darkdancingwaves
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2015
Congrats and good luck!
The Job of a Lifetime: My Spring 2015 DCP
- Thread starter thumpergirl101
- Start date
thumpergirl101
SA 2015 Alumna
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2012
I'm so, so sorry that it's been so long since I updated this thing. The world kind of conspired to distract me. So, in the spirit of catching up, and because I genuinely don't remember the minute details of each day, I'll try to cram in a few, less detailed updates over the next few days.
Monday, January 26th was my first day of training at Citricos! My training schedule had me as doing a "Location Overview", getting to see Citricos and the surrounding parts of the Grand Floridian. I was really nervous when I showed up, just because I didn't know anyone or have any idea what I was doing. Thankfully, on the bus I met an ICP wearing the same costume as me, so we started talking and she told me a little bit about Citricos. She also let me use her locker and made sure I know where I was going.
I checked in with the manager's office, and they then sent me to the GT office with the ICP, Tasmyn. I met a few people, who seemed surprised to see me. Evidently they didn't know there was another CP coming. But soon I was introduced to my trainer for the evening, Sonia. She showed me around the restaurant, and gave me a seating chart to start memorizing. Let me tell you, the seating chart is confusing!
Obviously as a seater the table numbers are really important to know, but it doesn't start at #1 and will randomly skip sequences like 37-39. But thankfully the rest was pretty intuitive, and I picked it up quickly. For most of the night, I was following Sonia around and learning the ropes of seating. Basically you stand in the entryway and wait for a ticket to print, with the party size and table number assigned. Then you grab menus and lead the party to the table. Pretty simple stuff, once you have the table numbers down. And there's plenty of guest interaction, which is nice.
Thankfully my first day was on a pretty slow night, so there weren't people to be sat constantly. When we were slow, Sonia took me around the lobby of the GF and showed me all the important things that guests might ask about, like smoking areas and where to buy souvenirs. Then, at the end of the evening, we went over the necessary paperwork, that was basically a review of the things I had learned that day. For all of my training, I was scheduled until 11:00 p.m., but there wasn't much left for me to do, so I always got an ER (early release) at 10:30.
The next day, Tuesday, was my culinary training. Of course, I'm not actually trained for cooking, but I got to wear a chef's outfit and see all the food being prepared. It was also my day to taste everything, so I ended up eating a lot. I'm normally a picky eater, but I forced myself to taste everything I could. Even the seafood. And while the seafood still doesn't appeal to me, honestly everything else was delicious. Even things that sound really suspicious, like melted leek and parsnip puree, were incredible. All the chefs were very nice and helpful. Citricos has an onstage kitchen, where all the entrees are prepared, plus a dessert bar where they put finishing touches on desserts and do all the fancy plating.
The most exciting part of the day? For some reason a guest was getting all the chefs to sign her menu. Since I was in my chefs outfit that day, I got to put my name down as "Chef Kira"! I felt pretty cool. Also, I got to put a veal chop in the fryer. That was the extent of my cooking for the day.
Wednesday was my Server/Food Runner/Bar training. A lot to accomplish in a single evening. I spent a good 4 hours following a server, trying to remember everything she did. Honestly, being a server sounds complicated. No server has to cover more than 4 tables, but when we're busy that's still quite a bit to do. The timing seems the most complicated, making sure people don't wait too long between courses and also making sure the kitchen has enough time to prepare everything. The computer system that the servers use was giving my trainer a bunch of issues that night, that required manager assistance to sort out, so I had to do some of the basic work like delivering bread and clearing tables by myself. It was a little bit nerve-wracking, but I feel like I learned a lot.
I spent about an hour following a food runner. They deliver food to the tables and to Mizner's Lounge nearby and help the assignor set and clear tables as necessary. It was a slow night, so this wasn't terribly interesting. I spent the rest of the time at the bar. I don't drink, and no one in my family drinks, so I'm just about as ignorant about alcohol as it's possible to be. Thankfully, I don't need to know a lot about that bar, so they just taught me the extreme basics and showed me the organization. The last little bit was spent filling out paperwork!
Thursday was my last work day that week, and it was another day of seater training. Instead of just following my trainer, I got to actually seat people and have my trainer follow me. Thankfully, I didn't mess up too badly. I didn't go to the parks in the mornings this week, because I was feeling particularly paranoid about work, and I wanted to devote all my energy to training. But since I was off Friday and Saturday, I headed into the parks!
