There's A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow!

I’d like to give more of a description and explanation of my job and what I do all day. Of course it matters how busy we are and who I’m working with, but a large indicator to whether I’ve had a good day or not is what positions I’ve been. So here they all are in order of my personal least fave to favorite!

14. Stocker 

Everyone hates stocker. If you’re on the 1-4 side it’s pretty slow but then sometimes you have to be anchor assist too and that sucks. Being on the 5-8 side is always awful. You’re constantly running around refilling all the items on line. People on line are always yelling out what they need and I have to admit it helps but it stresses me out so much.

13. Trash and Floors

Exactly what it sounds like. You are constantly taking all the trash and card board out of the kitchen downstairs. People hate closing trash and floors bc you might have to make a bail. You are supposed to be sweeping the floors too but you usually don’t have time bc you also have to deliver boxes of whatever the kitchen needs. You get a radio so kitchen can call to say what they need.

12. Taco Trios

In CDS this position is usually called broiler catcher (1-4) bc we almost never use that broiler. It’s easy...too easy and I hate it. I need some sense of urgency. Basically you’re taking playes that are divided in 3 and placing soft taco shells in each one so the people on line can fill them with meat. If you are making them to order you can just leave them there or deliver to line. If you are prepping for the next day you have to cover your stacks with plastic wrap.

11. Buns

Buns isn’t bad persay, it’s just boring. You are putting buns on trays for broiler to put in. Kids are easiest bc its just the buns but adults take some time bc you have to put 2 slices of bacon on each top bun. I often have the problem of making too many and then they get stale. If you already have a bunch made you can always make trios.

10. Broiler

Broiler is easiest when we’re green. You just keep putting as many patties in the broiler as possible and don’t stop till someone tells you. It gets harder the quieter we are and you can’t really tell how often you should be sending burgers. You can rely on Catcher to tell you but it’s still your fault if we have to hold on angus. Adult burgers can be put in 3 across at a time. A full set is 12 and a half set is 6. You have to put in kids burgers one at a time, and usually in sets of 6.

9. Broiler Catcher

This is the greasiest position. You’re catching everything that comes out of the broiler. You’re putting cheese on the buns and then assembling burgers. You also deliver the burgers to the lines. Generally it’s your job to tell broiler what type of sets, and how often since you can see the line. 

8. Anchor Assist

Chips! You’re taking one tram of chips at a time from fryer if you’re (5-8) or one container at a time if you’re (1-4). Then you put handfuls of chips in the small and large boats for the Anchor to grab. Some people do more but I like to generally have 3 trays of each on the tram for Anchor.

7. Fryer

Chips! That’s all your frying. At first this position stressed me out bc of how many chips we go through but it’s really not that bad. You are constantly frying batches of tortilla chips and they only take 30-45 seconds so it’s pretty fast paced. The goal is to have 2 full trams of chips but it’s ok if you have one full tram and are working on the other. I’ve been anchor assist and had to wait for fryer to make more chips but I’ve always had plenty while fryer so it’s never been a stressful position for me.

6. Anchor

The 1st position on line. It’s probably the most important position in the kitchen. They begin the orders so if your anchor is slow, everything else will be slow. They are taking tickets and arranging the plates, bowls, and boats on the trays. They grab salads, lettuce wraps, chip boats, and burgers and put them on the trays. They also add beef wherever needed on trays.

5. Middle

This is the 2nd position on line. They put chicken, pork, cauliflower, and rice wherever needed on trays. They’re responsible for keeping trays by the line for the anchor to grab. If there is no stocker the middle becomes stocker.

4. Window

This is the last (and best) position on line. They put black beans, queso, mac and cheese, squash, and onions wherever needed on trays. They also check over the trays to make sure everything is correct. They also communicate with the counter.

3. Salads

Ahh yes the position that made me cry on Day 2. I’ve gotten so much better at salads since then and now I think it’s so easy! Sometimes there’s 2 people there and one person does salads while the other does lettuce wraps but most often you’ll be by yourself. Basically, you make salads and lettuce wraps. 8 of either go on one tray and depending on how busy we are you should have 3-6 trays of each in the coolers. If we’re really busy you may only have 1-2 and that’s ok. Salads go 4,3,2,1. 4 ounces of lettuce, 3 tomatoes, 2 ounces of corn and bean salsa and 1 ounce of tortilla strips. Lettuce wraps are served in the taco trio plates and are just lettuce cups, jerk chicken, and coleslaw. 

2. Churros

This position is exactly what it sounds like. You’re baking trays of churros in the oven. They take 8 minutes so it’s a bit slower than other positions. Once you take churros out of the oven you dust them with cinnamon and sugar. Then you put them into boats with chocolate sauce (8 to a boat). The rule of thumb is to keep 2 trays in the warmer and it’s almost always crazy easy to manage! When it’s slow you can always plate more trays of frozen churros for the tram or help make trios.

