WDW college program experiences

jumrungle · Post by **jumrungle** » Nov Thu 29, 2007 7:24 pm

It was pretty bad, Dr.

The worst would be early entry for resort guests. I would be out gassing up those cars in the dark! Oh, and whenever we'd have those fabulous flash summer lightning storms it would take about a half an hour to cycle everyone off the ride. By the time we were done, the storm was always over, we'd wipe down the cars and start 'em all up again.

The best was one year there was an impending hurricane so they evacuated the park. We got to drive the cars off the track and through Tomorrowland, storing them in Timekeeper. It was pretty cool.

packwingfn · Post by **packwingfn** » Dec Mon 03, 2007 2:34 am

It's been a while but I've either been too tired to post on here.

Lately, I've been working restrooms and nothing too exciting happens in the restrooms to talk about. When you work a restroom, you usually do the same thing in each restroom. That is, You dry off the sink area, check all the stalls/urinals to make sure they look clean, push down the trash and sweep any toilet paper/paper towels on the ground. It get's pretty repetious and boring and there isn't alot of guest interaction like on the streets. Today I had streets for the first time in awhile and I missed it so much. I like just walking around with my pan & broom and enjoying the scenary, and the people walking by hoping that you can find someone to talk too and tell them your experience or memories from disney.

On Wednesday, I went to Nine Dragons with Lion Sleeps Tonight. I give it a 2.5/5 stars and wouldnt eat there again. The food is just way too expensive to get the same kind of food that you could get at your local chinese restaurant. Though i must admit that Lion's Fish was not too bad besides the fact I wasnt a big fan of the sauce. Though I had to try China because I have never ate there. When my parents arrive, I will be eating at France for the first time and Biergarten (for the 3rd time overall). The only country I have never eaten is will be Japan and since i've been down here will be Canada & Norway too but those are impossibile to get a seat for.

Speaking of my parents, I'm very excited for their arrival on Tuesday and plan to spend a lot of time with them. They read my blog every day and now they will be part of my blog as I will try to update this whenever I'm back at Chatham. I also thank my friends Dan & Amy who enjoy reading my blog too and have become huge fans of Subsonic thanks to me haha.

Lion Sleeps Tonight · Post by **Lion Sleeps Tonight** » Dec Mon 03, 2007 7:06 am

packwingfn wrote:It's been a while but I've either been too tired to post on here.

Lately, I've been working restrooms and nothing too exciting happens in the restrooms to talk about. When you work a restroom, you usually do the same thing in each restroom. That is, You dry off the sink area, check all the stalls/urinals to make sure they look clean, push down the trash and sweep any toilet paper/paper towels on the ground. It get's pretty repetious and boring and there isn't alot of guest interaction like on the streets. Today I had streets for the first time in awhile and I missed it so much. I like just walking around with my pan & broom and enjoying the scenary, and the people walking by hoping that you can find someone to talk too and tell them your experience or memories from disney.

On Wednesday, I went to Nine Dragons with Lion Sleeps Tonight. I give it a 2.5/5 stars and wouldnt eat there again. The food is just way too expensive to get the same kind of food that you could get at your local chinese restaurant. Though i must admit that Lion's Fish was not too bad besides the fact I wasnt a big fan of the sauce. Though I had to try China because I have never ate there. When my parents arrive, I will be eating at France for the first time and Biergarten (for the 3rd time overall). The only country I have never eaten is will be Japan and since i've been down here will be Canada & Norway too but those are impossibile to get a seat for.

Speaking of my parents, I'm very excited for their arrival on Tuesday and plan to spend a lot of time with them. They read my blog every day and now they will be part of my blog as I will try to update this whenever I'm back at Chatham. I also thank my friends Dan & Amy who enjoy reading my blog too and have become huge fans of Subsonic thanks to me haha.

I totally know what you mean about the monotony of doing restrooms!! Most of my shifts were restrooms until I told the managers to give me some Sweeps shifts. When I did, it was such a relief, and refreshing to be outside in the sun for a change.

Yeah, China was just eh. The service is usually hit or miss with the waiters. But now at least you can say you ate there. Work overtime so we can do Japan.