I'll try to be better about updates in the future.
Love,
Kira
Monday, January 26th was my first day of training at Citricos! My training schedule had me as doing a "Location Overview", getting to see Citricos and the surrounding parts of the Grand Floridian. I was really nervous when I showed up, just because I didn't know anyone or have any idea what I was doing. Thankfully, on the bus I met an ICP wearing the same costume as me, so we started talking and she told me a little bit about Citricos. She also let me use her locker and made sure I know where I was going.
I checked in with the manager's office, and they then sent me to the GT office with the ICP, Tasmyn. I met a few people, who seemed surprised to see me. Evidently they didn't know there was another CP coming. But soon I was introduced to my trainer for the evening, Sonia. She showed me around the restaurant, and gave me a seating chart to start memorizing. Let me tell you, the seating chart is confusing!
Obviously as a seater the table numbers are really important to know, but it doesn't start at #1 and will randomly skip sequences like 37-39. But thankfully the rest was pretty intuitive, and I picked it up quickly. For most of the night, I was following Sonia around and learning the ropes of seating. Basically you stand in the entryway and wait for a ticket to print, with the party size and table number assigned. Then you grab menus and lead the party to the table. Pretty simple stuff, once you have the table numbers down. And there's plenty of guest interaction, which is nice.
Thankfully my first day was on a pretty slow night, so there weren't people to be sat constantly. When we were slow, Sonia took me around the lobby of the GF and showed me all the important things that guests might ask about, like smoking areas and where to buy souvenirs. Then, at the end of the evening, we went over the necessary paperwork, that was basically a review of the things I had learned that day. For all of my training, I was scheduled until 11:00 p.m., but there wasn't much left for me to do, so I always got an ER (early release) at 10:30.
The next day, Tuesday, was my culinary training. Of course, I'm not actually trained for cooking, but I got to wear a chef's outfit and see all the food being prepared. It was also my day to taste everything, so I ended up eating a lot. I'm normally a picky eater, but I forced myself to taste everything I could. Even the seafood. And while the seafood still doesn't appeal to me, honestly everything else was delicious. Even things that sound really suspicious, like melted leek and parsnip puree, were incredible. All the chefs were very nice and helpful. Citricos has an onstage kitchen, where all the entrees are prepared, plus a dessert bar where they put finishing touches on desserts and do all the fancy plating.
The most exciting part of the day? For some reason a guest was getting all the chefs to sign her menu. Since I was in my chefs outfit that day, I got to put my name down as "Chef Kira"! I felt pretty cool. Also, I got to put a veal chop in the fryer. That was the extent of my cooking for the day.
Wednesday was my Server/Food Runner/Bar training. A lot to accomplish in a single evening. I spent a good 4 hours following a server, trying to remember everything she did. Honestly, being a server sounds complicated. No server has to cover more than 4 tables, but when we're busy that's still quite a bit to do. The timing seems the most complicated, making sure people don't wait too long between courses and also making sure the kitchen has enough time to prepare everything. The computer system that the servers use was giving my trainer a bunch of issues that night, that required manager assistance to sort out, so I had to do some of the basic work like delivering bread and clearing tables by myself. It was a little bit nerve-wracking, but I feel like I learned a lot.
I spent about an hour following a food runner. They deliver food to the tables and to Mizner's Lounge nearby and help the assignor set and clear tables as necessary. It was a slow night, so this wasn't terribly interesting. I spent the rest of the time at the bar. I don't drink, and no one in my family drinks, so I'm just about as ignorant about alcohol as it's possible to be. Thankfully, I don't need to know a lot about that bar, so they just taught me the extreme basics and showed me the organization. The last little bit was spent filling out paperwork!
Thursday was my last work day that week, and it was another day of seater training. Instead of just following my trainer, I got to actually seat people and have my trainer follow me. Thankfully, I didn't mess up too badly. I didn't go to the parks in the mornings this week, because I was feeling particularly paranoid about work, and I wanted to devote all my energy to training. But since I was off Friday and Saturday, I headed into the parks!
I'll try to be better about updates in the future.
