So yeah, that pretty much describes me right now…things are really starting to pick up here in Anaheim!  Spring break season is here, and summer won’t be too far behind!

Let me fill you in on the past few weeks…

RESTROOM TRAINING- Being in custodial, this is another part of our role in the resort.  Despite what you might think when you hear “restrooms”, it actually isn’t bad at all.  The only thing I don’t really like about it is the timing- we have about 4-5 restrooms to maintain during a restroom shift, and each has to be checked every hour.  Easier said than done…it’s doable, but I personally would rather be sweeping or emptying trash cans.  Plus there’s no time for guest interaction (pin trading, answering questions, etc) when you’re on restrooms, and this is a big deal to me because the guest interaction is the whole reason why I wanted an on-stage role as opposed to a backstage role.  But at least I get paid more when I’m on restrooms…

SPACE MOUNTAIN!- Back at the end of February, one special thing the CPs got to do was to ride Space Mountain after park hours…with the LIGHTS ON!  It was pretty amazing to see the track layout (I’m a coaster geek, deal with it), and it’s one of the things that make this program so awesome!  I did take a video of the whole thing (with permission!), but I am not posting it online due to the fact that videos are very easy to steal and repost.  I will, however, post a couple of screencaps from the video- just because if these get reposted somewhere, they still won’t be as good as the actual video!  But if you do desperately want to see video footage, check out this one on YouTube (mine was taken from the 3rd row- wasn’t able to get 1st; but my video looks similar to this one): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXPFgtfW_yM

And here are the screencaps from my own video (SPOILER ALERT!  If you don’t want the magic to be “ruined” for you, then please skip to the line divider that says “Read More”):

*END SPOILERS*

MARDI GROSS- So I got sick the day before Mardi Gras- I worked about half of my shift before deciding to go home because I wasn’t feeling well.  I went to bed immediately when I got home (about 3 PM), and slept well into the next morning.  Except when I got up, I wasn’t feeling better, but worse.  So long story short, I ended up in the hospital on Mardi Gras due to dehydration.  I was put on an IV, but felt a lot better afterward and was released shortly after.  Fortunately my roommates helped me out, but I much would have rather spent the day in a more appropriate spot- like New Orleans Square, enjoying gumbo, beignets, The Haunted Mansion, and Pirates of the Caribbean!

CLASSES- They’re still going on…in Corporate Analysis, we have studied the different segments of The Walt Disney Company (Parks and Resorts, Studio Entertainment, Consumer Products, Interactive Media, and Media Networks).  We’ve been doing group presentations on specific items in these segments- I was in the Parks and Resorts group, and my presentation was on the Magic Kingdom’s expansion of Fantasyland.  Pretty interesting stuff- some of it was actually new to me!  And then in Professional Development Study, we’ve recently had presentations from people in hospitality, horticulture, industrial engineering, finance, and event planning.  It’s actually pretty neat to hear from different people from around the resort and hearing about what they do.  I think most guests wouldn’t even be able to imagine how much work goes into keeping the parks in pristine condition and operating smoothly day in and day out!

SPRING BREAK MANIA- Spring break has started, and both parks have been VERY busy!  My work weeks are now longer (about 40 hours), and so are everyone else’s weeks.  It’s a bit tiring, but at the same time I’m so thankful to be here instead of in school right now.  Still getting to enjoy the parks, but now I have to strategically get my Fastpasses instead of being able to go around the parks and hitting every attraction with little to no waits like in January and February.  My family came to the parks for a couple of days over Arizona’s spring break, and I think they were shocked by how crowded it was!  Of course, this year is a little bit different due to the way California schools are doing spring break now.  But if you’re headed to the parks anytime soon, be prepared to deal with crowds and long lines!  You have been warned!

Before I go, I want to give a big thank you to all my readers- you are the reason why I write these blog posts.  Without your support, there would be no point in me updating this blog, even though my updates aren’t very frequent (which, trust me, I’m trying to work on improving).

Have an amazing day/night, and always remember to dream in wonderful craziness color!

Till next time,

-Tyler

The last two days of training were interesting…

Day 3 of training was the fun day.  The highlight was learning how to sweep through attraction queues…at DCA, all of the queues were built wide enough for a wheelchair to go through.  So this means that the queues are easier to sweep than DL’s.  Basically we start at the loading area for the attraction and sweep through to the entrance.  It is done this way so that the guests can see us as we’re coming through the queue and therefore move to one side to allow us to pass by.  The only time it’s done the other way around is when the queue isn’t built wide enough for wheelchairs (which applies only to DL).

Day 4, the last day of training, was a little bit tougher.  We learned how to empty trash cans.  We also learned how to sort recyclables…and that was about it.  I could go in more detail about the training, but it’s not all that exciting (at least not on the internet).  But there is one interesting thing that is worth sharing- while we were emptying trash cans in the Hollywood Pictures Backlot, there was a weird/funny moment when a couple walked up to us and asked where a smoking area was.  We directed them to the area between the Monsters, Inc. attraction and Flynn’s Arcade (which is part of the elecTRONica offerings).  They then proceeded to ask if Sulley from Monsters, Inc. smoked and if he had extra cigarettes that they could have.  Best thing I’ve heard from a guest so far, and I’ll probably hear a lot of stories that are crazier by the end of my program!

Yesterday I had the day off, so I headed to DL (where else would I go?  Lol).  Only stayed for a few hours because my new roommate, Albert, moved in and he was at the apartment by himself.  But I did get quite a few rides in…I had a Fastpass for Space Mountain, but it went 101 (Disneyspeak for “broken down”), so I just left.  One of my friends is keeping a ride count from each day, and so I decided I’d do it as well.  Here’s my ride count from yesterday (total counts over the course of my program are in parenthesis*):

Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters-1 (3)

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad-1 (3)

Pirates of the Caribbean-1 (3)

Haunted Mansion-1 (3)

Indiana Jones Adventure-1 (4)

*Ride counts are from the time I started counting…so these numbers are lower than the actual numbers.  There’s a margin of error to be factored in haha

Headed off to the parks again today, and then I’m working from Wednesday-Monday…later!