Well, have a great time with your parents!

yodiwan1 · Post by **yodiwan1** » Dec Mon 03, 2007 11:28 am

i had soem crazy experiences cleaning bathrooms!! I even had one little biy protein spill in the mens room adn run, while spilling, ino the womens room where is mom was. There was a trail of spill!!! darn i hated that crap!! Japan is awesome to eat at, norway as well. Bakc in 1999/2000 time when I was at UCF my frat brothers and I went to Norway to eat at the buffet and all cleaned off at leat 7 plates to be Vikings of the day!!!

packwingfn · Post by **packwingfn** » Dec Fri 14, 2007 10:51 am

I'm back!

First of all, I went on the new Spaceship Earth this past week. It was alright but I defnitely already miss the original (the score, narration) just aren't the same. The new animatronics do look nice though.

Second, I had a good week with my parents....They were here from December 4th to December 12th and I spent at least a half day or whole day with them and would crash at the Caribbean Beach whenever I didn't have to work until 1:30 that night. It was our first time at Caribbean Beach in 11 years and it's an alright hotel, it's just real big and up until Sunday, the bus would always be full which would suck going to the park we wanted to go too that day. They were able to meet some of my friends at their job locations which was good. We also ate at a few restaurants like Chefs De France (very good) and Biergarten (very filling). My aunt & uncle were also up this week and I spent a little time with them as well. They loved how my roommate got us to reride Rock and Roller Coaster without having to wait in line. We also got a family picture of all 5 of us in World Showcase thanks to one of my older friends Louis who is a photopass photographer.

Third, Work has been better lately. I did feel like I went above and beyond the other day. I took care of a situation very good. I was working restrooms and in between restrooms, I was helping my friend Robert sweep around Germany while he did a trash run. Well some lady comes up to me asking for a wheel chair as she is having a hard time walking so first instinct knows that there are only wheelchairs at the front gate or international gateway. But I told her I would check if there was any backstage in Germany.

I asked my friend Robert if he knew where I could find one first but he said to just call a manager, and then I asked him to stay with the guest while I checked to make sure that everything will be fine and that I wasnt going to leave her alone. I paged a manager once I got to the back and a coordinator picked up as she knew where I could get one. It was a long process as it involved going through a lot of doors and an elevator but I said I would try my best as if I didnt get the lady this wheel chair I would have been disappointed. I asked a lady who was working inside the building and she showed me where the wheel chair was. I paged Robert to let him know that I was on my way with the wheelchair. The lady's reaction when she saw the wheelchair was a big smile and I had one too knowing I helped someone

Post by **Dr. Ravenscroft** » Dec Fri 14, 2007 1:53 pm

That was so nice of you to help that lady. See this is what makes the Parks so enjoyable, the CASTMEMBERS!!!!!!!! I say that the CM's are one of the biggest reasons I go to the Parks, granted for me the technical aspects are the biggest, but CM's are next on the list. I love talking to them/you, finding out cool things and trying to make your day better.

Lion Sleeps Tonight · Post by **Lion Sleeps Tonight** » Dec Fri 14, 2007 2:25 pm

Way to go above and beyond! Extra props for taking charge and having someone reassure the guest so she wasn't just left to wonder.

rmorton50 · Post by **rmorton50** » Dec Sat 15, 2007 12:25 am

The cast members are what really sets Disney parks apart from the rest. You handled that situation very well; especially leaving someone with the guest to reassure her that you were on the trail. It shows a lot of maturity on your part. It's allright to feel proud and good about the way you helped make the guest's experience more enjoyable. After all, isn't it great to have a job where you can feel good about helping other people? That guest will tell thousands of people about how thoughtful the cast members are at WDW. Way to go!
By the way, thanks for taking the time to write these posts. I really enjoy them and live vicariously through your experiences. Thanks to Lion as well, as she is the one that got me reading this thread in the first place.
Best regards,
Roger

packwingfn · Post by **packwingfn** » Dec Sat 15, 2007 2:53 am

The best thing that I like about my job is giving my opinions on things related to Disney. I hate when I get asked the most repetious questions like Wheres the Restroom, Smoking Area etc. I like when guests ask me where is the best spot to watch Illuminations and I tell them that anywhere is good but some spots are better than others and I'll be very honest in telling them the good spots.

