Day Off - 28th Jan

So today, much to our dismay the whole apartment was up at 5am as we had to be on a bus heading to the Social Security Office to do.....something......we still don't really know what we actually did. It was 5 degrees Celsius. Can I just let that sink in for a minute.

5 degrees. It was cold - like really cold!

But anyways, they actually opened up early for us so we all had our paperwork done before they had opened which was awesome because when we left there was already a line up of people waiting out in the cold to get in. 

So we were back on the bus with a piping hot cup of coffee (perculated - I know but I was desperate!) and then we were back to Vista Way at about 9am so that was good except we were SO tired and didn't really do much. At all.

BUT we did get a visit from Maintenance and he was awesome! He fixed all our little things that were wrong with the apartment! So that was exciting!

We then decided that we needed to do something with our day so we headed into Magic Kingdom! Cause you know, we can do that, have a casual afternoon in the park. 

We go there about 3pm and the Festival of Fantasy was on! It was great - the floats were amazing!

Then we had a look at some of the shops around Main Street: 

The castle with the afternoon sun! It was really lovely! It would look much better without the massive crane that they have there doing the refurbishments!

For some reason we decided to go on "Its a Small World After All" And it ended up being the only ride we did that day......if you can even call it that. Hahaha.

Australia and New Zealand were there also!

 This is the first photo that I have of my and the castle during the day! I love it!

We then decided we needed dinner! So we went back to our favourite place......OLIVE GARDEN! And you know what? Nothing is ever going to change that because we had a 5 course meal for about: $15 including a unlimited re-fill drink! It was great! These were the vote little desserts that we got! 

It was a rather random day but we enjoyed doing something with our day off even though we had to get up so early! But today is my assessment day! So I'm off to work and then when I pass I will be able to take off my "earning my ears badge' YAY!

Seater Training - 25th, 26th & 27th Jan

Seater Training Day 1 (25th):
So today I finally was trained in the role that I actually be in for my program, Seating! Basically, there are 3 stages that is involved with seating the guests and therefore 3 roles that I need to train in. There is the greater, the seat assigner and then the actual seater of the guests. Today I was trained in the easiest of the 3, seating the guests. So, my trainer took a few of the guests and helped my learn what I am meant to say to the guests as we are walking to the seats and what I am meant to say when I seat them. It was a lot to remember but the actual process wasn't too hard. That hardest high that I have to learn and remember is the seating chart - which is the most difficult thing because there is no logic to it at all. My trainer was really great so I really comfortable and it made it easy to learn. I had a really great night because by the end of the night I was seating all the guests by myself! AND one of the first guests that I served saw my name badge and said "oh your from Brisbane? Do you know the University of Queensland? I did an exchange there many years ago!" This is obviously my university that I study at and I was so happy/surprised/shocked that she wen tot my uni out of all the universities - small world, huh? So anyways, we chatted about UQ and the beautiful sandstone the entire time until her server arrived and then we were still talking! Hahaha. I love my job! I basically get paid to chat to the guests! Obviously some people are harder to talk to in which case I just walk them to their seats say my spiel and then leave them. But overall it was a great night!

Seater Training Day 2 (26th)
So tonight I did much of the same things as the night before, I learnt things in more detail and got to seat more guests by myself. AND THE GREATEST THING HAPPENED!!! I got to make a magical moment!! (In my line of work it is rather difficult to create a magical moment - for example a character/character attendant is always making magic with the guests) So basically what happened was there was a little girl and her parents and they were waiting until they could check in at 8:30pm but it was about 8pm and the little girl was really hungry. So her mum asked me if it was at all possible to get her some soup to eat in the lobby of the restaurant. I wasn't sure if you were allowed to eat there or not so i asked someone and they said not without managers approval - so I ran around to try and find the manager and asked if it was okay and she said it was so I went and got the sound and brought it out to her. The mother was so so so happy and appreciative. And so was the girl but she couldn't speak english. Then one of my cast members gave me some Mickey stickers to give to the girl - and she absolutely loved it! So hugged it like it was a toy and kept saying "Mickey Mouse, Mickey Mouse" it was so cute! And then about 10 minutes later I noticed that the fireworks had started so I found the lady and her daughter and brought them into the restaurant a little bit so they could see the fireworks! She little girl was so adorable watching the fireworks and the mother again was so appreciative! It was great! But yeah the then that it was a fairly uneventful evening.

