Commence the Mouse-Washing

Welcome to my blog!  I’m new to this and I’m not sure how much time (or energy) I’ll have to put into this but I promised to keep everyone updated so I’ll do my best.

I have arrived! Actually, I arrived two and a half weeks ago but that’s beside the point.  It’s the tenth day since checking in and moving into my new apartment with my wonderful new roommates!  I can hardly believe I’ve only known them such a short time.  We’re already great friends.  My roommate, Hallie, is my counterpart in practically every way.  She likes the bed in the back of the room, I like the bed hidden from the door.  She likes the bottom shelves in the closet, I’d much rather have the ones on top.  She likes the drawers on the left of the vanity, I prefer the ones on the right.  She’s a morning shower person, I shower at night.  It couldn’t have worked out better! 

My suitemates have turned out to be pretty great, too.  Carey was the suitemate we didn’t find ahead of time but it turns out we had nothing to worry about!  We all get along swimmingly and actually love hanging out.  We’ve had several evenings of just sitting around chatting.  Plus, she is one of my coworkers!  It’ll be nice to have someone to ride the bus with.  Katie has already proved to be a wonderful friend.  She has hung out with each of us the most one-on-one since her schedule has been the most forgiving (lucky lifeguards) and is quickly becoming a best friend to us all.  And she keeps doing the dishes and taking out the garbage so I think we’ll keep her.

Tonight, we celebrate Katie’s birthday!  I’m making my grandmother’s recipe for homemade brownies (at Katie’s request) and we’re having dinner at Planet Hollywood.  That may seem like a bad idea on a Friday night but a little known fact is that we get the next table if we show our Cast IDs!  How awesome is that?  The only restaurant on property that puts us before the guests.  Hallie and I have today off and we’re planning to head to Downtown Disney and buy her a present as well.  I think it will be fun evening for us all.

Everyone I’ve met so far has been super nice and welcoming.  I get a warm “Welcome to the family! You’ll love it!” from nearly every person I encounter. 

Work training has been fun but intense.  I"m really glad we were here on vacation first because I have been way too exhausted to go to the parks every night.  I've made it to EPCOT for one evening since check-in.  All the CPs I've met keep stressing to get lots of rest or you'll regret it.  But I think I'm going to spend tomorrow exploring Animal Kingdom!

For anyone who might be considering DCP in the future or is just curious about how this works, my schedule has been as follows:

Jan. 8 (Wed) – Check-in: was given my housing assignment and job location, had my housing ID made, had to show insurance and registration on my car, found out about what else I had to do over the next couple days including moving in to my apartment and…

Casting: basically lots of long lines to stand in but, instead of rollercoasters at the end, we had identity and background checks. Fun. But they provided pizza so we brightened back up.

Jan. 9 (Thurs) – Welcome Session: Typical housing orientation with a Disney flare.  It didn’t last long so that we all had time to go grocery shopping and finish moving in.

Jan. 10 (Fri) – Day off! We all put the last touches on the apartment and had dinner in Downtown Disney.

Jan. 11 (Sat) – Traditions: We all went to Disney U to learn about the history of the company, what it truly means to be a Cast Member, they gave us our first Mickey Ears and our Blue IDs (that get us into the parks for free so very important!), took us through the Utilidors (if you didn’t know, Magic Kingdom is on the second floor. That’s why you never see Cast Members in areas they don’t belong), up to Main Street USA and over to Fantasyland, brought us back, and Mickey personally gave us our official Disney Cast Member nametags!!!!!!

Jan. 12 (Sun) – DAKlimation: A class all about working at Disney’s Animal Kingdom (DAK) where they took us all through the park (including an early morning safari!!!!) and taught us about the theme and conservation message behind each section, the inspiration and planning that went into making it a reality, and getting our costumes.  Probably my favorite day yet.  Even though my costume us atrocious.

Jan. 13 (Mon) – Training Day 1: Online tutorials, one-on-one time with my trainer, looking around all the nooks and crannies of Discovery Island (we have three shops plus two carts and Baby Care), meeting managers, leaders, and fellow coworkers, and pin trading!

Jan. 14 (Tues) – Merchantainment: An all-day affair at Disney U where we learned about how to work in Disney’s version of retail, how to work Disney’s registers, loss prevention, “counting change the Disney way,” etc. and more online tutorials.  If you didn’t know, Disney U is pretty much just as exciting as the rest of the property with its hidden surprises.

Jan. 15 (Wed) – Training Day 3: Working the registers, opening the carts, how to get around Discovery Island, and practicing “counting change the Disney way” (i.e. the only part of this so far I truly HATE).

Jan. 16 (Thurs) – Training Day 4: Stockroom organization, how to work ink tags, retagging returned items, stocking the floor, more online tutorials, and a really long learning assessment (I passed!).

Jan. 17 (Fri) & 18 (Sat) – I get two days off! Whew.

Jan. 19 (Sun) – LAST DAY OF TRAINING!! Baby Care: I’ll learn all about cleaning the changing tables and nursing rooms, keeping the playroom neat, how to work the tv and DVD player, selling baby products, etc., how to care for lost children, and the last of my online tutorials.  (NOTE TO PARENTS OF YOUNG CHILDREN: Use this recourse!  This is an amazing resource meant just for you and I’m pretty sure most don’t even know it exists!)

I start work for real on Monday.  Scary prospect but I think it’ll be fun. 

Let’s see, what else…. Living here has actually been a blast!  Our apartment is HUGE!  We got our first choice in Chatham Square and it’s really nice.  Of all the complexes, ours is the most secure (well, maybe we tie with Patterson Court).  The security people are extremely strict here and I feel like I have to pull out my ID every 15 minutes but it’s comforting to know I’m safe while on my own campus.  We’re also in the very back of the complex, which is nice because we don’t have all the foot traffic outside our door but annoying because we’re literally the farthest building from the bus stop.  And, let me tell you, the CP buses are definitely a nice resource because I get so lost down here.  And it saves gas.  Of course, in an effort to save gas, I have to leave my apartment an hour before I normally would and I usually don’t get home until 90 minutes after my shift but it’s worth it.  My earliest shift next week isn’t until 8:00am so that’s a relief.  I really don’t like being on the bus before 6:00am.  

This ended up way longer than I meant for it to be so don’t always expect such extensive posts in the future!

Love you all and I hope to hear from you!

Abigail

P.S.

My address is

12762 Anson Manor Court

Apt. 25302

Orlando, FL. 32821

I already posted it on Facebook so I might as well have it here!