Disney VoluntEARS

     One of the many things I love about this company is the chance to volunteer. On Mad Hatter Day, 10/06, I volunteered at the Pride Parade in Downtown Orlando.  It was amazing! There were so many interesting things to see.  It really made me feel great being part of an organization the helps out at things like this. 
     When we first got there, some of us could look around.  I saw so many things you won't even believe. For instance, a lovely couple...

And many colors of the rainbow

A Dorothy 

     After I finished exploring, I went to help out at the Disney Kids Booth.  I danced with the kids, played hula hoops and just helped out where needed.  It was a blast.

     I also got to be in the parade.  This was what I walked behind, part of Disney magic.  I handed out Toy Story 3 Silly bands while others had Disney draw string bags. It was so much fun.

     It was a magic experience to say the least!

"All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them."—Walt Disney

Classes

     I’m taking two Disney classes while I’m down here and I would highly suggest taking them! So far I’ve only started one—Creativity and Innovation—but in October I’ll be starting my other—Explore Marketing.

Creativity and Innovation is one of the best classes I’ve ever had. Every class we have different games and things on our table in case we get bored, given that the class is 4 hours long.  This could be a barrel of monkeys, play-doh, magazines and one week we get Legos!  But the class is so much fun there’s no thought of that ever happening!

     I love my teacher.  She really makes us think.  One of the questions she asked us was, “How would the game of baseball be played differently if the ball were a square?” It was really something to think about.  And you could really tell that people’s creativity levels were different by their answers.  Some  said to change one or two things while the others said to change it all!

     This class is so much fun I can’t wait to do my homework! For the first project that’s due the third week of class I had to do an interview over a creative person (alive or dead).  I picked Dr. Seuss.  Here’s the final result! I put my answers to the required 6 questions on the stripes of the Cat in the Hat I made out of cardboard.

     One activity that we did that I really loved was the Problem activity.  We got into groups of 2 or 3 and thought of a problem and tried to fix it.  The creative part was trying to think of it from a different angle. One of us had to pretend to be a kindergarten teacher while the other was a circus performer while the other asked them a question and how they would solve it.  For example, if the problem was dirty water you could ask the kindergarten teacher what she thought about the water problem at her school, or ask the circus performer what he thought about the water he would give to his animals.  Looking at things from different perspectives was really awesome and very insightful. I love this class!

"All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them."—Walt Disney

Mickey’s “Not so scary” Halloween!!!!!

     Well I would have to say if you've never been to Mickey’s “Not so scary” Halloween, you have to go! I went with two of my roommates and one their guy friends. It was awesome.  We drove and parked at the Contemporary so we could walk right over to the park. 

     I was dressed as a pin-up girl. You can see below, I wore a  black shirt with safety pins that spelled up with an arrow pointing up. Get it?

     We got so much candy! We first went to Jungle Cruise but it wasn’t open yet so we moved on to Pirates of the Caribbean.  But of course not forgetting first to stop at Aloha Isle to get Dole Whip.  Below is a Dole whip float, which is pineapple juice with vanilla ice cream.  If you’ve never had it, it’s a must!!!

     After Pirates we went over to Splash Mountain and they had a bunch of candy!  They had a bunch of stops so you got a lot of candy and at the end you could take a picture with all the Seven Dwarfs together (this only happens during this event).  Next we went to the parade and it was amazing!!! Here it is below, Mickey’s Boo to You!

After the parade we got a couple pictures with some fun characters. This is me with Jafar. 

And then with Gueston

And my favorite was Lotso!

"All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them."—Walt Disney

Characters and Parades

·         “You’re never too old to be young.”—Snow White

     I’ve seen a lot of characters while I’ve been here.  A while back, my roommate Jenna, her friend Rock and I went to Magic Kingdom.  It was Jenna’s first time as a guest!

We saw Mary Poppins

The 3 o’clock Celebration Parade

I ate an AMAZING turkey leg, and we ate at Cosmic Rays.  This is Sonny and the cutest little girl ever! A future cast member for sure.

And the best ride, Space Mountain

Then a couple nights later we had Vegas Night at Chatham with the Villians.  This is me with the Queen of Hearts.

And this is Cruella De Vil.  She didn't like my shirt so she covered it up! 

I love it here!!!!!

"All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them."—Walt Disney

Octoberfest!!!!!

