First real day of work.

I never would have thought that this type of work would be so much fun. Serving guests, interacting with them, putting smiles on the faces of children, and basically creating magic for everyone is simply amazing, especially with all the friendly and helpful cast members. I hope, this opinion will last throughout the whole year. My next post will contain some photos of my workplace and my home in general, promise!


"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." - Walt Disney
  

It's official!

Today was quite an important day, because our agenda said that it was time for the Disney Tradition Class. After getting up early (which was quite a hard task since the German arrivals had prepared food and partied the night before!) and turning my swag on, I went to the bus stop and we all drove to the Disney University where we were welcomed by our "teachers" Sean and Jill. They were both VERY entertaining, be it because of their interesting stories or because of their funny attitude and jokes. However, the stuff we had to learn was not that entertaining: Disney's history and behaviour guidelines, just to name a few points. But shortly before the lunch break, we all were surprised by the fact that we were allowed to enter Magic Kingdom (one of the four Disney Parks) together with our hosts. That was a very exciting moment for me since I have never been to Disney World before! And let me tell you, the experience is really overwhelming. But I will tell you this in detail when I've been to the Park for longer than just one hour, because after the lunch break, we headed back to the University. But another surprise was yet to come: suddenly, Mickey Mouse knocked on the door, entered, and gave us our official Disney Cast Member name tags (which you can see on the picture above..). That ruled! After another two hours, we were officially dismissed with the great feeling of now being a part of the Disney family. In addition, I can now enter all the parks for free and get discounts in many shops and restaurants all over Orlando. EPIC STOKE!


"Change always comes bearing gifts." - Price Pritchett
  

The journey and the first two days..

Holy shit.. If I needed to describe the last two days with two words, these words would be them. So much has happened up to now, but I'll try to write it down chronologically and in detail. Here we go!

The journey began at midnight. My father, my mother, my sister, and me hopped in the car and drove straight to Frankfurt. I threw in the new Casper album to create some atmosphere and the drive went along smoothly and we arrived around 4 in the morning. After some waiting time I checked in my luggage and already met some future colleagues. Then it was time to say goodbye to my family. Luckily I will see them again soon when they come over to visit me. I'm definitely looking forward to that! Okay, back to the journey.. The first part was the flight to London. Everything went just fine and I sat next to Wieland, also a Disney cast member. We already made plans to see some baseball, hockey, basketball, and hockey games. After landing in London and heading over to the departure terminal, I finally met my man Paul from Berlin. Sweet! After three hours waiting time, some sweets, and some chit chat with all the other people that will work together with me for Disney, our flight to Miami took off. This flight went along fine as well, I just watched some movies, listened to some music, and fell asleep from time to time. But then the long-awaited moment arrived: I finally set foot on American soil. Even though the heat in Miami hit me in the face like a headnut, I felt like the happiest person on earth.. After going through all the immigration and border control checks (which took like two hours), the last part of the journey should begin. But also the final flight to Orlando went along without problems and at half past eight in the evening, we arrived at our final destination. After collecting all our luggage and entering the bus that brought us to Vista Way (a housing complex of Disney), we finally completed the long and exhausting journey.

 

 

A very friendly crew of Disney employees welcomed all the new cast members (by now, people from all over the world joined us, be it Norwegians, Italians, Frenchmen, or Mexicans) with cookies and apples. We received a folder full of paperwork (and since my birthday was just 4 days before the arrival, the gave me a little "Happy Birthday!" pin up button!) and were assigned our apartmens. I am currently living in the housing complex called "The Commons" and on the pictures above you can see the house in which my apartment is located. I will post some daytime pictures soon, I promise! After the welcoming session has ended, we were driven driven to our apartments and I finally got to know the people with whom I will share a room and a flat for the upcoming year. My roommate's name is Patrick, he is from Italy and due to the fact that he comes from Southern Tirol, we can even speak German with each other! The other two flatmates are from Mexico (Camilo and William) and I think I can say that I got lucky because they all seem to be great guys and I hope that we will get along just fine! My apartment is pretty big, but I think you will get a better impression when I will post some pictures in the next few days. Okay, back to the story.. After unpacking my suitcase, I decided that I will take a dip in the pool, which is about 50 meters away from my apartment! And it was a good decision! Despite the late time of the day (I think it was about eleven in the evening) it was still very warm outside and the pool was a nice refreshment. In addition, I got to know some German cast members that had arrived earlier this month. But soon, my body would give in and after being awake for almost 30 hours, it was time to go to bed. And let me tell, I slept like a log!

