Tuesday was both my Discover Day and the morning I left my phone in housing. Discovery Day is the day in which we learn all there is to know about Epcot - what it stands for, its history, how to get around, how to find bathrooms, what's being reimagined, what attractions remain and which pavilion is the best (self-proclaimed Canada). We took a walking tour of Future World and rode Spaceship Earth, and were threatened with a jog around World Showcase before we commandeered a FriendShip, Jack Sparrow-style, and took a boat tour instead, all before World Showcase was even open. Since we were finished at noon, I took the afternoon off for a designated Magic Kingdom day. I lunched at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe, then noticed that half of Tomorrowland was temporarily closed, which meant all adjacent attractions had a longer wait time. The only solution was to abandon Tomorrowland and head towards shorter wait times in Liberty Square (oh hey, Haunted Mansion), Frontierland (getting soaked on Splash Mountain and drying off on Big Thunder Mountain and then chilling in Country Bear Jamboree). En route I ran into a character attendant I knew from my last program, who allowed me a quick visit with Ariel between my desired attractions.
 |
| Tip: Know all the right people. I know Stephen. |
 |
| Ariel told me to keep an eye out for thingamabobs. |
Wednesday was another Disney University Day. Not trusting myself to a)not get lost and b)not get anyone else lost, I drove to and arrived at Disney University insanely early but still behind a handful of my classmates. I did not get lost, although the chances were high. The small group of international merchies (there might be seven of us) gathered with new merchandise college program kids for a not-at-all updated class called Merchantainment. You may recall that's a Disney word for Merchandise + Entertainment. It was a long morning of sitting to learn more about the Four Keys and how they relate to both the Guest experience and loss preventation, as well as practice on a real/fake cash register with real/fake American currency (the small handful of us who were not raised in this country were given a convenient handout). After lunch and a shorter afternoon of e-learning (I know so much about safe food preparation in degrees Fahrenheit), I went back to Vista for an evening of tidying, organization and well-deserved foot rest (I clocked over 12, 000 steps yesterday, just so you know). Also another round of (couponed!) Steak & Shake with current and former/future CMs and friends Mike & Matt (Lindsay's roommates!).
Thursday was my second day onstage and in costume. The focus of the day was Guest interactions at the cash wrap (ie transactions). It's coming back slowly, but I have had to learn quite a few things since my last program. I still got to have some Guest interaction and some pin trading but mostly I practiced package pickups, returns, exchanges, cash and credit transactions, all the joy of merchandise.
 |
| Our first opening meeting (with the UK merch cast)! |
After a long day of working, Sarah and I decided we hadn't been at Epcot long enough and, since we will be closing during the IllumiNations foreworks for the next few months, we thought it prudent to watch the fireworks so we wouldn't get distracted later. We went to Beaches and Cream on Disney's BoardWalk for dinner, and were ridiculously too full for the ice cream for which Beaches and Cream is known. Next time. As we were leaving, we found that the heavens had opened up in typical Florida fashion, so we resigned ourselves to spending the remainder of the evening in Disney Parks ponchos purchased with our holiday Cast discounts. We were able to squeeze in a ride on the Gran Fiesta Tour starring the Three Caballeros (it has been ever so slight reimagined) before finding an excellent spot in the Mexico pavilion to watch the fireworks. The poncho had a sauna-like effect and kept us very cozy.
 |
| Can you see us in the mirror of the Beaches and Cream counter? |
 |
| Sarah is too cool to wear her poncho. I am not. |
Friday, we are both off and headed to Animal Kingdom (teaser for the next post!).
See you real soon!
Lindsey
Magical Moment: There was a Guest in the store today desperately searching for a Cast Member from her neck of the woods. She was from Smiths Falls and she found me.
Pixie Dust to: The UK merchie who suggested a group photo, and my leader who sent it to me.
No comments:
Post a Comment