Working For The Mouse

Well hot diggity slinky dog... am I actually updating this blog, for the first time since February? What a shock. Honestly there’s so many things that have happened. I am still working over at Disney Jr and Mermaid, but they have announced that Disney Jr- Live on Stage is being replaced with the Disney Jr Dance Party, and yes there is a massive difference between these shows. Mermaid is the show that will never die because despite the fact that it has not been changed from when it started at Hollywood Studios it still remains a firm family favourite. I did however get briefly deployed over to crowd control within Toy Story Land, and I have to say, being to be able to stay that, I, a girl from Western Sydney, got to be a little part of Disney history by being able to open a land, I kept all the guest hydrated by refilling the water stations, not the most glamorous of jobs for the day, but hey, I did it with a grin, and a little complaining. So there is a real point to all of this I swear and it half goes to keep everyone updated and half for anyone and everyone who is thinking of applying to this program, because this is the time Aussie/Kiwi ICP’s, this was when I was sitting in lectures reading over my resume, wondering if it would be enough. 

I want to talk about time, something that is very precious here, mostly because you have so little, six months to a year seems like an insanely long time, and in ways yeah it is but it also isn’t, not if you don’t use every minute.  The first month of my program was a whirlwind, and I learnt the hard way that not everyone you meet, is there to stay. Just as I became friends with people they had to go home, and that hurt, but then I told myself the biggest lie any Disney Cast Member can tell themselves- that you’ve got till (insert date here) with (insert friends name here). Because you don’t. CP’s and ICP’s are guaranteed a minimum of 30 hours per week, but you have no idea when those hours will be, one night you close and the next you open, and that is for everyone, so you don’t plan. Someday’s the person you want to be with most has Monday and Tuesday off but you have Wednesday and Thursday off. Trade one of those shifts, make sure you both have Tuesday off and go to Magic Kingdom, Islands of Adventure or the Orlando Outlet mall, just do something. If you and your friends end up closing together and you’re closing at 9pm, don’t all just go home, do something. Disney Springs to IHOP it doesn’t matter, just go. And I’m never gonna say you can’t have great memories at work, because dear lord everyone is going to be sick of hearing about this program when I get home but Chick-Fil-A before going to bowling, and singing classics at the top of my lungs with people who genuinely became a family over here goes down as one of the best nights of my life.  I’ve said goodbye before, to friends back home but there was a return date, June got pushed back to January but I’m still gonna go back home. But take every minute with every friend here, because as an Aussie your program is long, and if you aren’t leaving before someone else, or even if you are, you’re going to have to say goodbye, and there’s no time frame before you will see them again, especially for an Aussie, it’s not easy to just jump over to Brasil, or Mexico or Canada.  So yes I learnt the hard way, I regret not spending time outside of work enough, I did try to spend as much time out of my apartment as possible, because I could do a whole comedy sketch about my room mates, both sets (if you’d life to hear this, hit me up for a coffee, for additional swearing hit me up for a cider), but I honestly don’t recall spending a large amount of time in my apartment since the middle of June. Use your apartment like a crash pad people, live like a rich bachelor. Go out every night, and I don’t mean drinking, Fantasmic, Happily Ever After, dinner, anything, just use every minute, because you don’t know when you are ever going to, if you do, see these people again.

Ahhhh... The part I’m sure that everyone is interested in finding out- how the 20 year old who has always had a house, meals and laundry service provided for her is doing with the juggling act that is the real world of being an adult.

My bus rides to and from work are spent time budgeting. How can I fit in enough time to cook my meals for the week, shop for food to do said cooking, do my laundry, wash my towels and sheets and still have time to have a social life and to sleep. 

There was a part of me that did kinda believe that every day off would be spent alternating my time between spending time at the Disney parks, Universal and exploring everything that Orlando has to offer. But independent living isn’t like that, it sometimes means that your entire day is spent at the grocery store, laundry room and the kitchen, only to heading to bed and setting the alarm to be ready for work the next morning.

I figured that I would save you the boring days of safety meetings and form filling out. So I will dive right in to the days of training at Hollywood Studios.

Your first day at Hollywood Studios is learning about the park its self. You are of no good to any of the guests if you don’t know how to direct them from Star Wars: Launch Bay to Muppets 3D. When you walk through the entry of Hollywood Studios you are greeted by the Crossroads of the World landmark, topped with Mickey. There is something really interesting about this Mickey though, his his head is turned so that his left ear is his tallest point. His left ear is also made from copper and he takes one for the team by being a lightning rod to help all of us in Disney, Thanks Mickey!

