Traditions, Discovery Day, and First Few Days of Training

I know I promised to write earlier this week but I have barely been home. I think this is the first night I have actually been home for most of the night.

Saturday-So last Saturday was Traditions which was my first paid day of work. Traditions was a super early start which was rough. The morning started with a union presentation which was just awful. I didn't agree with the whole set up of it and how they presented it. Then we did the Working with Integrity E learning that I did last summer so that was super tough to stay awake during. Finally after that we got into learning about Disney and Walt. The best part of it was going to MK and being back in the parks. And of course receiving our nametags and Disney IDs. I was wondering how different the Traditions we had to do would be since it was like 8 1/2 hours but it was pretty much the same thing we did for the ICP except for the union presentation and having lunch at MK. Everything was just dragged out for a few extra hours. After that we went home, went to the outlets for dinner and headed back to MK. It felt so good to be back walking down Main Street again. We managed to get a few rides in which was good since the park was only open until 11. We did Pirates, Big Thunder Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain (first time on it since they added in the lapbars, super weird), and Mickey's Philharmagic. Then we decided to get a spot in front of the castle since Wishes would be starting soon. I was so excited to see Wishes. They got rid of it last summer during my ICP for the special fireworks they were running during Summer Nightastic. I liked those fireworks but nothing compares to Wishes. I was also excited to finally see the new show they are doing on the castle: The Magic, the Memories and You. It was so amazing, it's so incredible what they do with the castle. We decided to leave after Wishes since a few of us had another early morning.

Sunday: I had to be at Disney University for 8am for my Food and Beverage Core class. It was so boring and I was trying so hard not to fall asleep. I did end up getting my work shoes that day. Disney is doing something new and giving anyone who is working food and beverage and custodial free work shoes. They are super uncomfortable though which kind of sucks. Luckily I finished early since I had done most of my e learning during my first program. After a quick bus ride home, I changed and headed to Hollywood Studios with one of my friends for the last day of Star Wars Weekends. It was super weird being back in the Studios, it felt like I never left. The first ride we did was of course the new Star Tours, fast passes were all gone until 9pm so we waited in line for 90 minutes to ride it. I loved it, the 3D is so good and I like how each time it will be a different experience. After that we did Muppet Vision and then grabbed some lunch at Pizza Planet. We walked around a bit before heading on Tower of Terror. That is one of my favourite rides and we had such an awesome sequence. And we were in the first row too so awesome first ride of the program. Coaster's wait time was too long so we went to check out some of the Star Wars merchandise. It was so weird being back in the special event tent and seeing the new CPs doing my old job. I felt a bit homesick for last summer. I did run into some of my ex-co workers which was awesome. It was good to see some of my favourite people from last summer. After that we got some drinks and waited for Hyperspace Hoopla. Hoopla is the finale at the end of the day for Star Wars Weekends. It is such an awesome show and this year's show was just amazing. After that we headed back to housing and got to watch some of Illuminations from the bus stop.

Monday-I had my Discovery Day today so we walked around Epcot and learned about the history of the park. Then we met our coordinator of training and got shown around our area. After that we finally got our costumes. I have two costumes: one for the restaurant and one for the popcorn/beer cart. The restaurant costume is very simple, a long sleeved shirt and pants with an apron. For the cart I am dressed like a lumberjack. We also got the rest of our training schedule and I got my schedule until July 9th since that is how much training we have to have. After work we went to the pool for a bit, went to Walmart and then had our first family dinner while watching the hockey game.

Tuesday-In the morning we had E learning again but I only had a few to do so I just fooled around on the Hub and checked out any special discounts we had for the summer. After lunch we sat down with one of our managers and went over a bunch of stuff. After work I went home for a bit and then headed to Downtown Disney for dinner (finally got my Earl of Sandwich!) and went to watch Pirates.

Wednesday-I had my first day of on the job training as an AM seater

Thursday-I was off so I slept in until like 11:30 and went to Publix for some more groceries and to the pool. After the pool I went to dinner at Outback and shopped around the outlets for a bit. Made the mistake of going to Charlotte Russe and saw all the cute dresses on sale. This is going to be a real problem. I also saw they are opening an American Eagle in the outlets which is going to be tough for saving money. That night I made plans to go to Jellyrolls with one of the girls I worked with last summer. It was great to see her again and be back at Jellyrolls. I seriously love that place. Last summer one week I went like 3 times. We only stayed until one but I know we we will definitely be going back very soon.

Friday: I was off again so we went to Animal Kingdom for the day. We rode Everest, Dinosaur, did the Safari, watched Tough to be a Bug, and toured some of the exhibits and walking trails they have. It was way too hot today so we only stayed for a few hours. Luckily we made it home before this massive storm hit. After the storm died down, we had another family dinner at my place and just hung out. Tomorrow I get trained in greeter which should be fun. Hopefully it won't take a week to post again. A new arrival group arrives on Tuesday so I won't be the newbie for that much longer so that's exciting.