The next day (September 21st) I got up at eight in the moring and took a nice, long shower. What followed then can be summed up in a few words: red tape and presentation about Disney guidelines and stuff. I'm not going to bore you with the details. But after checking out the Food Court of the Outlet Mall, which is located right across the street from my housing complex, it was time for the highlight of the day and something which I was longing for since we arrived here: WAL MART!

Wal Mart really is a special place.. The sheer size alone is unbelievable and I don't think that there is another place where you can spend so much money for so many different things. Fortunately, Disney provides free transportation to Wal Mart and it was time to go shopping! As you can see on the picture above, I didn't give a damn about whether the food is healthy or not or whether I needed that particular thing or not. But since it was my first shopping trip, I think my behaviour was justified! :) After spending almost 80 Dollars, a big problem arose. I simply had way too much stuff to bring back to my apartment. As a result I teamed up with Paul and David and we took a taxi back to our apartments. The taxi ride was a quite strange experience since the taxi driver asked us weird stuff about Hitler and Latina women after finding out that we are from Germany. But eventually we arrived safe and sound and I stored everything in the fridge and in the closet.

I always say that spontaneous ideas are the best. This should be proven once again when Paul and I decided to take part in the so called "Grocery Bingo" organized by the Disney staff. We had no idea what to expect and it blew my mind. The whole event reminded me of a vacation resort event. Loud music, flashy lights, and screaming people as far as the eye could see. And the whole atmosphere just sucks you right in.. After five minutes, Paul and me were a part of the screaming crowd and I even got lucky and hit bingo during one of the last rounds! My price can be seen on the picture above: three shopping bags filled to the brim with groceries and useful stuff for our household. Needless to say that I had bought almost everything I won during my Wal Mart shopping, but I thank that you can never have enough food in your house! After the successful bingo experience I went to the pool again and had a nice conversation with all the people that had arrived with me and I can truly say that they are all great guys.. I am really looking forward to work with them! But again, my body soon said "Give me some rest" and I went to bed and slept like a baby just like the night before.

After waking up the next morning (September 22nd), taking a shower, and eating peanutbutter jelly sandwiches, it was time to fill out some paperwork for Disney again. But at around eleven in the morning, we were dismissed. Paul and me decided to check out the Outlet Mall right across the street and let me tell you, you can really make some great deals over there. However, we didn't buy anything, but I can guarentee you that I will leave some money in that place in the near future, haha! After eating a Subway sandwich for lunch we went back to Paul's apartment, which is about 10 minutes away from my apartment. I gave it a thumbs up and we watched some TV together and at around half past three, we went back to the Commons in order to pick up our passports. After doing so, we all went to Wal Mart once again in order to pick up some things we had forgotten yesterday. In addition, I needed to go to the hairdressers, since Disney did not approve of my haircut yet. But I hope that they are satisfied now. After returning from Wal Mart in heavy rain (yes, it also rains in Florida!) I am now sitting in front of my computer and am typing these lines. But in 10 minutes I'll meet up again with Paul and we will check out Downtown Disney, the fun district.

To sum it up, the first two days have been really interesting and really fun. Watch out for further blog entries that will definitely follow the next few days.. Stay gold!

"Wer bist du? Du bist wer!" - F.R.

This is it..

I just said goodbye to my grandma and yesterday, I saw my friends for the last time in the upcoming twelve months. It's a strange feeling to know that you will leave so many beloved people behind while at the same time you crave for the unknown, the new experiences. But I think I can say that I'm ready to dive right into the adventure called "Disneyworld, Florida". I assume that my next post will be made from Orlando, so keep your eyes peeled, folks!


“Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.” – Jack Kerouac
  

Oh, a blog app!

I hope this is going to make things a bit easier for me..

Oh, and only 8 dass left! I guess it is time to start packing..


'To anywhere from this city, to anything but simplicity.' - Pat Flynn