Love,
Kira
Backstage_Gal
<font color=darkorchid>Let me rephrase the dog ste
- Joined
- Apr 8, 2005
Thanks for the update, I love love hearing about the work portion of the program. BTW, I opened the Grand way back in '88. so I have a particular love for it....
thumpergirl101
SA 2015 Alumna
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2012
For the life of me, I can't remember where I went that Friday and Saturday. I want to say that on Saturday my roommates and I met up and spent the evening in Epcot, mostly exploring the World Showcase. We love the World Showcase. However, the rest of that weekend is entirely lost to memory, but rest assured it was spent in a Disney park of some sort.
Sunday I was back to work, once again starting at 4. I went to church that morning, then had to scurry back home to get ready. The bus system is nice, though I definitely understand why everyone complains about it. It's not the most reliable schedule. but I've never had any problem getting to work on time, which is my main priority anyway.
However, in order to get to work on time, I have to catch a bus approximately 2 hours before my scheduled start time. It's a pain sometimes, but it least it gives me a little bit of leeway, so I don't have to worry about being late. I could arrive either 45 minutes early or 15 minutes early, and I always opt for the earlier bus, just in case. I've heard that the buses break down sometimes, so I try to be smart about things.
So I spend a decent amount of time just sitting in the cast cafeteria at the Grand. Not that that's a relevant detail, but whatever.
Work that Sunday was my first day of greeter training up at the podium. The greeter and the seaters work closely together, so I had seen a little bit of what the job entailed. Basically, a greeter checks people in and makes sure we have all their relevant information, like party size and number of adults/children. It's more stressful than seating, because there's a lot to remember, and the assignor gets angry with you if you mess things up. I mean, there's not really any life or death information, but its super important to double check party size and ascertain whether the children will need high chairs or booster seats and all that.
But for the most part it's an easy job. Things get a lot more stressful when we're busy, because if people sit longer than anticipated then reservations get backed up and people get frustrated with the wait. Of course, while I was training it was pretty slow, so we were able to take walk-ins without any difficulty, and people didn't have to wait much for a table.
That night, things got a little crazy with my schedule. I was supposed to have my assessment that Wednesday, and I was supposed to have 1 more day of seating and 1 more day of greeting with a trainer beforehand. However, for Monday and Tuesday there wasn't a greeter scheduled who was also a trainer. I sat in the manager's office for a good half hour while the manager tried to work out a schedule for me. As it turned out, we had to push my assessment to Saturday, and I got Monday and Friday off.
Since it was such last minute notice, I think all my roommates were working the following day. Undaunted, I got up and headed to Hollywood Studios!
First on my priorities list was something I had been looking forward to for awhile: I was heading to Starring Rolls Café for breakfast! I had heard quite a bit about those legendary cupcakes, and I needed to rectify their absence in my life.
It was a tough choice, but eventually I went with the Butterfinger!
Review:
I went into this with pretty high expectations, based on everything I had read. True to rumor, the cupcake itself was pretty massive, piled high with frosting and the Butterfinger crumbs.
The cake itself wasn't the best. Tasty, yes, but the flavor and consistency reminded me more of a muffin than a cupcake, which made it slightly less compatible with the frosting, in my opinion. But the frosting itself was delicious, if very rich and filling. When I was inside paying, the lady asked if I was going to share my cupcake, and seemed quite amused when I gleefully responded that I was going to eat the whole thing on my own.
As it turned out, I had to admit defeat with just a few bites left. You know how people sometimes describe food as being so rich that they can only eat a few bites? That had never happened to me before this cupcake. The actual cake part was fine, but once I got into the buttercream frosting, I was a goner. I pride myself on my ability to eat, so I pushed through the majority of the cupcake, because it was in reality quite good. But once I got down to the last few bites, with mostly frosting left, I started to feel genuinely nauseous, and had to quit.
Still, the cupcake was quite tasty, and an excellent use of a snack credit for the DDP. As long as the cupcake is split between two people, it should be a delicious addition to your Disney food experience. The muffiny flavor takes it down a few notches, but overall it gets a solid B+.
The rest of the day was pretty relaxing. I wandered through One Man's Dream, went on the Great Movie Ride, and rode Rockin' Roller Coaster for the first time ever (I was only mildly terrified). I stopped for lunch at Pizza Planet, which was a decent value, but I found the pizza mildly disappointing. The crust was actually my favorite part, maybe because I love Disney bread. I didn't like the flavor of the sauce, but that was my only complaint. I love that their pizza comes with a caesar salad. Overall, a C+. Nothing special.
