Animal Kingdom!

On sunday 21st october we went to animal kingdom in the morning before going to work in the afternoon. At animal kingdom we went got fastpass for everest and went on dinosaur. We also saw the nemo and lion king shows. The nemo show was ok but the lion king is definately better. Everest was good but i'm sure the yeti isn't as visible as it used to be. We ate at pizzafari which was nice. I had a chicken parmesan sandwich. Oh and the breadsticks were lovely. Then I went off to work until 2:30am. It was my first time closing and it's not difficult but it's really boring once we have closed. It's basically lots of tidying and stocking ready for the morning.

On monday 22nd october me and charlotte went to the premium outlets. We had to walk a long way from chatham to the outlets because the short cut has closed since I left. We both bought sketchers and then we walked back to the commons. We worked out the both routes take about the same amount of time. Then it was off to work again for another late shift. I did get a locker in the main street area which is good. I can keep my lunch in there.

On tuesday 23rd october I was working late again. I didn't start until 8pm. But I got an ER and got to go home early which was nice even if it was only by 20 mins. I was supposed to be stocking but I was put on registers. I would have liked to stock for a change.

On wednesday 24th october I went to walmart in the morning with claire. I got a clothes dryer so I don't have to keep paying $1 to dry my clothes. Then I went to the vista bank before work to cash my paycheck. After waiting for ages. They had to put $10 into my account so I only got $40 :( Then I had to rush to get ready for work. I made it just in time. Less than a minute to spare. I was on registers as usual.

Off to UCF!

On friday we all went to the University of Central Florida Rosen College campus for registration. So we got the bus to UCF. First we were given lunch which was alright but not that nice. Then we got our registration packs which contained the classes we would be taking. I'm taking Theme Park Management and Guest Service Management. Then we had to queue to pay the tuition fees. This took ages as there were only 2 people doing this. So after a while we were told to all go into a room for a presentation even though we had't paid yet. The presentation explained about UCF and the classes. Then we had a break where some more of us paid our fees. Me and Vicky managed to pay but the others haven't yet. Then we went back for another presentation about how to behave in class. One rule is that you must remain concsious which means no dozing, sleeping and meditating. We all thought this was really funny. Then it was time to go back to Vista. In the evening a group of us went to Magic Kingdom. We went on splash mountain and got the funny photo. We also went on Country Bear Jamboore which was so boring.

On saturday we were back at UCF for the first day of classes. In the morning was Theme Park Management with Vicky. We had to introduce ourselves and then we were put into groups where we had a budget and we had to plan a family holiday in orlando. Our budget was pretty low at $2,500. After that it was lunch which was exactly the same as fridays. Not good. Then in the afternoon I had Guest Service Management with Becky and James. We didn't really do much except introduce ourselves. It was funny though because the teacher didn't understand that we were all graduates. I was so jealous of the people taking the wine class because all they did was drink wine and they didn't even have to pay the $100. Then we went back to Vista Way to get ready for drinking round the world at Epcot. We had a drink in my apartment before going to Epcot. We drank at quite a few places and bought silly hats (Kirstys idea). Then me, Vicky and Charlotte went to the Magic Kingdom. Charlotte met up with her family and me and Vicky went on a few rides.

More training!

On tuesday it was the final day of training so we pretty much knew what we were doing. We spent most of the time on the registers and we had to do a written assessment to make sure we know what we are doing.

On wednesday it was my first day without the trainer. It went alright. The main thing I have trouble with is where everything is. Because the emporium is so huge it's difficult to remember where everything is.

Thursday was a late shift because it was mickey's not so scary halloween party. It was good because I got to watch the parade and saw jack sparrow. It's weird working the parties though because it gets really quiet when the parade and firework are on. But then it get really busy.

On the job training starts!

Sunday was the first day on training at the Emporium. First the trainer was late so when we clocked in our time had to be changed. After a lot of waiting around we walked through the tunnels and were shown were everything is. We walked down main street and were shown where stuff was. This seemed to take ages and was pretty boring. Then we went on the computers to do training but I had already done it all so I just looked around the Hub. Once everyone was finished we went upstairs to learn about polices and proceedures with Anna the manager. She was nice and some of the points system has changed so everytime you call in sick you get 1 point. Then we went down to the Emporium and did some stuff on the registers. But since there were 5 of us it was a bit crowded and we didn't learn much. Then it was time to go home. I didn't do much when I got in. Just looked on the internet.

Monday was the second day of training. This time Aerial and Vanessa's trainer was there so it was only 3 of us with our trainer Sally. We mainly worked on the registers which was nice and it was pretty easy to remember. Nothing exciting really happened but it was pretty busy so the day went fast. When it came time to leave we were too busy and noone came to take over so we all had to extend by 20 minutes. It was a bit annoying but i'll get paid a bit more. Then came home and went to bed even though it was pretty early noone was around.

Early morning training on my birthday!

On friday it was my birthday but I had to get up really early to go to merchandise training at disney university. The first couple of hours were listening about guest service etc. Then we di training on the computers which showed up how to do all the transactions we would need to do. It was pretty easy but boring especially as I wasn't feeling very well. I think Epcot gave me food poisoning. Then the rest of the day I rested and went to walmart. I got some stomach tablets which helped me feel a bit better. After that I had an early night.