Even just on my opinions on Disney in general, I love talking with a guest who is willing to listen and hear my opinion. Most of the time though, the guests are usually in a "rush" somewhere, it sucks! A guest will ask me where the restroom is while I'm sweeping and they'll continue walking past me so I have to hurry up and finish my response and like that their off and I cant even say anything else.

Only 3 more weeks left, It's very sad! Today before work, I went to EPCOT early to check out MoRockin' again and then right after they were done, I bought their CD then caught the Japense Drummers. Usually I just pass on through them and listen as I walk but I actually STOPPED and watched them today, They are very good and I'm glad I stopped and watched them.

In the last 3 weeks, I plan to see my favorite things (shows, rides) a few more times and on next Thursday, I plan to spend all day from opening to close in the Magic Kingdom since I havent really spent a WHOLE day in the Magic Kingdom since I've been down here. I want to see the Main Street Singers to start the day and take a break in Tom Sawyers Island and Wishes/SpectroMagic to end a wonderful day

packwingfn · Post by **packwingfn** » Dec Tue 18, 2007 3:38 am

I saw Kirk Cameron today at the Candlelight Processional aka Mike Seaver from Growing Pains. Today was his first day as guest narrator and I figured I would walk over from wherever I was working for the day to get a glance at him but guess what? I was working the American Adventure (AA) Streets so I didnt have to walk over at all. When they introduced him and he recited some of the lines, I would stop and watch him. Now with celebrities, we are supposed to treat them like any other guest in the park but it doesn't mean I can't get excited inside lol. I just happened to be sweeping around AA after the show when I see him walking in front of me heading backstage so I was literally a few feet from him. It was so awesome!

I also saw his wife (Chelsea) who was his girlfriend in the show. She was with their 6 children as I was just pushing my banana boat to start my trash run when I see a Candlelight Usher walking with a lady with 6 children, I glance up and sure enough, it was her!

Post by **acp** » Dec Tue 18, 2007 6:40 am

packwingfn wrote:Now with celebrities, we are supposed to treat them like any other guest in the park but it doesn't mean I can't get excited inside lol. I just happened to be sweeping around AA after the show when I see him walking in front of me heading backstage so I was literally a few feet from him. It was so awesome!!

Heh. When I was working outside Tower of Terror one afternoon, out of nowhere a complete film crew materialised (OK, out of the gate next to Rock 'n' RollerCoaster, but shh!) and set up right behind me (using my ice cream cart as the boundary they set up with ropes, thus I was inside the roped off area) and filmed a commercial for the ESPN weekend. People kept asking me who the celebrity was, but me being me and not knowing American sports.. I had no idea

After some quick chatting to his Guest Relations minders, I found out that he was David Robinson, who was a Basketball player. Although even after finding that out I was still none the wiser

They were there for quite a long time, they roped off the entrance to ToT (sending people through the FastPass area during the quick times they weren't filming to get to Tot). It was quite fun watching them film the commercial, specially when Donald Duck walked the wrong way and got told off by the director!

I never did get to see them finish filming - I finished work before they finished filming. I never saw the finished commercial either, since they don't show them over here.

Andy.

SlueFootSue · Post by **SlueFootSue** » Dec Tue 18, 2007 11:59 am

packwingfn wrote:
I asked my friend Robert if he knew where I could find one first but he said to just call a manager, and then I asked him to stay with the guest while I checked to make sure that everything will be fine and that I wasnt going to leave her alone. I paged a manager once I got to the back and a coordinator picked up as she knew where I could get one. It was a long process as it involved going through a lot of doors and an elevator but I said I would try my best as if I didnt get the lady this wheel chair I would have been disappointed. I asked a lady who was working inside the building and she showed me where the wheel chair was. I paged Robert to let him know that I was on my way with the wheelchair. The lady's reaction when she saw the wheelchair was a big smile and I had one too knowing I helped someone

This is what Disney is all about, I think its wonderful that you did that! Thats why Disney is so different because of wonderful cast members, who try their best to make magic!!

packwingfn · Post by **packwingfn** » Dec Mon 24, 2007 1:41 pm

Merry Christmas Eve!

