adventure is here.

Like I said, there’s going to be several posts coming out in a row so bear with me and my procrastination... here’s everything you need to know about my role in the Lodging area of Walt Disney World! 

So as I previously mentioned in my post “DCP Arrival Day,” I was told upon checking in that I would be working at Disney’s Yacht & Beach Club Resort. At that point I already knew I was in Bell Services but I wasn’t entirely sure what that entailed. All this was cleared up more as the arrival day progressed and I got my training schedule for the week. My first 3 days of training went from Traditions, to “Welcome to Lodging” to “Bell Services Dispatch”. So basically it started out with a very general group, then as each day passed it got more and more specific to my role. My second day was at DU again, and we spent the day discussing all of Disney World’s Resorts and what level of service they expected us to give to our guests. It wasn’t too exciting but I did learn a lot of facts about Disney Resorts that I was able to take with me and actually use at my job later on. 

After Welcome to Lodging, I had a computer training course for the web program called “Maximo” Bell Services use to dispatch work orders. That class had only 2 other people in it with me, so you can imagine how specific the program was. Both of the other cast members were CP’s and ironically one of them was actually being sent to Yacht & Beach just like me! So that was cool getting to know one of my coworkers before I had even starting working there. Since everyone in that class was pretty good with technology it didn’t take long for us to figure out the program and we were able to leave early. I don’t want to get too detailed for fear of making this post even more boring but the program basically lets us see, create and dispatch work orders for the bell people at the resort. We use it to keep track of where the luggage is, where it’s being sent, and when. It lets us do a few other things but that’s the general summary. 

After my first 3 days of training at DU I was finally scheduled my first day at Yacht & Beach Club! This class was called “Welcome Aboard” and it was for any new cast members coming to the resort, so not just bell services. Luckily the guy I took the Maximo class with was there so I already had a friend. In this class they told us the history of the Yacht & Beach Club, discussing the theme and going over the property map - we even had a quiz on it! After we talked about the resort for a while they took us on a tour. 

This was the first time I had ever been there so I was seeing everything for the first time- and it was BEAUTiful. Basically, The Yacht Club & the Beach Club are separate but together. They are sister resorts and operate under mostly the same management, but have completely different themes and styles. Asides from the themes, the main differences are that Beach Club has vacation villas, which can be rented through Disney’s Vacation Club. These rooms are less like hotel rooms and more like full apartments, offering a great environment for families that need the space. The Yacht Club doesn’t have villas but instead a giant convention center, which brings in a lot of business-related guests. The beach side is bright and loud, full of children and their families, whereas the yacht side has darker lighting, a quieter environment and a more grown-up tone. 

Beach Club is above, Yacht is below. As you can see Beach has higher ceilings, brighter colors, and decorations that make you feel as if you’re at the beach. Yacht on the other hand has lower ceilings, ambient lighting, and nautical features, making you feel as if you are actually on a yacht sailing away. 

Both sides are gorgeous especially during Christmas time. The Beach Club really shines during Christmas because they pump a sweet gingerbread smell into the lobby and also boast a life-sized carousel made completely of gingerbread and chocolate! The Yacht Club’s Christmas decorations have a very classic feel, pumping scents of fresh pine into the lobby with a giant Christmas tree right when you walk in and a vintage train set to the right of it. I really am proud of where I work and recommend everyone who comes to Disney to at least stop by and see the amazing decor and themes of each side. It may not be in everyone’s price range but if it is I would totally recommend you stay here- because we also have the biggest and highest-rated pool on property! Asides from the beautiful interior/exterior designs and amenities, the location is also fabulous. We are the only resort in Disney World that is within walking distance of not one but TWO parks! That’s right, you can walk to both Epcot and Hollywood Studios from my resort. We’re also across the pond from the Boardwalk Resort which has a great nightlife. Can you tell I love my work location yet? Disney should offer me a marketing position! 

For those wondering exactly what my job description is, here’s the run down:

I am a bell services dispatcher. This is a role that you could be doing a number of different things. Most of the time I’m working behind the bell services desk, using the program I talked about earlier to dispatch work orders and track luggage for guests. This entails standing behind a computer for my shift, answering phone calls and providing customer service accordingly. There are 2 other areas I can be assigned to other than this. One of them is Beach Club luggage room, where I tag and store bags for guests who don’t have a room yet or just checked out and need their bags stored for the time being. I take the guests information, tag each of the bags and log them into our secure luggage room across the lobby. This is generally a morning shift and I don’t often get scheduled in the morning so I’ve only done this a handful of times. Lastly, another part of Bell Services Dispatch is being scheduled a transfer shift. This is even more rare because it only happens if you’re scheduled in the mornings on Yacht Club side. If a guest is switching resorts we offer a complimentary service of transferring it to their new resort (as long as it’s Disney) by 3 pm that day. Those shifts are nice because they go by quickly and I get to drive around in this huge cargo van all day which can be pretty entertaining. I also like this shift because I get to explore other resorts while being paid. It’s a win win.

