Universal Studios: Disney With Water

So I've discovered from my second visit to the Univeral Stuios, that they really offer the same attractions as the four Disney parks with one exception: nearly every attraction at Universal features water of some sort. I was joking about it for a while, noticing that some attractions sprayed you with a little water during parts, but today every attraction I visited at Islands of Adventure, except the Dueling Dragons, got me wet. Poseidon's Fury, Spiderman, and the Hulk all got me somewhat wet. That isn't the half of it though. The Popeye ride, the name escapes me at the moment, is insane. If you have ridden Kali River Rapids at Disney's Animal Kingdom then you know that it is not that great, it gets one or two people wet, but it's a fun little ride. The Popeye ride drenches you, I won't ruin the surprise of the ride, but there is a significant increase in the amount of water used in the Popeye ride.

Little Wonders

It's amazing that life can go 180 degrees in an instant. You can go from happy to sad in a matter of milliseconds. Someone you felt so close to can take something the wrong way, and it can all be lost. Things can be shattered and never be repaired. Sometimes it's your fault and sometimes it's not.
But it's best to not dwell on the sad times. I was at work, dredging away in my most unfavorite job at Rosies All-American Cafe, and a realization struck me. We had all of these people working "extra hours" at our location. "Extra hours" is a term for basic work shifts people can sign up for outside of their normal work location often for an increased pay rate. Unfortunately, at our location we seem to attract slackers and people who don't understand how to do simple tasks, so the extra hours folks just seem to gum up the works. This wasn't my realization however, I noticed that in our trainwreck of extra hours workers, one of our regular cast members was doing a stellar job. Besides just being a good hardworking cast member with a good attitude, this cast member has some handicaps that prevent her from doing some of the more difficult jobs at our location. Even so, she was plugging away at helping to fill orders during our busy time, and doing things that the other "extra hours" cast members had trouble with. She had a few spills during the shift which almost caused her to lose her focus, but she held tight and got back to the task at hand, and I was really proud of her.
This isn't the best part though. We have a way or recognizing cast members who are doing hard work, and to do so we fill out a card that is signed by a manager and then we give this card to the cast member doing the hard work. They can then enter this card into a drawing, but generally it is the fact that the cast member is recognized for their work that is important. When I presented the cast member who worked so hard with me at Rosises with her card, she was extatic. She went around showing it to everyone at the location and held it with genuine pride. She even showed me that I spelt her last name wrong, but she didn't care. That made me laugh. But ultimately I was genuinely happy that she was so happy from recieving this recognition for her hard work. So it goes to show that lifes little wonders really can do some good too.

God Forbid I Do Anything to Help Anyone Other Than Myself!

So I'm fed up with work once again. I've said this before, and I think I've pin-pointed another reason why this is so: very few if any people at work are out to help anyone other than themselves. One would think that at a place where "Dreams Come True" that Cast Members (these so called "Dream Makers) would by and large want to do things to help make dreams come true. Unfortunatly, at least at Sunset Market Ranch, this is not the case. I am sick of working with people that hate their jobs, don't respect the people they work with, and think that they should get paid for standing around all day and doing nothing (not to mention that the complain when a manager actually does come in and asks them to do the work they are assigned). I would report this to a manager, but what are they going to do, honestly, they can't fire everyone. If anything they would probably just tell me to report people who aren't doing their job, which won't help either, because the "stern talking-to" they recieve doesn't have any force behind it. I'm basically just hosed for another 34 days.

The Sky is Falling!

So today it rained. In fact, if one were to calculate our rain that we accumulated today, I would put it in the "buckets" range. This did a few things for us at Disney-MGM Studios. First, it decreased the amount of guests at the park. This was quite nice considering that the past week has been absolutely insane. Second, it increased the consumption of coffee, hot chocolate, soup, and pretzels at the park. This was less good, because most of those things take a heck of a long time to prepare. I ended up closing Min and Bill's Dockside Diner, which is easy, especially since one is given two hours to close it. I'm a little irked though, because I haven't had a day where I haven't closed something since the first month or so I worked here.
There are a few things I haven't mentioned in the blog that I wanted to during my long hiatus. The first is that if you haven't checked out When Curiousity Met Insanity then you are missing out. A wondeful artist, Bri-Chan and a grand writer Zippitydodah27, are crafting an interesting love story between Alice and the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland. Bri and Elizabeth (Zippitydodah27) were both members of the Disney College Program at Disneyland, and they share a lot of the same love of Disney that I do. Another thing I need to share is that Meet the Robinsons was AMAZING! I'm really proud of Disney on this one. I totally knew what was going to happen about 10 minutes into the movie, but they kept me hooked all the way through. I'm so hooked, in fact, that I had my picture taken with Wilbur and Louis at Disney-MGM and Wilbur is currently gracing my desktop. If you haven't seen this movie, drop whatever you are doing and see it now.