I've been enjoying my off days as much as possibile with only a few days left, and even enjoying my last few days of work. Last week, I went to Sea World for the first time, then I spent a whole day at the Magic Kingdom where I went on rides that I haven't been on since I was a child or never been on. Yesterday I went to MGM to see the Osbornes for the first time and Fantasmic (for the 2nd time on the Program).

At work lately it seems they've been lazy in assigning us different areas in different days as I've been working in America these past few work shifts. Maybe it's because its the holiday season so they want us to maintain the particular areas so we can make it better by working the same area all the time. Whatever it is, American is not the best country to work as it is always busy because of the Candelight Processional but I guess I like the challenge of it instead of working a country that requires no effort to clean as much perhaps.

My day at Sea World was fun, I like Aquariums (I've been to 3 these year now total) so I knew I would have a good time there. I was really excited to see Shamu but HIS show involves him for like 5 minutes and all he does is splash people with his tale (what a jerk!) but it was still cool nonetheless. Krakken, their roller coaster was on rehab but no big deal, We got to go on Atlantis and that was fun. I almost got to touch a dolphin but they would only come up close when it was feeding time. Otherwise, they would just tease us by swimming close but not close enough.

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My day at the Magic Kingdom was even better! First, Jessica and I entered through backstage tunnels and got lost! But we found our way out and went to ride Dumbo first and it was 9:30 and it was still a 20 minute wait!
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Then we went to see the Main Street Singers as they just get me in the right mood and they sure didnt disappoint. I was singing the song the whole day as it just made my day that much better. We went on all the Fantasyland rides (every single one!) then went to Toontown to go ride Barnstormer (first time!), that is a pretty cool coaster for a kid, I wish I went on this coaster as a kid, I would love it. Then we made our way to Frontierland for Splash/BT (fastpasses for both) then took a boat over to Tom Sawyers Island. I havent been there since 1993 so it brought back a lot of good memories. My favorite memory was the barrel bridge and the caves so I had fun getting lost in the caves and jumping on the barrel bridge.

We rode Splash/Thunder then was going to see Country Bears but it closed due to techinal difficulties so we took a nap on the Hall Of Presidents (not really, I just felt like saying that) then the Riverboat so Liberty Square was complete! Then we were running out of time so we did Adventureland so I could go on Aladdins Magic Carpet since I've never done that ever so I completed every ride at the Magic Kingdom finally! We closed the night with Space Mountain & Watching Wishes to end a very fun day.

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packwingfn · Post by **packwingfn** » Dec Wed 26, 2007 11:33 am

Merry Christmas!

Yesterday I worked 430-2 in France Streets and it was the busiest day I've worked here at Walt Disney World. A lot of people were confused, or lost, or both and there was lots of trash everywhere. To balance the business of the park, our managers handed out pin trading and so I decided to do it for the first time. It was a little weird at first when people would come up to you and ask to see your pins. I actually liked pin trading though as it really did help balance the business with a little fun. I should have done this earlier (at least on the busy days) as when I might have been a little stressed out from all the trash and dumb questions, I had some good guest interaction while trading pins.

First, I traded with a young girl and she didnt like any of my pins so she gave me a candy anyway and wished me a merry christmas. I was like awww what a nice little girl. Then I traded with a girl who looked to be around 18, it was her birthday too and after trading, we talked for a bit about what it was like having her birthday on christmas then we talked about Disney. It was really weird talking to a girl I just met but felt like we knew each other for awhile all just for pin trading.

Then my last pin trader of the day was a young boy. I thought I handled talking to the kid very well as I asked him what he got for christmas and I went Disney World was your christmas present huh? And his parents laughed lol.

Last night, I was supposed to clean the International Gateway shop but it didn't close until 1:30, it was EMH Night (and my shift ends at 2) so I just sat in the back doing nothing and being bored but I guess it was good to relax on Christmas night

packwingfn · Post by **packwingfn** » Dec Thu 27, 2007 1:00 pm

Today I work 230-11 which means no night detail AND which also means more guest interaction (which I like) and I get home at a decent time = hopefully a good night ahead of me