“Today’s special moments are tomorrow’s memories.”—Genie (Aladdin)

     So this week we had Octoberfest at Chatham. (No alcohol of course) It was a blast.  We had food from Epcot’s German Pavilion and a bunch of characters

Me with Goofy and Daisy.  Goofy kissed me!

Mickey and Me. He was so cute.

Snow White and her Prince.  I loved that she saw the squirrels on my shirt and said, “We have a lot of squirrels, they clean our castle sometimes.” Love it!

Me and Dopey. I told him he was my favorite and he hugged and kissed me!

The best part would have to be the dance party. Below is a video from the end.  I met Rock, he’s the one in the neon yellow/green shirt and my roommate is the one in the orange/red shirt.  But the best part would be this guy and girl who danced it out.  Watch and see!

I love working at the happiest place in the World!

"All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them."—Walt Disney

Magical Moment

“All you need is faith, trust… and a little bit of pixie dust!”—Peter Pan

     Disney is one of the most magical places and I heard about some of it shown in a cast member today. A cast member working at the Finding Nemo ride found a little girl and pleaded with her, “Little Girl, I’ve lost Nemo! I had lost him earlier but found him. When I was taking him back I set him down for two seconds and he was gone! The ride starts in 10 minutes, could you please help me find him?”

     The little girl drops her bags, takes off her crown, turns to her mom with the most serious face and says, “Mom we have to stop what we’re doing and help this man find Nemo!”

     I love little kids and I love my job!

"All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them."—Walt Disney

Earning my ears!!!

     “There is a world where hope and dreams can last for all time.”—Ariel (The Little Mermaid)

     That world is absolutely, positively, without a doubt, Walt Disney World! But I never knew how much work it took to keep this place as magical as it is.  Don’t worry, I will make sure that you “keep your magic”, as we say here.  I won’t tell you any of the secrets to destroy your childhood. 

     But what I will tell you is a little bit about my Quick Service on-the-job training at The Columbia Harbor House. This is me in my costume.  I’ve never worked in a restaurant before so this is going to be a treat.

Day One

     My trainer was Jason.  I started work at 14:00 (Disney uses military time.  They’re really close with the government). We did busing which consists of cleaning the tables, sweeping the floors and cleaning out the trash cans.  You have to be quick and on your toes.  You also have to look out for the Guests because they definitely aren’t looking out for you.  

     Disney is an extremely clean place.  I know because that’s all you do as a Quick Service Food and Beverage Cast member. Clean. For the first couple hours we cleaned the tables and swept the floors.  But I would have to say the trash was the worst.  And the smelliest. There is one trash can that even if you take it out and clean it, you come back and it’s filled again, almost overflowing.  It was a long and tiring day.  I was supposed to get off at 22:00 but it was 22:50 before I could leave.  Jason told me it’s like that most nights.  Oh boy.

Day Two

     My trainer was Vicki. I started work at 13:45. We did counters, which I liked a lot better.  Anything rather than trashcans, I’m good with.  It is a very VERY fast place to work.  Especially at lunch time.  Also included in this job are the drink station and the greeting positions.  I didn’t get trained on these though because we didn’t have time.

Day Three

     My trainer was Kienan. I started at 9:45 and we did the condiment bars which has officially became my favorite.  He did teach me the greeting positions which were really easy.  I actually got to get off work on time at 18:00! I was so happy and especially because I had the next day off.

Day Four

     My trainer was Noemi. I worked from 8:30-16:45.  We opened counters and I had a pretty awesome day.  I actually got to do drinks, which was pretty fast paced. I got soda all over my hands.  I also got to try out the pre-stocking station.  I like that position pretty well, but the cocktail sauce stinks like none other. Yuck! But a pretty good day. And because we have been accident free for 100 days, we all got free ice cream!!!! Sometimes I just love my job!

Day Five

     My trainer was Nancy. It was an awesome day because she said it was all about me. We were supposed to do trash but once you do trash you know how to do trash.  We ran errands, like taking any of the items that people left to the Yankee Trader. I took my assessment that was really easy and then I had to have my walk through. For the walk through, a manager has to take you around the restaurant and ask you questions.  The managers were busy so they just had my trainer do it.  It wasn’t too bad, but when I was leaving one of the managers asked me even more questions. I survived. I earned my ears!!!!!!!

"All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them."—Walt Disney

Back again!

     "I have often dreamed of a far off place where a great warm welcome will be waiting for me... I will go most anywhere to feel like I belong."—Hercules

      I definitely belong at Disney World.