Saturday was another day off. I went to MGM studios with Kirsty and Claire. It was lots of fun going on rock n rollercoaster and tower of terror. The shows were great as well. We saw beauty and the beast and fantasmic. We ate at the sci fi dine in which is cool because inside you sit in cars and there is a screen showing films like a drive in cinema. The food was good although i'm getting fed up of burgers. On the way home we saw Andy, James and Charlotte. I found out that James was working in the Emporium too so that should be fun.

Getting paid!

On wednesday I had traditions at 8am which meant getting up really early. We got our Disney ID and nametag. Traditions was pretty much the same as before with the task of naming as many characters as possible. I got a winnie the pooh prize for being chosen as our team captain. Then we learnt the timeline of the walt disney company. We also watched videos about safety and harrasment etc. They were pretty boring and the same ones I had already seen. But at least we were getting paid for it. Then I went back to the apartment for the afternoon while some of the others had traditions in the afternoon. But then in the evening we went to Epcot and got some food in China. Then we went on Maelstrom and watched Illuminations. Illuminations was great but the globe didn't open. So then we went back home to bed.

Thursday was my day off. YAY! The reason I got the day off was because I had already done the once upon a dream tour of the magic kingdom. So I went to Epcot with Claire. We got fastpass for soarin and went on The Land and Nemo rides which were good. Although on Nemo the person in the car next to us kept taking photos every second so the flashes were really annoying. Then we got on the friendship to the Yacht and Beach Resort which is where Claire will be working. We had a little look round and then we walked back to Epcot. We went on soarin and then ate at Seasons. After that we went on Ellen's Energy adventure before going back home. In the evening we met up and went to Benningans for some food and drinks. It was really nice. I had these really cute mini chicken burgers. Then we got the bus to Pleasure Island. PI was good but a lot of people were tired. But they stayed until midnight for my birthday. We got home about 2am and went to sleep.

More meetings!

Tuesday was similar to monday with talks but this time about laws and bank accounts. I opened an account with Vista Federal Credit Union. I have a savings and checking account so I will get a debit card. Then we had lunch and in the afternoon we went round desks again but this time we found out where we were working. I will be working in Magic Kingdom again which i'm happy about but i'm working in the Emporium which i'm not so sure about. Then we met with the trainers to find out more information. I found out that I would have traditions early the next day and then a day off because i've already done the magic kingdom tour day. Yay! Because we received our passes we decided to go to magic kingdom in the evening. We went on a few rides including Philhamagic and space mountain which was great. I love those rides. We also ate at Peco's Bill which was alright. Just burger and chips really. Then we watched wishes which brought a tear to my eye and went home.

Meeting etc.

On monday it was an early start and we got the bus to the commons. We got a free breakfast. Then we had welcome talks and housing talks which were pretty boring but I guess we need to know it. Next was lunch and we went to Chick-fil-A which was ok but not great. Then in the afternoon we had to meet and go to a series of desks for different things like payroll and housing id. Then we had the rest of the afternoon so we decided to go to walmart. We bought loads of stuff and got a taxi back in the end. In the evening we went to Downtown Disney to the Earl of Sandwich for some food. It was lovely especially as we were starving. We had a quick look around the world of disney and caught the bus back to Vista. By this time it was bedtime and I had no trouble sleeping at all.

I'm here at last!

So on sunday I got to the airport, checked in and then had some breakfast. After that I went through security which took a while and met up with a group of people on my flight. So after lots of excited chatting we got on the plane. The flight was very long and my tv didn't have sound so I couldn't watch any of the films. The food wasn't too bad for airplane food. Then we finally landed but it was raining :( so we got off the plane and headed for passport control. We waited in line for ages and then when I got there I had to go off to a room where all the people on the program were. We were all wondering what was going on but in the end it seemed like the just needed more time to check our passports. Some people got called into a room and I was one of then but the man hardly asked anything on about 3 questions. After I got my passport back I went to collect my bags and they were already waiting for me because it took so long. Then we had to go through a bag security point and then put our bags on another conveyer belt so that they would go through to the main terminal. We got the shuttle and went to find our bags. Again this took a long time but we got them and went to the international programs desk where we got a pack of informations saying where we would be living etc. I'm living in Vista Way. We got on the bus to Vista Way and I found my apartment. After dragging my suitcases up the stairs I got to the apartment and met my housemates, Flavia, Elisa and Ying. They are nice and we decided to go to Walmart but there were no buses running so we couldn't. So we went to bed but even after such a tiring day I couldn't sleep.

Only 2 days to go!

It's getting so close. I can't sleep at the moment i'm too excited. Today is my early birthday because I will be in florida for my actual birthday. Tonight will be a birthday tea at home and then going out for drinks in town with row. So should be a fun night. My dad decided that it would be better to stay in a hotel the night before I leave so that we don't have to get up so early.

5 days until I leave :)

So now it's less than a week I'm getting so excited. I have packed most of my stuff and just need to get a few things sorted. I'm worried that I won't have enough to pay the $2000 tuition fees. I've spent a lot recently meeting up with people etc. Also yesterday I got an email from Yummy Jobs saying good luck and giving some important info for when we arrive.