... Why aren't you seeing Meet the Robinsons?

Unlucky Number Thirteen

So my only day off this week was sort of a bust. I went to Walmart (the bus was 30 minutes late), did my laundry, and sat around my apartment. This was much more pleasureable than going to work, however, I would have enjoyed being at the Magic Kingdom more, but the hordes still own it. Next week though, the Spring Break crowds will decline and my precious parks will be mine again. I plan on going on a pin trading expedition to get more Peter Pan pins. It should be fun.
I bout one of the "Learn to Draw: Mickey Mouse and his Friends" books, and I realized, once again, how much I like to draw. I've been drawing Mickey's face all night and I almost have it down to a science. Hopefully I can get him down perfect, and then I can draw him for little kids waiting at the airport.

Uncertaintly and the DOOM of Spring Break!

So it seems that I have neglected this blog, as I do with most blogs, but I do hope to remedy this in the last 40 days I have here at Walt Disney World. We are smack dab in the middle of what I like to call "The DOOM of Spring Break." It has been so crazy at the park in the last few weeks that I haven't been able to think straight. This week I work over 60 hours and next week I work over 55. It's pure insanity. I'm also kind of amazed that guests can get into a line for food and see that the line is at least 40 people deep and then complain when they reach the register. Honestly people, if you go to the most popular theme park in the world on one of the bussiest weeks of the year, and get in a line that is over 40 people deep, how can you not expect it to take a long time? I've almost walked out of Rosie's three times this week and the only thing that is keeping me there is my College Program friends and the fact that I would have to buy a plane ticket home.
I'm also pretty uncertain as to whether I am returning to the University of Idaho in the Fall. My original plan was to go back in the Fall and finish up the classes I had left and student-teach in the Spring. However, as luck always has it at the UI, they aren't offereing the classes I need to take to graduate. I'm pretty angry about the whole thing, but I'm hoping that maybe taking the Fall semester off to work and maybe move to Seattle will give me some new perspective on things. I don't know for sure yet, I haven't talked to my parents about the whole thing, but we'll see how the next few weeks pan out. That's all for now. I have to run off to catch a bus so I can work my second shortests shift of the week eight and a half hours. It's only one of two below eleven hours this week.

I Can't Smell Anything

I'm not posting very much today, because I'm not having a very good day. I woke up this morning to find that what I thought might just be some allergies was actually a cold, and as a result I spent most of the day at work coughing and achey. I had to spend the afternoon at Tuscaluca Turkey Co. in Sunset Ranch Marketplace at Disney-MGM Studios, and all I can say is that I'll never eat a turkey leg by itself ever again. I want my turkey legs to come in pairs, with bodies of turkeys. To cap it all off, I had to ride home on a horribly overcrowded bus ride where all conversations were in a different language, so I could only think about my cold. Also, all my friends from back home that I wanted to talk to were busy when I got home, so I'm just sitting here in my PJs thinking that bed is the only alternative. Maybe sleep will make the icky day go away.