I didn't accomplish much else that afternoon, I just browsed through shops and tried to decide how to best utilize my 40% off before it expired February 12th.
I headed back home for the evening, and had a lazy night!
Love,
Kira
Sunday I was back to work, once again starting at 4. I went to church that morning, then had to scurry back home to get ready. The bus system is nice, though I definitely understand why everyone complains about it. It's not the most reliable schedule. but I've never had any problem getting to work on time, which is my main priority anyway.
However, in order to get to work on time, I have to catch a bus approximately 2 hours before my scheduled start time. It's a pain sometimes, but it least it gives me a little bit of leeway, so I don't have to worry about being late. I could arrive either 45 minutes early or 15 minutes early, and I always opt for the earlier bus, just in case. I've heard that the buses break down sometimes, so I try to be smart about things.
So I spend a decent amount of time just sitting in the cast cafeteria at the Grand. Not that that's a relevant detail, but whatever.
Work that Sunday was my first day of greeter training up at the podium. The greeter and the seaters work closely together, so I had seen a little bit of what the job entailed. Basically, a greeter checks people in and makes sure we have all their relevant information, like party size and number of adults/children. It's more stressful than seating, because there's a lot to remember, and the assignor gets angry with you if you mess things up. I mean, there's not really any life or death information, but its super important to double check party size and ascertain whether the children will need high chairs or booster seats and all that.
But for the most part it's an easy job. Things get a lot more stressful when we're busy, because if people sit longer than anticipated then reservations get backed up and people get frustrated with the wait. Of course, while I was training it was pretty slow, so we were able to take walk-ins without any difficulty, and people didn't have to wait much for a table.
That night, things got a little crazy with my schedule. I was supposed to have my assessment that Wednesday, and I was supposed to have 1 more day of seating and 1 more day of greeting with a trainer beforehand. However, for Monday and Tuesday there wasn't a greeter scheduled who was also a trainer. I sat in the manager's office for a good half hour while the manager tried to work out a schedule for me. As it turned out, we had to push my assessment to Saturday, and I got Monday and Friday off.
Since it was such last minute notice, I think all my roommates were working the following day. Undaunted, I got up and headed to Hollywood Studios!
First on my priorities list was something I had been looking forward to for awhile: I was heading to Starring Rolls Café for breakfast! I had heard quite a bit about those legendary cupcakes, and I needed to rectify their absence in my life.
It was a tough choice, but eventually I went with the Butterfinger!
Review:
I went into this with pretty high expectations, based on everything I had read. True to rumor, the cupcake itself was pretty massive, piled high with frosting and the Butterfinger crumbs.
The cake itself wasn't the best. Tasty, yes, but the flavor and consistency reminded me more of a muffin than a cupcake, which made it slightly less compatible with the frosting, in my opinion. But the frosting itself was delicious, if very rich and filling. When I was inside paying, the lady asked if I was going to share my cupcake, and seemed quite amused when I gleefully responded that I was going to eat the whole thing on my own.
As it turned out, I had to admit defeat with just a few bites left. You know how people sometimes describe food as being so rich that they can only eat a few bites? That had never happened to me before this cupcake. The actual cake part was fine, but once I got into the buttercream frosting, I was a goner. I pride myself on my ability to eat, so I pushed through the majority of the cupcake, because it was in reality quite good. But once I got down to the last few bites, with mostly frosting left, I started to feel genuinely nauseous, and had to quit.
Still, the cupcake was quite tasty, and an excellent use of a snack credit for the DDP. As long as the cupcake is split between two people, it should be a delicious addition to your Disney food experience. The muffiny flavor takes it down a few notches, but overall it gets a solid B+.
The rest of the day was pretty relaxing. I wandered through One Man's Dream, went on the Great Movie Ride, and rode Rockin' Roller Coaster for the first time ever (I was only mildly terrified). I stopped for lunch at Pizza Planet, which was a decent value, but I found the pizza mildly disappointing. The crust was actually my favorite part, maybe because I love Disney bread. I didn't like the flavor of the sauce, but that was my only complaint. I love that their pizza comes with a caesar salad. Overall, a C+. Nothing special.
I didn't accomplish much else that afternoon, I just browsed through shops and tried to decide how to best utilize my 40% off before it expired February 12th.
I headed back home for the evening, and had a lazy night!
