I'm still alive!

I promise I haven't completely disappeared off the face of the planet - I know that's what it seems like. So, prepare for a long blog post! Going into this internship, I didn't realize how absolutely exhausted I would be all the time. I work full eight hour days, five days a week, which isn't as bad as some people I've heard are working over 50 hours a week. BUT it gets really stinkin' hot at my attractions. When you work Swings, you are basically cooking up there, with no umbrella or semblance of shade. Lately, we've been getting to Heat Index 1, which means we are allowed to take off our ties and unbutton our vest... This doesn't do much for me. Sometimes I wish I worked at Disneyland where a lot of the rides are indoors, but then I think about the fact that their park opens up to three hours earlier than ours (meaning my opening shifts would start at 6:30, instead of 9:30) and their park closes at least two hours later than ours (meaning my late shifts would go until 1am, instead of 10:45pm).

Though there is ONE thing I'm bummed about with DCA, and particularly Mickey's Fun Wheel... we don't get any cool celebrity sightings!! Within the last month, The Rock, Matthew Mcconaughey, and Leonardo di Caprio (my favorite!!!) were all at Disneyland. But did we see any of them over at Paradise Pier? Nope. We did have ONE celebrity sighting, but I didn't even know who they were... I was working the Wheel when a Guest Relations cast member (they're the ones that get to escort celebs) came down through the exit with a group of kids. I loaded them into a gondola and didn't think anything of it. The family that was next in line was like, "I wonder who they are?" and then their adorable daughter who was probably four years old said, "I know who they are! They're from Ant Farm!"


Ant Farm is apparently Disney Channel's newest show. The two girls in the middle were definitely there, and I'm pretty sure the boy in the middle was there too. The African American girl is also from Tyler Perry's House of Payne or whatever. They were cute, but I wasn't exactly starstruck.

Hmm.. what else is new.. Oh yeah! We started our class - the Blended Learning Series. We've had two meetings so far - both of which have taken place in a meeting room at the Paradise Pier Hotel. We even had our first homework assignment - a leadership interview, where we had to interview a Disney leader. I interviewed my favorite Lead for my attraction (Michelle) who is extremely helpful and great because she cares about her fellow cast members and wants to help them achieve their goals with the company. To be honest though, I'm still not entirely sure what this class is about. Here's what our schedule on the syllabus looks like:

Class Date	Class Title	Location
Jun 21	Introduction & Course Overview	Paradise Pier - Crystal Cove
Jun 28	Networking & Leadership Excellence	Paradise Pier - Crystal Cove
Jul 5	Leadership Interviews	OUT OF CLASS
Jul 12	Disney Heritage, Part 1	Paradise Pier - San Diego Room
Jul 19	Windows on Main Street	IN PARK ACTIVITY
Jul 26	Disney Heritage, Part 2	Paradise Pier - Redondo Room
Aug 2	Orange County Food Bank	12640 Knott St. Garden Grove, CA
Aug 9	Corporate Citizenship	Paradise Pier - San Diego Room
Aug 16	Guest Speaker & Course Wrap-Up	Paradise Pier - San Diego Room

Overall, I'm really excited about a lot of this. Besides the fact that the classes are at 8:30 am (seriously not a morning person), they are really easy to sit through and it doesn't feel like you're there for three hours (which you are).

One of the many things I love about Disney is that they care about every employee and want to make sure you're doing well in your area. As a result, you have a "check-in" with your home-team manager every few weeks (especially during your first couple months with the company). This allows you to discuss any concerns, let them know any of your goals and aspirations, etc. During my last check-in, I got the great news that I'm going to be cross-trained soon!! It's going to be for either California Screamin' or Grizzly River Rapid Run since those are the locations that need more people right now. I'm so excited for a change of pace - working 40 hours a week in one location gets kind of old after awhile. It'll be fun to try something new, plus I get paid like 15 cents more for those attractions because the are more dangerous, apparently...

So that about sums up my last few weeks. I promise I will try to post way more often! And of course, I still owe you guys a picture of me in costume. If anyone wants to come to the park and take an "action shot" of me, I'll use that on here! ;) Sometime in the future I'm going to post a blog of all the funny things guests ask me or things I overhear them say - and trust me, there's plenty of material to work with.

I'd like to end with a joke that an awesome shuttle driver told us backstage:

Q: Why does Ariel always wear seashells?

A: Because B-shells are too small and D-shells are too big!

hahahaha. brilliant.

Have a magical day! If you have any questions for me, post them and I'll answer them in the next blog! :)