on the registers in there and it was very face-paced which I loved since everyone was wanted to buy ponchos.  Within the first day of training, I've experienced guests paying with just about every form of payment except Traveler's Cheques and I got to experience a guest use a Disney gift card and how to ship packages to the guest's resort.  It was very neat being able to see how all the different transactions work!  I also got to Merchantain in Mickey's Star Traders towards the end of my shift and I handed out stickers to all the little space rangers.  OH and I pin traded a lot more yesterday too, which I ABSOLUTELY LOVE!!  Pin trading is one of my favorite parts about working Merchandise!!

 

Today, I was with Sarah again and another trainee named Abbey and I worked from 14:00 - 22:30.  Her friend Sarah was also training for our second day on register!  They knew each other from earlier when they checked in on January 26th, but for some reason, they received a bunch of days off in a row, so even though I started later than them, we were all on the same training day!  Our first assignment was to go out to Geiger's Cart, which sells a bunch of trading pins and is a great way to really interact with the guests and talk to them about all the pins and lanyards that we sell.  I was working register this morning and I had a lot of great pin trading interaction and was able to help a little boy pick out a brand new lanyard for his pin collection.  His father was so excited for him and it was so lovely seeing how happy he was with his new green lanyard!  Me and Abbey both helped several people locate different attractions around the park, and I've been asked twice in the past two days how to get to Epcot from Magic Kingdom and I always refer guests to take the monorail since it's the quickest and easiest way to get there!  We also headed over to the Tomorrowland Speedway Cart where I worked the register again assisted several guests who wanted to buy water and another who bought a toy monorail and wanted it shipped back to their resort.  We went into the Space Mountain Shop Arcade for a little bit and met up with Abbey's friend Sarah and her trainer Cris.  The five of us ate a late lunch/early dinner together in the Mousekateria and then went into a room to take our Merchandise Assessment which was a total of 73 multiple choice questions and I PASSED!!  YAY!  After that, we went to take our second break in the Tomorrowland break room and then went outside to Ursa's Cart, which sells hats, sunglasses, and glow items for nighttime.  Both me and Abbey worked the register this time, but I only completed one transaction with a guest wanted to buy two Mickey glow sticks.  I merchantained using a Buzz Lightyear Bubble Gun, which was so much fun for all the kids because they loved seeing the bubbles!  Me, Sarah, and Abbey brought a little kid another sucker because his fell, which was truly a MAGICAL MOMENT!  And guess what we got to see tonight?!!  WISHES!!  Tomorrowland is truly the best place to watch the fireworks right by Space Mountain!  After Wishes was over, we went back inside Mickey's Star Traders and I helped some Jedi's build their own light sabers and then we called it a night!  Today was great and I'm so happy that I was placed in Tomorrowland!  I'm going to have the best time on my College Program!!

 

~ Krista Lauren Girod

Sunday February 8, 2015

Merchantainment

This morning instead of going under the tunnels to train in my location, I had to attend my Merchainment class at Disney University from 1:30-5:45 PM.  Merchantainment is a combination of both MERCHANDISE and ENTERTAINMENT.  I was in a class of about fifteen other Merchandise CP's and we had two trainers Sarah and Rutledge who walked us through all the different types of currency, forms of payment most commonly seen in the parks, and the ways of how to work the register.  We discussed issues such as theft, purchase with purchase, returns, exchanges, and no strings attached.  There was a lot to learn, but I really enjoyed it.  We got to practice doing transactions using a TIGGER plush toy and a Walt Disney Pictures DVD.  We performed multiple transactions using the virtual registers and learned about all the keys that are easily accessible for us to press for more of the common items such as water and ponchos, or other items such as charms for the charm bracelets that guests can make.  At the end of training, we paired up and pretended to be the cashier and guest.  I met a girl named Erin who's working on Main Street East Merchandise and we helped each other out when practicing transactions.  The one thing that I felt was the most complicated to learn and get used to was counting back someone's change in the DISNEY WAY.  It's kind of hard to explain, but basically, if someone purchased an item for say $17.10 and they paid using a $20.00 bill, you would have to start with the purchase total and count up to $20.00 while trying to give back the least amount of change possible.  I just feel like its a little confusing, especially if a guest is trying to talk with you while you're trying to count how much money to give back to them.  I feel like a lot of the skills we learned today I'll enhance on as I'm actually practicing and doing it in the real setting and not just in class, but I'm definitely the most nervous for working the registers, even though I feel like it'll also be the most fun of all the positions. 