Love,
Kira
thumpergirl101
SA 2015 Alumna
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2012
I am seriously on a roll this week. You should all be so proud of me.
After a day off on Monday, I worked Tuesday-Thursday. Tuesday I had more seater training, though I'm not sure it exactly counted as training. I didn't have a designated trainer, and no one followed me to make sure I was doing it right. Honestly, seating is pretty easy. Even if I mess something up, like forgetting to bring crayons with a child's menu, it's not the end of the world.
Even though it is pretty simple, I do enjoy seating. Greeting is a more involved position, but at the same time you're trying to extract all the information you need from the guest as quickly as possible, to minimize their wait time. At least with seating, you have a few minutes to talk to the guest, ask them questions and get to know them, even if it is for a short time.
I have sat plenty of people who don't seem interested in talking to me, which is fine, I understand. But I've also seated some parties and had conversations that lasted much longer than it took to show them to their table, because they were just so friendly and personable.
The downside of seating is that when the restaurant is slow, there isn't really anything to do. One of my managers is very particular about having us stand at the gates in a welcoming position, greeting people who enter or saying goodbye as they leave. Admittedly it's a good idea, and makes the restaurant a much warmer place. But it's seriously boring. Standing there and occasionally saying "Good night, thank you, etc." isn't exactly intellectually stimulating.
Of course, everything is better on days when my friends are working. Everyone at Citricos is very nice and was very welcoming to me, but it's still the most interesting to talk to the people near my own age. It's nice when one of my friends is working at the podium as a greeter, because I can stand by them and talk when the restaurant is slow.
Wednesday there wasn't a designated trainer working at the podium, so I assumed I would be doing more seating. However, instead they had another ICP, who had been at Citricos since August, do more greeter training with me. It's not exactly a complicated job, once you get used to the reservation system and learn which questions you're supposed to ask the guests. The only part that takes some getting used to is looking at the table assignments and figuring out whether we can take walk-ins. Normally the assignor is pretty good about keeping you updated about availability, but it can be difficult because we're not supposed to give guests specific times.
For example, if someone comes to check in and asks how long it will be before their table is ready, I'm not supposed to say "Oh, ten minutes," because if something goes wrong, guests could get upset about having to wait longer than expected. It makes the job slightly more stressful when we're busy, because people are already frustrated and there's nothing I can do to help.
Thursday I had my third and final day of greeter training. I don't really understand how training works, because it doesn't seem to follow a set schedule. For instance, Tasmyn had only two days of greeter training, and the trainer didn't even let her touch the computer. However, I spent three days doing essentially everything on the computer while my trainers just watched and corrected me as necessary.
My training days weren't particularly busy, which was nice in terms of being able to absorb everything without distraction, but made me nervous when I had to greet on busy nights.
Friday I was off, so I headed over to the Epcot! I had a fastpass for Soarin', and Captain EO, which I love more than any sane person.
While I love the Disney parks, and obviously you guys do too, I don't really think it's worthwhile to describe everything I did in the parks day by day. Of course, I'll let you know about interesting things that happen.
Saturday was my assessment! I had to come in early, around 2 hours before Citricos actually opened, but my manager was quite busy that afternoon so my assessment didn't really start until around an hour later. It wasn't nearly as bad as I expected. I had to fill out a seating chart with the table numbers, then she just asked me a bunch of questions about the restaurant and surrounding areas. I didn't get all the questions right, but thankfully I passed. It would have been embarrassing to have more training after my assessment had already been pushed back four days.
After that, I was working as Seater 2, which means that I stay 1.5 hours after closing to do some closing sidework and fold napkins for the next day. Nothing terribly interesting. But I was off the next two days!
Sunday I went to church in the morning, then had a lazy afternoon. But on Monday I headed off to MK!
My favorite place in the entire world is the Mark Twain Riverboat in Disneyland. There's a little room on the inside with mirrors on either side of the wall, so you can see for eternity. It's perfection, and I love to just go sit in there. Naturally, that sentiment also extends to the Liberty Belle Riverboat here at WDW, even though it doesn't have the mirrors.
So on my day off Monday, in between my Fastpass times, I stopped in Liberty Square and hopped on the boat just a few minutes before it left the station. I was just wandering around, taking a bunch of pictures. Unexpectedly, a cast member cam up and asked if I was alone. When I responded in the affirmative, he asked if I would want to go up to the Wheelhouse with him. Umm, YES? IS THAT EVEN A QUESTION???