      Thursday started my training. I went to Disney University and had a four hour class called Traditions.  The safety robot was extremely boring, but how fun could that be anyway. I had amazing trainers that made the rest of it pretty great.  My favorite was Wendi. She was actually a singer for Disney in the 80s and is married to one of Lanchpad McQuack’s friends! I learned a lot of information.  New Disney terminology, for example, Customers are called Guest, employees are Cast Members, Good Show and Bad Show.  One huge thing at Disney is the Four Keys: Safety, Courtesy, Show, and Efficiency.  In order to explain this to us these keys they actually took us over to Magic Kingdom!

      I had more training Friday and Saturday.  Friday I received my shoes and Saturday my costume.  I work at the Columbia Harbor House and have to wear a dress, an apron and—the worst of all—a bonnet.  I’ll put a picture of me in it soon.

"All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them."—Walt Disney

Welcome to the Tea Party!

      Hey guys! So on Wednesday was had a “Tea Party” to help us meet and greet others in the program. It was a lot of fun! We tie-dyed shirts.  You could either choose Sugar (Alice) style which used lace or just go all crazy like The Mad Hatter! I picked the lace as you can tell below. The left is the front and the right is the back.

      We also got to meet the characters. This is me and my fabulous roommates with Alice and The Mad Hatter. He was very active and silly, as he should be.

 Alice, Jenna, Allison, Megan, Rachael (Me), and the Mad Hatter

      And this is us with Mary Poppins and one of her Penguins. I gave him a hug and he made the cutest kissing noise!

Mary Poppins, Allison, Jenna, Rachael (Me), Megan, and the Penguin

      There was also music playing to dance and food. A very fun event but definitely very hot! Can't wait to start work!

"All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them."—Walt Disney

First Days

        “Think of all the joy you’ll find when you leave the world behind and bid your cares goodbye.”—Peter Pan. I may have not left the world but leaving Kentucky, the first couple of days here have definitely been an adventure. I’ll break it down by day

August 20^th

            I registered for housing at Vista Way. A tip to any future CPs, get there EARLY. Registering was from 9am-12pm, and even though it said on the Onboarding website to not get there before 6:45am—which to me was way too early. I arrived at 8:30am, turns out that I should’ve gotten there earlier.  There were people lining up from 11pm the night before! The line was out the door but I’d have to say, a good thing about coming the time I did was that I met my fabulous roommate Megan C. in line waiting to check in.

        It is definitely hotter in Florida and that’s an understatement.  My mom and I got me moved in to Chatham Apartments (me and Megan got the last spots!), which I would suggest for everyone to live in. Chatham and Patterson are the best. I love it here! I have two other roommates,  Jenna M and Allison S.

Here’s a picture of my room

Our Bathroom

Here’s the kitchen

The Dining Room

Living room

At little messy but we call it home!

        At 1pm we had to meet up to get everything prepared to work.  I would have to say it was one of the most time consuming things.  We had to ride a bus to the Disney offices and fill out all our paperwork to get set to work. It took over two hours.

        One good thing, I found out where I’m working: The Columbia Harbor House. I’ll post a picture of me in my costume soon. I heard there’s guy called Tuna Tim or Tuna Tom, I can’t remember which.  He comes every day to the Harbor House and orders the same thing every day. He’s come so many times the cast members even gave him a nametag! I can’t wait to meet him.

August 21^st

        A pretty slow day.  We had a meeting at the Commons Clubhouse put on by the Housing Staff.  I was amazing but it reiterated the point that you need to be there very early.  It was said to get there at 12:45, but we got there at around 12:35, but the line was already out the door and around the building.  Note to self, get there an HOUR early. When we walked in, Disney music was blasting. It was awesome.  They made the meeting fun and informative like only Disney can do. 

        We just chilled for the rest of the day.  We've got a Tea Party at Vista Way tomorrow so we can meet and greet with the other cast members.  

        Well that's all for now. I'll write more soon!

"All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them."—Walt Disney

Hello Darlins!

My name is Rachael, just a country girl from Kentucky, and this is my blog, Just Mousin' Around. 

“Ring, ring! Who's there? Destiny? I've been expecting your call.”—Rhino (Bolt)

"Congratulations!

You have been selected to participate in the Disney College Program at the Walt Disney World® Resort!"

Here's what's happening: on August 20, I start my Disney College Program at the magical Disney World in Orlando Florida. I’m going to give you the inside scoop while I spend a semester working at my dream job—and hopefully future career—Disney! I hope you enjoy!

“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”—Walt Disney