Slow Blur

DCP – Days 22 and 23 – September 3-4, 2012

These past few days have been a slow blur.  And yes.   I realize that’s an oxymoron but that’s what it seems like.  The days seemed to drag so slowly and yet I feel like I’ve not had time to turn around. 

Yesterday, I worked at Toy Story for the first time.  The store was really fast paced, due mostly to the drink cart we have.  The bad thing about the store is the sun sets right in front of it.  Like seriously.  RIGHT in front of me.  For like two hours.  So much fun.  Anyway, I worked with this girl named Lauren.  She was great.  She used to be a manager in my location before transferring to Epcot.  She showed me how to close the store and all that fun stuff so I can do it by myself when I need to.

And the cutest little boy came in the store last night.  I was playing with the Lotso bear from Toy Story 3 in front of the store to draw people’s attention over to the store.  He saw it and screamed in excitement.  He ran over yelling, “Lotso!  Lotso!”  His mom said that he has all the other Toy Story characters but Lotso and had been looking for it everywhere.  It was so great to the excitement on his face.  It reminds me while I’m here.

Today I was a floor stocker for Animation Courtyard.  And considering there were less than 1,500 people in the park, there wasn’t much to stock.  But I got to hang out with some awesome coworkers today and just have fun. 

Tomorrow, I’m doing something awesome.  Stay tuned to see what it is.

 

 

 

An Off Day

DCP – Day 21 – September 2, 2012

And I mean off as in, not so good, and not, yay I had the day off!  But anyway.  It was just a not so good day.  I went in to work and everything was fine.  Then I got my placement.  In Character.  My not so favorite place to be.  I relieved a girl who went home and took my place behind the register.  A performance from the Little Mermaid had just let out so the place was swamped.  People were lined up at the register and everything.  Another girl was working there but she was out front blowing bubbles (yes, literally blowing bubbles with the bubble machine) while I worked by myself at the register.

This went on for several minutes.  I did so many transactions so fast that I didn’t have time to think straight.  Not once did the other cashier offer to open the other register there and help me, even after I asked her to.  I’ve never worked with this girl before.  All I know is she’s also a CP and ‘been here since May,’ because that’s all she kept telling me.  She knew everything because she had been here since May, or so she thought.  All of this put me in not so good of a mood.

But thankfully, the night got better when I got a new placement.  I moved to The Studio Store and worked in there for a little while and liked it.  I worked with Ivan, a fellow CP from South America.  We practiced Spanish together.  No hable espanol.

Two of my wonderful roommates, Abby and Erika, came to visit at work tonight, which made the night get that much better.  I also drove to work again today so I was able to crank the new not-country-in-the-least-bit song by Taylor Swift in the car and sing it at the top of my lungs on the way home. 

 

 

Driving to Work

DCP – Day 20 – September 1, 2012

Today was the first day I actually got behind the wheel of my car and drove to work.  Up until now, I’ve taken the bus.  It’s not been a big deal and I’ve actually liked being let off right at the entrance instead of walking from my car in the hot afternoon Florida sun.  But today I missed the bus.  I wrote down the time as the bus leaving at 3:21 and it left at 3:12.  So hopped in my car and drove the route that usually takes 45 minutes.  I was at work in under 20.

So I’m done with the bus.

I worked in the Gallery tonight and it further confirmed that is my favorite store.  I love how it’s not so slow that it’s dead but not so busy we’re going all the time.  It’s the perfect place to work.  I closed tonight with a fellow CP, David.  It was so fun to close with someone my own age for once.  But it was even better to clock out and walk out to my car instead of waiting on the bus.  Yep.  I’ve definitely spoiled myself.

 

 

Language Barrier

DCP – Day 19 – August 31, 2012

Tonight I worked at In Character, the store outside of The Little Mermaid ride.  I was by myself most of the night so that was interesting.  The hardest thing about my job tonight was the language barrier I had between me and the guests.  Most of the people that came in my store didn’t speak English.  If I had a dollar for every time I heard, me no speak English, or got a blank stare when I talked to someone, I’d be rich.  It was a little awkward at times because I didn’t know what to do other than point to their total and smile.  I wish there was an easier way to talk to non English speaking people without having to learn several different languages.  Because so far, this is the only down side of the job I have found.

Along with the language barrier issue tonight, I also got yet another new costume.  Fourth one this week.  This picture was taken in bad lighting so you can't see the awesome designs on it.

 

 

 

 

New Possibilities

DCP – Day 18 – August 30, 2012

Today was a wonderful day.  All because of one family that came in my store.  It was a mom and dad and their three daughters.  They were looking at the watches and I walked over to help them.  I spent several minutes showing them different watches, bracelets, and necklaces.  The dad asked how you take out the links in one of the watches to make it smaller for his daughter.  I told him since this was my first day in that store, I would have to ask someone.  So I found Kelly, my manager, and we walked back over to the family. 

After several more minutes, the girl that was trying to decide between two watches said she would just wait and buy one later.  I offered to write down the sku codes for her so she could order it over the phone if she changed her mind.  I walked off to grab a piece of paper and came back and wrote down the numbers.  When the family left, Kelly pulled me aside and said that the family kept going on and on about how helpful I had been and all of this stuff.  Kelly told me that I had the qualities they look for in leaders, who are the ones that train people and are like a step under managers. 

This opens up a whole new world of possibility for me that I hadn’t considered before.  Kelly is one of the managers over all the store I’ve been working so getting a full or even part time job after this internship might be a possibility.  But I could be a leader and work my way up to being a manager or coordinator.  I really don’t know what I want to do.  It’s still too early to decide anything now so this will just give me some good things to ponder. 

 

 

Animal Kingdom

DCP – Day 17 – August 29, 2012

On my one day off this week, I rose to spend the day at Animal Kingdom.  Here are some of my favorite pictures from today.

Giraffes - My Fav!

Me, Erika, and The Boss

Goofy and Pluto

Another Giraffe

Lion

Another Lion

Awesome Bird and Nest

 

 

Wonderful Coworkers

DCP – Day 16 – August 28, 2012

I am truly blessed to work with some amazing people.  Most everyone here is super nice and very friendly.  From my first day here, everyone welcomed me as if we had known each other for years.  That was a huge relief since the number of people I knew going in to this thing could be listed on one hand.  But with wonderful coworkers, my transition has been easy.

Three people have really helped ease this transition.  First off is Melissa.  She was my first trainer and totally got me pumped up and comfortable with my new role.  Next is Cathy, my coworker the past couple of nights at Animation Gallery.  We have a very similar sense of humor, which makes everything better.  And then there’s Kelly.  She is my leader and an amazing person.  We had a meeting a few days ago where she said she was there to help me in whatever I needed.  I know she has a ton of people under her but the fact that she took time out to sit one on one with me for over thirty minutes and talk about how she could help me was amazing.  If these first few weeks are any indication, this is going to be a great internship.

 

Of course, having such amazing coworkers here makes me miss my favorite coworkers from home.  Like these guys.