So I got to spend my riverboat journey in the wheelhouse with the best Cast Member ever. I took some super awesome pictures, and got to press a button to start the informational spiel. At the end of the ride, I even got a pilot's certificate. So it was basically the best day ever. However, I apologize for the lack of pictures here. I did take some, but the internet in my apartment sucks if more than one person tries to use it, so uploading them is not really an option right now.
The rest of the afternoon was super rainy, but I didn't let that discourage me. I spent about 6 hours playing in MK in the rain and texting my friend from work. All in all, despite the weather, it was a wonderful day.
Love,
Kira
After a day off on Monday, I worked Tuesday-Thursday. Tuesday I had more seater training, though I'm not sure it exactly counted as training. I didn't have a designated trainer, and no one followed me to make sure I was doing it right. Honestly, seating is pretty easy. Even if I mess something up, like forgetting to bring crayons with a child's menu, it's not the end of the world.
Even though it is pretty simple, I do enjoy seating. Greeting is a more involved position, but at the same time you're trying to extract all the information you need from the guest as quickly as possible, to minimize their wait time. At least with seating, you have a few minutes to talk to the guest, ask them questions and get to know them, even if it is for a short time.
I have sat plenty of people who don't seem interested in talking to me, which is fine, I understand. But I've also seated some parties and had conversations that lasted much longer than it took to show them to their table, because they were just so friendly and personable.
The downside of seating is that when the restaurant is slow, there isn't really anything to do. One of my managers is very particular about having us stand at the gates in a welcoming position, greeting people who enter or saying goodbye as they leave. Admittedly it's a good idea, and makes the restaurant a much warmer place. But it's seriously boring. Standing there and occasionally saying "Good night, thank you, etc." isn't exactly intellectually stimulating.
Of course, everything is better on days when my friends are working. Everyone at Citricos is very nice and was very welcoming to me, but it's still the most interesting to talk to the people near my own age. It's nice when one of my friends is working at the podium as a greeter, because I can stand by them and talk when the restaurant is slow.
Wednesday there wasn't a designated trainer working at the podium, so I assumed I would be doing more seating. However, instead they had another ICP, who had been at Citricos since August, do more greeter training with me. It's not exactly a complicated job, once you get used to the reservation system and learn which questions you're supposed to ask the guests. The only part that takes some getting used to is looking at the table assignments and figuring out whether we can take walk-ins. Normally the assignor is pretty good about keeping you updated about availability, but it can be difficult because we're not supposed to give guests specific times.
For example, if someone comes to check in and asks how long it will be before their table is ready, I'm not supposed to say "Oh, ten minutes," because if something goes wrong, guests could get upset about having to wait longer than expected. It makes the job slightly more stressful when we're busy, because people are already frustrated and there's nothing I can do to help.
Thursday I had my third and final day of greeter training. I don't really understand how training works, because it doesn't seem to follow a set schedule. For instance, Tasmyn had only two days of greeter training, and the trainer didn't even let her touch the computer. However, I spent three days doing essentially everything on the computer while my trainers just watched and corrected me as necessary.
My training days weren't particularly busy, which was nice in terms of being able to absorb everything without distraction, but made me nervous when I had to greet on busy nights.
Friday I was off, so I headed over to the Epcot! I had a fastpass for Soarin', and Captain EO, which I love more than any sane person.
While I love the Disney parks, and obviously you guys do too, I don't really think it's worthwhile to describe everything I did in the parks day by day. Of course, I'll let you know about interesting things that happen.
Saturday was my assessment! I had to come in early, around 2 hours before Citricos actually opened, but my manager was quite busy that afternoon so my assessment didn't really start until around an hour later. It wasn't nearly as bad as I expected. I had to fill out a seating chart with the table numbers, then she just asked me a bunch of questions about the restaurant and surrounding areas. I didn't get all the questions right, but thankfully I passed. It would have been embarrassing to have more training after my assessment had already been pushed back four days.
After that, I was working as Seater 2, which means that I stay 1.5 hours after closing to do some closing sidework and fold napkins for the next day. Nothing terribly interesting. But I was off the next two days!
Sunday I went to church in the morning, then had a lazy afternoon. But on Monday I headed off to MK!