 

After Merchaintainment training, I started to feel really sick.  My nose usually starts running and I sneeze a lot when I'm tired, so I figured that the best idea for me to do would be to just go back to the apartment and have a relaxing night, instead of rushing over to the parks with my roommates.  I was able to catch up on a few things, but tomorrow is my first official training day for working the registers so it should be fun!!  I'll let y'all know all about it!

 

What I wore to Merchantainment Training

 



~ Krista Lauren Girod

Saturday February 7, 2015

MK Costuming, My Location, Dinner in Italy, and Magic Kingdom Again...

My schedule today was a little unclear because it had said that I was supposed to meet at MK Costuming, which is behind Disney University, but it had said to wear my costume, so I wasn't sure whether I was supposed to pick up my costume before training that day or if I would be getting my costume that day.  I had asked someone at my Merchandise Operations training the day before and he said to just show up in business causal clothing and that I would be getting my costume there.  So that's what I did.  I forgot to take a picture of what I wore that day, but I wore black straight dress pants with a beige shirt and black sweater and black flats. 

 

So, I caught the bus from Chatham about an hour or so before my scheduled training time.  Luckily, there were a few other people going to the same place as me on my bus so we just followed each other into the MK Costuming building.  The building was huge and there were rows and rows filled with costumes for every attraction, merchandise location, quick service food and beverage restaurants, and so much more!!  There were about 10-15 CP's who met there and we all waited for our specific trainers to guide us and show us exactly which costume we needed.  There were people working on Main Street, Storybook Circus, and I was the only working in Tommorowland.  My trainer's name was Hortencia and she was the sweetest lady.  She helped me pick out at least two costumes and I checked out a long sleeve white undershirt, bought black shoes at the costuming place, and got a heavy jacket to wear if it's ever freezing when I'm working.  I also checked out a black belt and a satch with a poncho for when it rains.  Apparently, CP's are allowed to check out up to five costumes at a time, but I might just check out three and wash them myself.  I haven't decided yet, but I'll need to go back to the costuming place to get one more costume just to have. 

 

After trying on several pieces of my costume, I found the sizes that worked the best for me and she showed me how to checkout each item.  Each item must have a barcode, so when you walk through the scanner, which looks like something you would walk through in airport security, each items barcode would be recognized and the machine tallies up how many items you have in your hand when you walk through.  I thought it was pretty neat!

 

My trainer and I then boarded the West Clock bus, which takes you to the tunnels of the Magic Kingdom and the first thing we did was go into the Training Center Office and she grabbed my file and then we went into the Women's Locker room, so that I could change into my costume.  I wasn't allowed to change at the Costuming building, so I had to wait until I got under the tunnels to do so.  Once I changed into my costume, we then went to another office where I received my pin trading landyard, my Earning My Ears ribbon, and a black landyard with a white sleeve that I could put my cast member blue ID inside of.  We then walked towards Tomorrowland and I placed my lunchbox inside a separate locker.  My trainer showed me some different things around the backstage area of my location and then we also took a trip on stage starting in Mickey's Star Traders.  We walked around in all of my locations and she pointed out where certain things were such as the stock rooms.  We had gone back into Mickey's Star Traders to go backstage, but while she was showing me different things behind the cash register, one guest came up to us and wanted to pin trade!!  It was so exciting for me, so I trader two pins with her and one with her mom, so that's a total of THREE pins that I traded on my first day!  Definitely something that I'll always remember.  I trained from 9:30 - 18:00 and as soon as I got off, I waited for the bus to take me back to my apartment so that I could quickly change into something more comfortable.

 

Sherri, Catherine, and I drove over to Epcot to meet up with Emily, Bonnie, and Kristen at Via Napoli in Italy where we had dinner reservations for 8:30 PM.  Via Napoli is one of MY FAVORITES!  We ate two pizzas and just about finished both of them with a couple of pieces left.  The park was closed once we left and Catherine and Sherri had to be up early for training the next day, so they headed back to the apartment and me, Bonnie, Emily, and Kristen took the monorail and headed to Magic Kingdom for a couple of hours.  We rode the Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and the Haunted Mansion.  The castle looked so pretty that night and we had a great time!  I can't believe I've almost been here for a whole week!  It seems crazy!