Anyways, thanks for coming on a tour of my work location with me. If anyone reading has any questions or comments feel free to post them below! I’d be happy to brag about my role or work location a little bit more. 

Adventure is here. 

Hello! So since things have truly been a whirlwind the past couple of months, I’ve been starting posts in my spare time and just saving them to my drafts. Clearly I have issues finishing what I started so I have all these posts just sitting in my drafts folder waiting to be put out there! Therefore I’ve decided to post the date I started writing the post to minimize confusion, considering there might be several posts coming out in the next couple of days. So after that little explanation/introduction there, here’s everything you need to know about the famous “Traditions”! 

So, for those who don’t know, Traditions is a initiation ceremony/orientation day to kick off your first day as an official Disney Cast Member. I had only heard whispers here and there about it from the Facebook page that I joined once I got accepted into the Disney College Program. All I knew about it going in was what I had to wear, and that at some point I would be getting my cast member name tag. I should first mention that I was almost not able to go to my originally scheduled Traditions. I got a call the day after we moved in saying that my background check had not been processed correctly and that I might have to wait to go to a Traditions later on in the week. This made me nervous because I had no idea why the background check wouldn’t have gone through smoothly, so I checked the Facebook page to see if anyone else had come across the same problem. I’m sharing this because if anyone reading this goes through the same thing, DON’T WORRY. Sure enough, plenty of other CP’s (that’s an easier way to say fellow college program cast members) were going through the same thing. Luckily I got a call later on that night saying it had finally been processed and I could proceed with Traditions as planned the next morning. So as I said my first tip is don’t stress, Disney knows what they’re doing and most likely it has nothing to do with you. My second tip is to take advantage of the CP Facebook page, especially throughout your first couple of weeks. Not only does it connect you to people that know exactly what you’re going through & provide a helpful source of information, but it also is a good way to meet people! 

Anyways, after getting sidetracked I went to Traditions and to put it simple, it was really great. We started out in the cafeteria in Disney University and I actually was able to meet up with a few people I had met on move-in day, including a girl who actually is in the same major at the same school as me back in NY! Unfortunately we were broken up into groups and I was separated from her for Traditions, but it’s okay because the whole day is about starting fresh and meeting new people. We were ushered into a classroom-like setting where we had two very enthusiastic, very welcoming facilitators. We spent a few hours talking about why we were here, what Disney’s all about, and how we fit into the big picture. If I’m being honest, there was a lot of safety demonstrations and information thrown around which could get pretty boring, but they gave us a break and told us we had a surprise waiting for us when we returned. That surprise was our first trip into Magic Kingdom as Disney Cast Members- and not only that, but we got a backstage tour version where we literally walked underneath Cinderella’s Castle. Considering the last time I had been to Disney I was too young to remember, this was like seeing it all for the first time. After walking around for a little bit our facilitator asked us to give us an example of something we learned about in our class in a real-life situation. In Disney, there are Four Keys that Cast Members are to abide by while on stage (Disney’s code for on-duty). The four keys are in order of importance: Safety, Courtesy, Efficiency, Show. We were sent on a mission in Magic Kingdom to find one cast member demonstrating one or more of the four keys and share our findings with the class. After we did that we headed back to Disney University to learn a little bit more about the company before we got to the part everyone was waiting for… Our initiation! They handed out mickey ears, papers, and then just as they were about to give us our name tags a special visitor arrived- the boss himself, Mickey Mouse! He handed our name tags to us and welcomed us all to the company. For me, that made all the boring crap we listened to earlier worth it. 

If anyone reading is wondering about what DCP Arrival Days are like, I figured I would share my experience. My arrival date was set for September 8th at 8A.M. at the Vista Way apartments complex. As soon as I got there, I started to have a mini freak out session because I was just so anxious/excited/stressed/etc. Thankfully my dad was there to calm me down and we prayed that everything would go smoothly. When we walked up to the welcome tent I was told my dad couldn’t come through any of the check-in process with me, which was a little bit of a bummer but I just went with it. 

Everything after that was pretty much just waiting in a series of lines and going through a bunch of paperwork. Line #1 was where I was given my work location: The Yacht & Beach Club Resort! Line #2 is where I found out where I’d be living: Chatham Square (my first choice YAY)! Line #2 is also where I found out I was put in a suite with the girls I requested to be with (yay again)! So despite my nervous breakdown that morning, everything worked out pretty much perfectly. Line #3 was where I got an awful picture taken of me and slapped onto my new housing ID for Chatham. This ID gives me access to my apartment complex since it’s a gated community, and also gives me access to the bus system. After I went through a few more lines to go over my work authorization papers and getting my schedule for the rest of the day, we were sent off to casting. My casting was at 10am, and by the time I was done with check-in it was around 9:30, so I didn’t have time to go to my apartment first. 