Slaving Away

So today was my first day working at Sunset Market Ranch in the Disney-MGM Studios. I started off the day by meeting my trainer for the day, Maria, and working the condiment bar. This is one of the most chill jobs at my workplace. It basically involves checking the condiment bars (there are two of them) and making sure they are stocked, and if they are not, then you stock them. Plus you get to interact with guests a lot more, which I like. I spent the rest of my day in Rosies serving up hamburgers and french fries. It's also not too bad of a place to work, time goes by really quick and you don't have to do much. I do, however, feel like I am the master of fast food at this point. Since I have pretty much mastered the system of quick service food and beverage distribution.
Tomorrow I start off my day with two hours of online classes, so I shouldn't really be doing too much. Plus, I spend the second half of my day at Taluca Turkey Legs, which my roomate Randy says is the easiest job in the world. Tomorrow night is extra magic hours at Disney-MGM Studios, which means we stay open an extra three hours until 10PM, so hopefully it's only the rides and not the food places. Even if it is, though, I get off work at 9PM, so I won't have to stay the whole time.
One thing that really irked me today, though, was the bus ride home from work. A couple of fellow Disney College Program cast members were talking about other cast members in the entertainment division and their sexuality. Apparently one of these two cast members who were talking on the bus had some good insight into the entertainment division and decided that many of the performers were homosexuals. It didn't stop with the frivolous labeling either. The two continued to use traditional homosexual stereotypes to mock these cast members in the entertainment division, and it really irked me. Now don't get me wrong. I don't blame any of this on Disney. I think they do a pretty decent job of encouraging diversity and tolerance both in the workplace and in the parks. For instance, I worked with people from pretty much all corners of the globe and two deaf people today. That hasn't happened to me EVER. I just wish that people would get their heads out of the sand and learn that sexuality is not something that we should consider when we consider a person's worth.

On with the Show!

So Randy and I spent our morning at Disney-MGM Studios finding out all about the history of the park and it's attractions. We also did some more of that awesome online training, and we visited our workplace and got our costumes. Some of the training was pretty interesting actually, and the walkthrough that was specific to our workplace was really informative. I also found out that we get one free meal each day we train, so that seems nice to me. There is also a Cast Member cafeteria at Disney-MGM Studios, and our group had breakfast there. It was actually really good food and cheap too. Randy and I got our schedules for the next four days and it looks like we will be working non stop. Luckily, we got late morning/afternoon shifts, so at least we don't have to get up early in the morning.
I think I'm going to go to Downtown Disney again this afternoon and pick up some merchandise for the people back home. I think I've finally scoped out what is the good stuff, and now I'm ready to buy. Randy also wants to go and eat some decent food, so I think we're going to go to a resturant down there. If anything exciting happens while we are down there, I'll make sure I post it.

"The Land" or "Watching Grass Grow: The Ride"

So Randy, Tyler, and I went to EPCOT today and checked out where Tyler will be working. He is working operations at "The Land," and it is pretty much the most boring ride at EPCOT. It is a tour through the greenhouses at EPCOT, and it's quite literally about as exciting as watching grass grow. However, we did ride Mission Space which was awesome. We also checked out The Seas with Nemo and Friends and the World Showcase. We stopped off in Norway to ride the Maelstrom, which was fun. It's always fun to pretend you are a viking. As we were leaving the park we looked again for 24" Mickey plushies, but we couldn't find them again. I even asked a Cast Member working in the store, and after he went and checked for me he said that they were discontinued. Now I'm sad, but I will probably go with an 18", because I don't want to spend $100 on a giant one.
So tomorrow I start training over at Disney-MGM Studios. Randy and I have to be at the costuming building at 7:30AM tomorrow, and we work until 3PM. It's not too bad of a day, and I expect we won't be doing too much. From what I hear on the first day you just visit your work site, explore the park, and get your costume. Randy and I also have like ten more online trainings to do, so we might end up doing that too. We'll see I guess.

We Don't Have Any 24" Mickeys

So I went to Disney-MGM Studios today, and it was a pretty good time. I saw where I am going to work and the costume that I am going to wear, and it wasn't too bad. There are definitely worse costumes to be wearing at Walt Disney World. My roomates Randy, Tyler and I went to the Tower of Terror, Star Tours, The Great Movie Ride, The "Lights, Motors, Action Stunt Show," The Voyage of the Little Mermaid, and watched The Beauty and the Beast live performance. I took a lot of pictures of the Beauty and the Beast performance and posted them over at my Flickr Account. The link is in an older blog entry, but it's also on my sidebar now. It was a pretty good show for being 33 minutes long and having to present a 100 minute long story. We ended the day watching Fantasmic, which is the fireworks/live action night performance at Disney-MGM Studios. It was pretty cool, but the wind was blowing toward the seating and we were constantly sprayed by the water from the performance area.
If you've read this far then you're probably wondering about the entry title. I decided I really want a giant Micky plushie, but I can't find any. In the extra hour we had between riding our last ride and going to get a seat at Fantasmic, my roomates and I searched in all of the Disney-MGM Studios shops, and there were no large Mickeys. I found about 40 bajillion sixteen inch Mickeys, but there was nothing larger in the whole park. We're going to EPCOT and Animal Kingdom tomorrow, so maybe my search will be more fruitful then.