The area that I work in is Animation Courtyard. It is the prime Instagram shot for when you are visiting Hollywood Studios as there is a huge archway that proudly boasts the name of the park.  In Animation Courtyard there are three main attractions that you have the dodge the sea of strollers for- Star Wars: Launch Bay, Voyage of the Little Mermaid and Disney Jr- Live on Stage. My job is working between The Little Mermaid and Disney Jr.

My first week was all about learning my roles, they are all so different, but the have one common goal- keep the show going.  And what a show it is, the Little Mermaid is amazing, seeing little kids light up at the prospect of seeing Ariel and Eric, live and right before them, is amazing.  The best I have to say though is Disney Jr. While, yes, I do come home singing about Jake and the Neverland Pirates, there are so many opportunities to be a little bit goofy (see what I did there?). I know that it doesn’t sound like a lot of fun for anyone over the age of 6 but honestly if you are ever in Hollywood Studios and want to sit and have a chuckle than head over to Disney Jr where you can see the cast members doing the hand jive while everyone is going into the show and to watch them help find Toodles when we need some help from Doc and Sofia.

I’m not saying that it has been all smooth sailing, it takes a lot of memory to remember where each role goes, to be making sure that all the kids are okay while also trying to remember the order of the hand jive, but as they say the show must go on, and no matter if you are ready or not it does.

Within the Disney programs there are four housing facilities, Vista Way, Chatham, The Commons and Patterson Court. before leaving Australia you had the choice of housing complexes that you could rank in order of preference. All of them seemed reasonable, they all had their draw backs and their bonuses. Vista Way had the largest bus stop but was separated from the other three complexes, making it harder to get to housing events, Chatham had the second largest bus stop but the majority of housing events were housed there, making it a bit of a noisier complex. The Commons were the newest built complex and had washing machines and dryers in all the rooms, which for me, could be an issue because of the noise. Patterson is a quieter complex but the majority of the busses don’t stop there. My first pick was Chatham, I figured that I would want to go to the majority of housing events, free food and good experiences. However as fate wold have it I ended up with Patterson Court.  It’s honestly not a far walk from Chatham, only a block away, and the Commons is only a block and a half after Chatham. The bus from Walmart and Publix (the grocery store) does go into Patterson which makes shopping far easier.  There is also a series of outlet malls a 10 minute walk from the complex. America already has things cheaper at the regular mall, you can imagine the awesome deals at the outlet stores. 

The second preference that we had in terms of housing was apartment size. This ranges from a 1 bedroom with 2 people to a 4 bedroom with 8 people. My original hope was for 3 bedroom with 6 people. I figured that I would only be sharing the actual room with 1 person but would be getting the most of the cultural part of my ‘Cultural Exchange’ by having more room mates. Come check in day and I’ve got the housing ID, met up with the girl who I had been talking to to room mate with, and lo and behold I got one of the rooms I put pretty low on the list- 1 bedroom with 3 people.

Despite the initial reservations I had about the apartment and the complex, the first week has gone quite smoothly, the apartment has become more full of pictures and our things and honestly each other.

One week in, and so far everything is coming up Milhouse.

It has taken me an insanely long time to get to Orlando, and I don’t mean from having found out in September and having to wait till mid-January to actually start. I woke early on the 14th, my bag was packed and I was finally jetting off. I got to the airport, checked in, said the emotional goodbyes and got to the other side of security in one piece. Coffee in hand, I found my gate and some Disney ICP friends. As it got closer to the time for us to board, we were told that our plane was struck by lightning and that it was going to be manually towed to a hanger to be checked out, this meant a couple of hours of delay. While this wasn’t ideal, we got given meal vouchers and spent 2 hours learning more about each other. After our 2 hour delay we got the news, we weren’t okay to fly and we would be delayed until 2:30 the next day- which meant that we now had a 27 hour delay from our original flight time. So we did what anyone would do in that situation, we took full advantage of the system. We got individual rooms and $100 worth of food credit which means ROOM SERVICE! And honestly with the room service and the later flight, which meant that I could sleep in later, it wasn’t a bad flight, even in the back of the plane. The second flight from LA to Orlando was a bit more painful because it was shorter, more squished and the guy in front of me didn’t realise that cattle class seats only go back so far, so my knees got quite the bashing.

I have to say though, getting to that hotel and being able to sit at the bar with my Coke Zero and my Philly Cheese Steak, knowing that I was in Orlando and that the next day I was going to be checking into my dorm room and starting the experience for real was one of the most satisfying feelings that I’ve ever had.