Seater Training Day 3 (27th)
For my 3rd and last day before my exam (which is on Thursday) I did Greater training! So basically that is like a Maitre' De. I check the guests in and organise if they have allergies or special requests and then send it to the assigner who assigns them a seat depending on their requests. Then they send the seat allocation back to the greater podium and then the seater takes the the guests to their seats. So basically I learnt a crap load more information about the seating system and the process that we go through with checking the guests into the restaurant etc. Tonight, was a little bit more overwhelming with the amount of information  that I need to know and remember. But I was picking it up okay it's just remembering it all and trying to pass my assessment is my biggest worries at the moment. But I came home and i was wide awake so I called some family back at home and it was great to talk to them cause it's really hard with the time difference and what not. But it's good when I get home from work late (which will be every night as my restaurant is only open for dinner - so my shifts will always be 4-11pm every night) I am able to call family, friends (and puppies - see below) in Australia!

So overall my training went for my actual role went really well I think but I will definitely be put to the test when I have my assessment tomorrow - Wish me luck!

I hope everyone is doing okay at home and enjoyed their long weekend! xx

P.s now that I am starting proper working hours and will be working 5 days a week I won't be blogging everyday because it is obviously pointless. HOWEVER, please do stay tuned because I will always be doing something Blog worthy on my days off! And also I'm going to try (when I get some more stability with my rostering/paychecks and what not, to do some stuff in the mornings before work e.g go to Magic Kingdom as I can just catch the Monorail to work which is very convenient, haha!) 

EPCOT! - 24th Jan

Wow, okay so today was massive! I'm going to try and fit everything into words! So Hannah, Laura and I had the day off today and we hadn't been to Epcot yet so we got up early and headed to the bus! 

We all wore our Minnie ears! Haha

Epcot:Is one of Disney's main parks which involves many different things. Its rather hard to describe. It's twice the size of Magic Kingdom and is designed that it is "dedicated to the celebration of human achievement, namely technological innovation and international culture" (I googled it) so basically it has a technological side and it also has a what they call a World Showcase which has 11 pavilions that surround a massive lagoon. Each pavillion is themed and designed to represent each country. The 11 countries are as follows: Canada, UK, France,  Morocco, Japan, U.S, Italy, Germany, China, Norway and Mexico!

Anyways, enough about the back story! Hannah, Laura and I got to Epcot about 12pm.

We tried the selfie thing but it wasn't great.....

But then got a good one!

We did a few rides that were in the "lets save mother earth" (I have forgotten what that part of the park is actually called) and it was really good.Then we went on 'Test Track' which is a ride that you design your own car and then you 'test' the car on a track with speed and weather resistants. 

Our car was the best and we got 1st place- not too bad for 3 girls, I reckon! haha. 

This is the ride that is in the circle ball (that's Epcots' icon) and its pretty fun - it takes a photo of your face:

Anyways, after that we went to one of the biggest Disney Merchandise stores in Epcot and despite wanting to buy EVERYTHING! We only ended up buying these:

So cute right?!

Anyways, after that we went to a place called 'Cool Aid' and tried all these different "sodas" (see I'm trying to talk like an American...haha) 

Some were actually quite disgusting! haha

We walked past 'Character Spot' and there was only a half an hour wait to meet Goofy, Mickey and Minnie - so of course we had to wait! It went really quickly (probably because we were so excited) It was amazing - definitely magical time!

And then we went around the world! So Canada was first:

And then France was next: (which is where we had lunch)

We went around to all the world showcase places around the lagoon and decided on staying in China for dinner. So we had a 3 course meal:

We split each of our meals and got to try each one!

So not only was it delicious but we also had the greatest seats as we were able to watch the sunset over the water from the window. It was fantastic!

Then we went to Mexico:

The way that each pavilion is design and decorated is amazing! We went on a boat ride in a Pyramids/temple in Mexico - it was fantastic! 

When we finished in Mexico it was almost time for the 9pm fireworks! So we waited patiently in the freezing cold for the fireworks! However it was SOO worth it! It was amazing. The Epcot fireworks/light show is called Illuminations at the World Showcase and I actually enjoyed it more then Wishes at Magic Kingdom - that's how good it was! 

The ball at night time! It's beautiful! It was a long and exhausting day but it was great - we had a really exciting day exploring Epcot!

More Training - 23rd Jan

Today, again I had work at 4pm. But Laura and Rayzhaan were going to Walmart so I decided to tag along for something to do in the morning. At first I was thinking that starting at 4pm was good because I had the morning to do stuff but because of the way the bus works I have to be back at home getting ready for work at like 1:30pm which makes it very hard to do things. 

But anyways, so we spent another hour at Walmart getting enough food to last us hopefully at least a week. But we found these which was quite interesting:

Good ol' America! 

Anyways, so I got to work at 3pm like I had previously the days before. Today was my Server/food runner/bar day. So the position that I will be doing is Seater but to do seater properly you have to understand how the rest of the restaurant works. So basically I followed people all night and helped where I could. It definitely wasn't quite as fun as my Culinary night but I still learnt a lot. I also found out that my assessment can be really hard so now I have some studying to do because there is a lot I need to know about all the different working part of the restaurant! Stressful!