My favorite place in the entire world is the Mark Twain Riverboat in Disneyland. There's a little room on the inside with mirrors on either side of the wall, so you can see for eternity. It's perfection, and I love to just go sit in there. Naturally, that sentiment also extends to the Liberty Belle Riverboat here at WDW, even though it doesn't have the mirrors.
So on my day off Monday, in between my Fastpass times, I stopped in Liberty Square and hopped on the boat just a few minutes before it left the station. I was just wandering around, taking a bunch of pictures. Unexpectedly, a cast member cam up and asked if I was alone. When I responded in the affirmative, he asked if I would want to go up to the Wheelhouse with him. Umm, YES? IS THAT EVEN A QUESTION???
So I got to spend my riverboat journey in the wheelhouse with the best Cast Member ever. I took some super awesome pictures, and got to press a button to start the informational spiel. At the end of the ride, I even got a pilot's certificate. So it was basically the best day ever. However, I apologize for the lack of pictures here. I did take some, but the internet in my apartment sucks if more than one person tries to use it, so uploading them is not really an option right now.
The rest of the afternoon was super rainy, but I didn't let that discourage me. I spent about 6 hours playing in MK in the rain and texting my friend from work. All in all, despite the weather, it was a wonderful day.
Love,
Kira
I have been MIA from here for a bit and just found your report. In the beginning I could just see your excitement as you waited to hear from them and then when you got accepted. Congrats even tho your there having a grand time on your days off now. If no one has mentioned it yet , try the school bread in Norway. It's to die for. Can't wait to hear more about your time there.
thumpergirl101
SA 2015 Alumna
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2012
Sorry that I've been so bad at this whole update thing lately. As much as I love work, and as terribly fun as it is to hit the parks on my days off, a lot of my time doesn't seem exciting enough to write about. And then by the time I get around to writing an update, I've forgotten the specifics of each day. It's not a great system.
Anyway, for my first few weeks my schedule was pretty regular. I had Sundays and Mondays off, then Tuesdays I was Greeter, and Wednesday-Saturday I was a seater. For the most part, I was lazy, and if I didn't have work, I would spend the morning just hanging around the apartment, reading and doing laundry and all that exciting stuff.
During my training, we weren't overly busy, which gave me time to get used to things. However, the very next week things started to pick up again. Tuesday was slightly stressful, just because it was my first time greeting without supervision, and it's kind of a stressful position. Still, everyone is very nice and helpful, and was understanding of my ignorance.
Seating is a largely uneventful position. Sometimes I seat parties that are incredibly delightful, and so fun to talk to that I don't want to leave their table. Those days are always better. But sometimes I seat parties that clearly have no interest in talking to me, which is understandable, but it does tend to make the job rather monotonous.
The Saturday following my assessment was Valentine's day, and as one of the nicer restaurants on property, we were quite swamped. On an average night we'll have maybe 250 people with reservations. 250 people, not parties. That would be insane. But on Valentine's day we had 475, which meant that we were just about guaranteed to get behind. Our schedule relies on people not lingering at their tables for too long. It's based on the average time that people remain at the table. So when people decide to sit longer than necessary, having a romantic evening or whatnot, things can get hairy.
As unfortunate as it is, we did get pretty behind that day. It's frustrating for the guests, for obvious reasons, when they had a reservation and it takes us a long time to seat them. But it's probably more frustrating for us when we have a room full of guests waiting, and not a single table to sit them at. We had a ton of people working that night, including the part timers who hardly ever get shifts anymore, and there was still nothing we could do to lessen the wait time.
Despite that, I had a really lovely evening. I felt bad for the people who had to wait, but the guests that I seated were very sweet and engaging, so for once I had plenty of energy. So much so that despite the fact that I worked until 11:30, once I had clocked out I decided to head over to Magic Kingdom! The park was open until 1 a.m., so I figured I had plenty of time to just wander around! There's no better place to be happy than in MK.
I was also starving, so I stopped by Sleepy Hollow and got myself a waffle with strawberries and whipped cream. I had them seriously load me up on strawberries and whipped cream. Not an exaggeration...the people behind me in line made fun of me for how much sugar I was about to eat. Not that I let it stop me. And sorry, I do have a few pictures, but internet issues.
