The Beginning

About these first few days in good ol' Chatham Square. 

I haven’t been able to post this for a few days because our internet has been out. I’m blaming it on Hurricane Issac, but I really don’t have an explanation for it. So, yeah.

Anyway, Tuesday, the day after check-in, was the housing meeting, which was kind of boring and annoying, but it was mandatory. It only lasted for around an hour, and they TRY to make it fun, so it isn’t really that bad. Basically, it’s all, “don’t drink if you’re under 21, don’t put anything on the walls, you’re not allowed to do drugs, blah, blah, blah.” They tried to scare us into not going on the party buses, but that doesn’t work. And they detail a long list of things you cannot have, such as bath salts (so no one’s face gets eating) and toy guns (even the ones you buy from POTC).

I spent the rest of that day with my family, since my mom was still in Orlando and leaving early Wednesday morning, so my first night in the apartment was Tuesday night. Wednesday was an off day. We wouldn’t get our park passes until Thursday, so Orlando was our oyster. The Welcome Party, themed after Alice’s tea party, was at Vista from 11-2, but my roommates refused to wake up before 11, and it started to rain a little before 2, so we didn’t quite make it there. I ended up unpacking and going over to the outlet mall (there are two outlet malls within a five minute drive of all the apartment complexes) and the Florida mall with my roommates and the guys who live upstairs. The roomies and I went out to dinner after that, and then headed back home early to get ready for Traditions.

Ahhh, Traditions. There were two classes for that day: one which started at 8 a.m., the other which started at 2 p.m. All of my roommates were in the 8 a.m. class, which meant getting on the A bus at 6:45, which meant an early wake-up call. You take the bus to West Clock and walk over to Disney University and are split into classes of about forty people.

I won’t say much about Traditions. One thing you learn is that there is a lot about this company that you have to keep secret, and I really appreciate that.  It’s a lot of boring power point presentations, a lot of watching videos (a lot of commentary by cast members – saw an officer I know from the cruise line and kind of half screamed in the middle of class, there was staring), some in-class activities, and there may or may not be a park visit (so wear comfortable shoes). I was in tears by the end of it though. Happy tears. I’m-finally-doing-something-I’ve-always-dreamed-of-doing tears. This-is-the-beginning-of-my-career tears.  You get your nametags and your park passes. Nametags. NAMETAGS. I have been waiting for my little oval nametag since I was about nine years old. That’s a decade of wanting a piece of plastic. I cried.

Dreams are comin’ true, kids. Dreams are comin’ true.

Thursday afternoon, my roomies and I went to Magic Kingdom  and then two of them got so drenched on Splash Mountain that they had to go home and change. We went to Hollywood Studios at night – we got there around 9:00 – and rode everything we possibly could. Everything we possibly could ended up being Tower of Terror and Rockin’ Rollercoaster. The time to go to DHS, or any park for that matter, is when it’s about to close. There are no waits for anything.

Friday, I was off. My apartmentmate Karissa and I had grand plans of going park hopping, and ended up rolling out of bed, BSing around the apartment, and going to Walmart. We were going to go to the pool and then it rained. It rains a lot. I cooked dinner for my roommates and the guy upstairs and then went to bed early again for another early day of training.

Saturday was my Welcome to Entertainment core class for character performers, attendants, costuming, and photopass photographers. I was sitting with two girls who were friends with Pooh and maybe a couple of mice. It was an eight hour day (as compared to the four hour day that was Traditions), but it was a ton of fun. Walt Disney World Entertainment seems like something of a little secret exclusive club, and our trainers made us feel really special for actually having access to It and being part of it.

More than Traditions training, there is a LOT I can’t share about my entertainment core class. If you’re in the entertainment division of the company, though, you’ll find out about it all in time. If not, just enjoy the magic.

I LOVE being behind the scenes of things. LOVE it. That is why I want to go into production, because I love creating the magic and the illusions. I love knowing what’s going on and having power over what happens (maybe that makes me a control freak), so getting this special insight into the shows and characters I have been experiencing as a guest was SUCH a high for me and I can’t wait to delve deeper. But it is not for everyone. The entertainment department could definitely lead to a whole lot of ruined childhoods if you’re not as weird as me, so just know what you’re getting yourself into.

We got our schedules at our Entertainment class, and I start on-the-job training on Monday morning and go through Thursday. By Friday, I think I’ll have earned my ears, because I’m scheduled to work at Epcot from 6pm to 12:15, but I’m not positive yet. The schedules on the HUB (which we got access to on the end of day one of training) are not concrete and absolute for members of the entertainment department. We have our own online scheduling system, EISS, that I’ll learn how to use tomorrow.

My training, as an attendant, is different from everyone else’s – I don’t have my park orientation until September 4^th, when most people in other roles have already had theirs. Also, since my role is universal, I’ll be trained in all four parks. My first day of training is at Animal Kingdom. Day two is at Magic Kingdom. I don’t get to Epcot until day three.

So, I have to be at Animal Kingdom bright and early and in costume on Monday morning… the same day Hurricane Issac is supposed to come and hang out with us. And my costume… OH, my costume. More on that later… after I look at myself in the mirror for a bit and gauge my eyes out.