Quick Service Food and Boring

So I just got back from my "Food and Beverage Basics" class at Disney University, and I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. They had coffee first off, which pretty much made my morning. I mixed a packet of Hot Cocoa with a cup of coffee and had myself a "ghetto mocha." It was tastylicious. The two gentlemen we had leading the first part of our session were also pretty funny and kept things lively. However, it seems that Disney does a large part of it's training with online courses, and sitting behind a computer screen learning about food safety was not my idea of a good time. However, I have the rest of today off and tomorow and Monday, so that should be fun. I think I'm going down to Downtown Disney today with my roomate Randy, and that should also be fun. I think I'm going to spend some cash on merchandise. If I get anything cool I'll be sure to take a picture and post it on my Flickr.

I Finally Got My Cast Member ID, and I'm Going to the Magic Kingdom!

So I spent this morning in what Disney calls Traditions at the Disney University. Traditions is basically an training class that basically tells you very common sense things that everyone who has already worked a real job already knows. However, there was a slightly exagerated video about sexual harassment that was comical in it's exageration. I did get a pluto toy, though, for talking about fond Disney memories of my childhood, so it wasn't all bad. In fact it really wasn't bad at all. It was just four hours of a lot of information I already knew. I did get one of those cool Disney nametags that all the Cast Members have. I'll post a picture of it later.
I'm about to head out the Magic Kingdom with my roomates, and we are going to rock the park. It's a pretty casual day here in Florida too, so the park should be pretty calm. I'll report more on that later.
Cont...
So I just got back from the Magic Kingdom and I uploaded my pictures onto my Flickr account. I plan on uploading all my pictures there, so it is definitely something to check out regularly. We rode a lot of rides today, and it was a lot of fun. I would've liked spending some more time looking at merchandise in the gift shops, but everyone wanted to get on more rides, so I moved along. I saved my guidemap so I can mark off how many times I've attended each attraction by the end of my College Program. I assume that Pirates of the Caribbean will be into the tripple digits. Tomorrow I have training starting at 7AM until 10AM, and I am not excited for it. It is called Food and Beverage Basics, and I have a feeling that it is already things I know. However, Randy, my roomate, has the class with me and after we finish we are going town to Downtown Disney to look at merchandise. Apparently they have a place down there where you can build your own lightsaber. I'm kind of giddy about that.

Working with the Stars

So I got my job specifications today. I'm not sure why they held off telling us what they were for so long, because it wasn't really exciting or mysterious. I'm working at the Sunset Market Ranch at the MGM Studios doing some sort of Quick Service Food and Beverage. The description on the official Disney website reads that the Sunset Market Ranch serves up "hamburgers, hot dogs, smoked turkey legs, veggie burgers, pizza, hand-dipped ice cream and fresh fruit."
I'm really confused about how Disney sets up their college program. Yesterday we checked in and it took a good part of the day. Then we were given some time to meet with our roomates. This was a good set up. Today we had meetings from 9 AM until 11 AM, and then nothing, and then tommorow we have about half a day of meetings too. Why didn't they just combine these activities into one day, and then just give us a day to play around in the parks. We don't have our park passes yet, so we have to find something this afternoon. However, we do have a beer pong table now, though, so things may improve.

Jesus Loves U

So I'm here in Florida and boy is it humid. I arrived this morning at 6:45 AM, and spent my morning filling out endless hours of Disney paperwork. I do have five pretty cool appartment mates, though, so things aren't all bad. While my roomate and I were over at Wal-Mart (yes I know it is the Devil, but the busses don't go anywhere else) we were waiting for our return bus when we looked up to see words appearing in the clouds. It seems that someone commissioned a sky writer to write "Jesus Loves U" in the clouds. Unfortunately for this skevangelist (that's a new phrase I made up to describe sky writing evangelism) the winds were too high today and by the time he had finished the last upstroke on the "U" the message had all but faded away. We're planning a "get to know our neighbors" party tonight, so I should have some good pictures uploaded later tonight or tommorow morning. Tommorow I should also find out what my specific job is. They seem to shroud the whole job finding process as very mysterious. I wonder if we'll have to enter some "Temple of Doom" to discover our true path.