I tried to stop by Storybook Circus and say Hi to my roommate, but I went on both Dumbo and the Barnstormer and didn't see her. Oh well. By that time, it was nearing 1 and I had to wake up early for church in the morning, so I walked over to the Contemporary to catch the bus. I was still in a seriously good mood. The happiest I can remember being in a long time.
The next few days were rough though. I enjoyed my days off, despite some rain. Okay, lots of rain. I spent like six hours in MK in the rain. But for reasons I don't feel like expounding upon, I felt really depressed for awhile, so I mostly stayed in my bed when I wasn't working. The next week was pretty busy at work, as it was President's week and lots of people didn't have school that week.
Eventually I started to get over my issues, and feel better again. When my days off rolled around, I went grocery shopping to get stocked up for the coming weeks. I was a little bit less enthusiastic about work, but I genuinely love my coworkers, so I can't complain.
However, right now I've got to scurry off to work. I'll really try to be better, and have more detailed updates and everything. If my roommates ever aren't around, maybe I'll even be able to upload some pictures.
Love,
Kira
Anyway, for my first few weeks my schedule was pretty regular. I had Sundays and Mondays off, then Tuesdays I was Greeter, and Wednesday-Saturday I was a seater. For the most part, I was lazy, and if I didn't have work, I would spend the morning just hanging around the apartment, reading and doing laundry and all that exciting stuff.
During my training, we weren't overly busy, which gave me time to get used to things. However, the very next week things started to pick up again. Tuesday was slightly stressful, just because it was my first time greeting without supervision, and it's kind of a stressful position. Still, everyone is very nice and helpful, and was understanding of my ignorance.
Seating is a largely uneventful position. Sometimes I seat parties that are incredibly delightful, and so fun to talk to that I don't want to leave their table. Those days are always better. But sometimes I seat parties that clearly have no interest in talking to me, which is understandable, but it does tend to make the job rather monotonous.
The Saturday following my assessment was Valentine's day, and as one of the nicer restaurants on property, we were quite swamped. On an average night we'll have maybe 250 people with reservations. 250 people, not parties. That would be insane. But on Valentine's day we had 475, which meant that we were just about guaranteed to get behind. Our schedule relies on people not lingering at their tables for too long. It's based on the average time that people remain at the table. So when people decide to sit longer than necessary, having a romantic evening or whatnot, things can get hairy.
As unfortunate as it is, we did get pretty behind that day. It's frustrating for the guests, for obvious reasons, when they had a reservation and it takes us a long time to seat them. But it's probably more frustrating for us when we have a room full of guests waiting, and not a single table to sit them at. We had a ton of people working that night, including the part timers who hardly ever get shifts anymore, and there was still nothing we could do to lessen the wait time.
Despite that, I had a really lovely evening. I felt bad for the people who had to wait, but the guests that I seated were very sweet and engaging, so for once I had plenty of energy. So much so that despite the fact that I worked until 11:30, once I had clocked out I decided to head over to Magic Kingdom! The park was open until 1 a.m., so I figured I had plenty of time to just wander around! There's no better place to be happy than in MK.
I was also starving, so I stopped by Sleepy Hollow and got myself a waffle with strawberries and whipped cream. I had them seriously load me up on strawberries and whipped cream. Not an exaggeration...the people behind me in line made fun of me for how much sugar I was about to eat. Not that I let it stop me. And sorry, I do have a few pictures, but internet issues.
I tried to stop by Storybook Circus and say Hi to my roommate, but I went on both Dumbo and the Barnstormer and didn't see her. Oh well. By that time, it was nearing 1 and I had to wake up early for church in the morning, so I walked over to the Contemporary to catch the bus. I was still in a seriously good mood. The happiest I can remember being in a long time.
The next few days were rough though. I enjoyed my days off, despite some rain. Okay, lots of rain. I spent like six hours in MK in the rain. But for reasons I don't feel like expounding upon, I felt really depressed for awhile, so I mostly stayed in my bed when I wasn't working. The next week was pretty busy at work, as it was President's week and lots of people didn't have school that week.
Eventually I started to get over my issues, and feel better again. When my days off rolled around, I went grocery shopping to get stocked up for the coming weeks. I was a little bit less enthusiastic about work, but I genuinely love my coworkers, so I can't complain.
However, right now I've got to scurry off to work. I'll really try to be better, and have more detailed updates and everything. If my roommates ever aren't around, maybe I'll even be able to upload some pictures.
Love,
Kira
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Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.
Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!