Most of the new arrivals took a bus to casting, but since we were supposed to be out of the Vista Way parking lot by noon I just had my dad drop me off at casting so I didn’t have to worry about getting a ticket. Casting was just a whole lot more of waiting in lines, filling out paperwork, getting more schedules for the week ahead, and hearing about different rules and requirements for the program. The one cool thing about casting was the people I was waiting in line with. In the 2 hours I was there, I met people from California, Japan, Australia, the UK and even somebody who lived near my hometown! It was just so cool to have the world be so big and small all at once. By the time I got out I was exhausted and starving so mi padre and I went to lunch before I went to see my apartment. After taking a break from all the madness we plugged my new address into the GPS and headed to my new home for the next few months!

As I mentioned previously, I was able to link up with the girls I had requested to live with. However, when I checked in they also told me I would have other girls in our suite, for a grand total of 8(!) girls in our apartment. I wasn’t really sure how crazy that would be but when we got to the apartment I was beyond thrilled- not only was it super nice, it was GIGANTIC! We have four bedrooms (so 2 per room), TWO fridges, and 2 1/2 baths! We also have an enormous living room and fully equipped kitchen, along with a really cute back porch that’s the perfect outdoor brunch location (when the humidity isn’t killer). I don’t have pictures of the apartment as a whole but here’s a picture of what my side of the bedroom looks like!

Yes that is my Ed Sheeran flag acting as a curtain... He actually had a concert that night in Orlando that I was dying to go to but I waited too long to get tickets so I went to another show of his 2 days later in Tampa, which actually worked out because I got to spend some quality time with my dad his last night in Orlando (insert crying emoji here). So we ended the day by going to one of our favorite restaurants, Fudrucker’s, and I tried to cope with the fact that in less than 24 hours I would be completely on my own- the farthest I’d ever been from home before. I know this all might seem a little boring but it was an extremely emotional day for me and at the end of it I felt like I had just been caught up in a tornado and dropped back down in this big, unfamiliar place. The next morning I woke up earlier than I was comfortable with to do something that I wasn’t sure I was prepared for- saying goodbye to my rock, my superman: my father. Needless to say I was nervous about the road ahead, but as we hugged and I tried not to cry, I knew that everything would be okay. As I watched him drive away, I knew that things would get easier with each step I took forward, and that there was no looking back. My time is now, my adventure is here. 

Hello everyone! Firstly, I’d like to apologize for failing at keeping my blog updated, I’ve been in Orlando for 2 weeks now and I am just making my first post. However, I plan to make up for it with lots of posts this week about everything that’s happened since I left home a few weeks ago. So far the journey has been crazy, exciting and emotional but I feel so lucky to be here. So I guess I’ll start at the beginning of the trip. I left my home in upstate NY the last weekend in August, with my Ford Focus station wagon all packed up and full of CD’s to pass the time. This was my first time driving over 2 hours, and definitely my first time driving so many miles all by myself. My father was originally supposed to drive down with me, but something came up at work and he couldn’t take off as much time as he thought. My plan was to stop in Virginia and visit my Richmond family for a few days, which also helped split up the trip into more feasible portions. Here’s a picture of my girl Bailey who was the first one to greet me when I arrived in VA, who was (as you can tell) pretty happy I did:

After getting some much needed family time and celebrating one of my favorite people’s birthdays (Shout out to Stacey if you’re reading this, you’re the best), I started the second leg of my journey. My dad actually was able to come and meet me in Virginia and we drove down together for the last part, which I was grateful for. 23 hours and 1,200 miles later and after many, many loops of my favorite Ed Sheeran CD, we arrived in Orlando.

 My Aunt & Uncle and some of my cousins actually live only 20 minutes away from where I would be checking into my DCP a few short days later, and were kind enough to share their home with us before I moved in. Here my dad and I were able to meet my beautiful new cousin Katherine for the first time, and spend some time with my other cousins Abigail and Audrey (both under the age of 4 and both ridiculously adorable). Can we just talk about how adorably happy my dad was to hold his newest niece for the first time? 

 My uncle has a friend who works for Disney and was able to get us into the parks for free the day before my arrival date, which gave me the opportunity to experience Walt Disney World for the first time since I was 2 and too young to remember. It was magical, to say the least. We started in Epcot, then made our way to Animal Kingdom, and finished our night watching the famous “Wishes” fireworks show over Cinderella’s Castle in Magic Kingdom (pictures to follow). It was incredible, and the entire day I spent thinking “I can’t believe this is my new home.” My adventure is here.