1. Tortuga

Monday 1/28: Check In Day! Everything went pretty smooth! I got my top choice in complex and apartment type, Commons 5per/2bed. My check in time was kind of late so I got 2nd to last choice of bed, I went with the top bunk instead of bottom. I had nothing going on the rest of the day so I had plenty of time to unpack, go shopping and relax.

Tuesday 1/29: I had casting the next day! I thought it would be my first experience with the disney buses but my friend swooped in to pick me and my roommate up. Casting was super easy, only took about 30 min. This is when you take your picture for your blue ID and scan your fingerprints.

Wednesday 1/30: There was a welcome event going on so me and all my friends went. It was actually super cool, please go to at least one! Our was wreck it ralph themed so we got to meet him and vanellope. We also got free pizza, pop and cotton candy. We also had a blast dancing because they actually played good music (for the most part)

Thursday 1/31: I didn’t do too much today but I finally rode the bus for the first time! I had some homework so I tested out the Commons computer lab and Vista’s learning center. If you want a place to do homework these are NOT it! The commons computer lab is right inside the main building so it was very noisy. At the learning center everyone was just hanging out, laughing, ad talking really loud. There was even a movie playing! If your taking a class on the dcp, just stay in your apartment to work.

Friday 2/1: My friends and I decided to do some resort hopping! We went to the monorail resorts. (Polynesian, Grand Floridian, and Contemporary) I got way more familiar with the bus system, figuring out where the bus stops were. I also had my first dole whip of the program and finally saw the Poly and Grand beaches.

Saturday 2/2: Traditions! I had mine in the morning which means I had to catch the bus at 7:30. but it also meant I had time to go to Magic Kingdom after! If you do a crazy amount of research for your dcp like I did, it will probably be a lot of info you already know. But it’s still fun, you just have to sit through it! This is when you get to see MK for the first time as a cast member, and get your blue ID and nametag. While at the park after I decided to try the lovely food I’ll be serving soon, Tbh I might just give them all my money back buying cauliflower tacos, they were so good! We ended the night by watching Happily Ever After (my first time!) and then experiencing possibly the best skipper ever on our jungle cruise, shout out to Skipper CJ.

I was expecting to get our itineraries on Tuesday or Wednesday, but nope some disney magic happened and we got them Monday!

My housing complex is the Commons, which was my first choice! I check in at 9:45 am. I’ll have all day to unpack and get settled in because I’ll have nothing to do until Casting at 2pm the next day.

I’ll be working in MAGIC KINGDOM! Specifically Pecos Bill’s in frontierland. I feel kind of guilty because people generally prefer to work in the parks and magic kingdom specifically but I don’t really care. I was happy as long as I didn’t get Outdoor Foods or ESPN. 

So us 1/28 arrivals FINALLY got our housing application! But we also got some awful news. Disney changed it so that we were only allowed to link up with one other person. So, our group of 4 had to split up.

I found a group of 5 girls that want to do a 6 person/3 bedroom in The Commons apartment complex. We’ve all been texting and it seems like they will be so much fun! We can request our roommate and housing preferences about a month before arrival. We may not get the complex we want but it’s very rare that they split preferred roommates up.

Step 1: wait for apps to drop, join Facebook groups and check them constantly

Step 2: fill out application! This is avery basic, standard job application. The only way it’s special to Disney is your role choice. This part is CRITICAL. I knew I just wanted to get in so I picked the most roles for high interest, 5 or 6 for medium interest, 2 for low and 2 for no. I applied the day after apps dropped, Aug. 21st.

Step 3: wait. And then wait. Wait some more. Wait for so long that you stop checking and won’t be suprised if you get an NLIC (no longer in consideration) email.

Step 4: FINALLY get a WBI!! That’s a web based interview. It’s basically a survey with statements and you need to respond with how well they describe you. Some can be tricky but if you stay calm and don’t overthink you will do FINE! I got my WBI Oct. 11 and I took it the 13th.

Step 5: schedule your phone interview! Right when your WBI is over you either get the option to do this, or you fail and get NLIC’d. I scheduled my phone interview for Oct. 18th at 9:45pm

Step 6: Study and prepare! I’m a little extra and have been preparing for this since I discovered the program freshman year of hs, but you do you. The best thing to do is look up common interview questions and just think about how you would answer it. I didn’t write anything down except my top roles, bc I felt like it would’ve messed me up. Again, you do you.

Step 7: The day has finally come! I scheduled mine later at night so I would have a few hours to myself to get in the right mindset. My interviewer called about 10 min early at 9:35 although I was prepared for him to call 15 min early as suggested by Disney.

Step 8: wait some more. and it’s so much worse than last time bc you’ve gotten so far. Check your dashboard every day, talk to people on the Facebook pages, sit through waves.

Step 9: Acceptance! Accept your offer, pay your fees, choose arrival date, generally freak out. I got my offer on Nov. 5

Step 10: Roomates! Scavenge the Facebook groups for people without roomates that are 3 different things.

1. Your same arrival and departure dates

2. Wellness or non wellness, whatever you are, they have to be to.

3. Interested in living in the same places as you!