 

PIZZA, PIZZA, & MORE PIZZA

Bonnie, Me, Kristen, & Emily



 

~ Krista Lauren Girod

 

 

Friday February 6, 2015

Welcome to Operations Training & First Night in Magic Kingdom

 

Today was my very first day of Training!  I was scheduled to have WELCOME TO OPERATIONS training from 7:30 - 14:00 PM.  I took the bus to Disney University and someone there guided us to where our class was meeting in the cafeteria.  Then we followed someone to our classroom and there were about 35 or so people in my training class.  We had two facilitators who were very engaging and interactive with us.  They played a virtual slideshow and discussed all the main purposes of operations here at the Walt Disney World Resort.  Operations basically stands for a good number of the roles offered to CP's such as Merchandise, Attractions, Lodging, Quick Service Food and Beverage, Transportation, etc.  We discussed how to interact with guests in the Disney way and how to use the Disney point and much more.  It was a little tiring, but still fun and exciting at the same time!

 

At Disney University with my Business Causal Attire



 

After training, I came back to the apartment and met up with one of my roommates, Bonnie.  We were planning on going to Magic Kingdom with everyone once the rest of our roommates got their blue ID's to go into the parks for free.  Kristen, Emily, and Katie had Traditions in the afternoon and Catherine and Sherri went to Animal Kingdom, so me and Bonnie decided that we wanted to go to Magic Kingdom.  I really wanted to do something since technically I could've gotten into the parks yesterday, but I wanted to wait until everyone could go.  We ended up riding the bus from Chatham to the Polynesian and then catching the monorail to Magic Kingdom.  We had to go to Guest Services to get our ticket into the park and then headed straight into the Emporium.  I really wanted to buy sparkly Minnie ears because I've never owned a pair and have always wanted them, and Bonnie really wanted a red polka dot Minnie baseball cap.  We both bought what we wanted, so we were very happy!! 

 

Me and Bonnie in Magic Kingdom

My First Pair of Minnie Sparkly Ears



 

We rode Haunted Mansion first and then rode It's a Small World before heading over to meet Kristen, Bonnie, and Katie in Tomorrowland at Cosmic Rays Starlight Café.  We rode the People Mover and then watched Carousel of Progress before heading back to the apartment because we were exhausted, and I had to be up pretty early to meet at MK Costuming for my Tier One Training.  I had such a fun night in the parks with my lovely roommates!!  I LOVE them so much already!

 

~ Krista Lauren Girod 

 

 

Thursday February 5, 2015

Traditions, the Outlets, and An Extremely Goofy Welcome Event

This morning I woke up at 4:30 AM in order to get ready for Traditions.  I know that sounds crazy, but I love waking up at least two hours earlier than when I am supposed to leave to go somewhere in order to give my hair enough time to dry.  The bus was supposed to come around 6:55 AM at Chatham Square, so me and one of my roommates Janet left our apartment to start walking at 6:30 AM and ended up catching a bus that said it was going to a SPECIAL EVENT which was meant for all the people attending Traditions.  The bus ride to Disney University didn't take too long at all, maybe only like twenty or so minutes because we didn't stop anywhere else along the way.  Disney University was incredible and I couldn't believe I was stepping foot inside of it.  There's so many amazing photographs of Walt Disney and scenes from Disney movies, which made me so happy and excited to be a part of the magic at Disney!  I'm going to try and not spoil too much information about Traditions because it's very special and very exciting going through it, but it's basically like a five hour orientation filled with heart-warming videos, welcoming facilitators, possibly a visit to one of the four Disney theme parks, as well as a visit from one very special person....  Overall, I had the perfect morning and I wish I could do it all over again!!

 

 Inside Disney University

 

Me, Allison, and Ashley who I met at Traditions

 Me and Emily enjoying the MAGIC of TRADITIONS!!

 



 

I finished Traditions around 1:30 PM and rode the bus back to Chatham Square to my apartment.  I made a sandwich for lunch and waited for my roommates to all get ready to go to the Orlando Premium Outlets!  We all really wanted to go get Vera Bradley lunch boxes for work and so we each bought one for $18.00, which wasn't too bad at all! 

 

 

We went into a few other places and then came back to our apartment to get ready for our first Welcome Event.  The theme was AN EXTREMELY GOOFY WELCOME EVENT and I had so much fun!  I went with all my roommates and we got to meet Goofy and Max and then ate some free pizza!  We had a great time dancing and even got to take photo booth pictures which was a lot of fun!  We left after that and all my roommates just hung out and talked for a really long time, so it's now like 1:30 AM and I have to be up at 4:30 AM to catch the bus to Disney University for my first day of training at 6:33 AM.  It should be fun, but until then, goodnight....

 

 My Lovely Roomies

 



 

~ Krista Lauren Girod