Extended, But Saying Goodbye

So the good news is I have been extended on my program until January 3rd 2014. It means I'll celebrate Halloween, Christmas and New Years in Disney World, and that I'll have worked 7 days shy of a full year for Disney. I'm staying in my current location, The Emporium, which opens up lots of doors for learning new skills and trying new positions. Seeing as how only one or two are left for me to try, I'm pretty excited about it.

The bad news, however, is that my roommates are going home. One was extended, however she and I will not be living together come August, one was denied her extension and the other three are ready to go home. As many issues we've had over the past six months, it's still hard to think about how in three weeks the life I've known for seven months will end, I'll pack up and move into another, smaller, apartment and they will pack up and leave for their homes in Arizona, Nebraska and Louisiana. This means no more early morning video game watching sessions and no more leftover jambalaya in the fridge. This means my roommates will no longer be in attractions, photopass and character attending, but will only be merchandise. And they will only be in the same location as myself. I'm not sure if that's a good change or a change I will come to dislike.

I knew this time would come, but the fact that it's so close is surreal. I wasn't expecting it to happen so fast, for the time I was to share with them to end so quickly, but it has. And so, if you're getting ready for your DCP, let me stress to you: savor every moment. Don't be upset too long, and don't get annoyed over the petty things. Go surprise each other at work when you can, and spend as much time as you can stand with those you love. It's a bittersweet feeling, and it's a depressing one. I'm losing three of my best friends and I have three weeks left to make it worth it.

Until next time,
Kelci

Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust!

Something amazing happened to me at work the other day. For those of you that don’t know, I work at the Emporium on Main Street USA in the Magic Kingdom at Disney World. I have been here for five months, and while I have lots of great stories to share, this is one I thought I would share with everyone.

I was stocking the Princess room and right before Wishes a Grandmother came into my room and asked me if she could have a little bag of pixie dust. When I asked her why she explained that she wanted it so that in case Tinkerbell didn’t end up flying she could give it to her Granddaughter and tell her Tinkerbell left it for her. I told her that I would do her one better and to come back after the fireworks, no matter if Tinkerbell flew or not.

I ran to the back and got one of our little boxes and stuffed it with tissue paper and found a coordinator to get me some pixie dust. I put an extra bag in there for the Grandma and sprinkled some in the box. I then went and found a Tinkerbell pin and put it in the box so that the little girl would have it to keep. After I did all that I ran and got Tinkerbell to sign the box for me, and ran back to my area to wait for the family to come back.

A few minutes later I saw them looking for me and I pulled them to the side and told the little girl, Katie, that Tink had left something with me so I could give it to her. I handed it to the little girl and knelt down next to her and she opened it and took out the pin and whispered “Thank you.” Next thing I know she’s hugging me and her mom is taking pictures and thanking me and the Grandma is tearing up. I said my goodbyes and gave Katie one last hug and told her to have a wonderful night.

About a half hour later I was walking towards the back to take my break and the family stops me and Katie is holding a bag. Her grandma says, “Kelci, because you made such a special moment for Katie, we wanted to do something for you.” Katie handed me the bag and I opened it, pulling out one of the Tinkerbell pens we sell. I knelt down and gave Katie a huge hug and started to tear up, telling them they didn’t have to and how much I appreciated it. The mom then told me, “We wanted you to have it so you would never forget Katie and how you made her day.”

They will never understand how much that made my night, how a little girl who loves Tinkerbell made me think of myself and my own love for the naughty little fairy. I saw myself in that little girl, a trip to Disney where cast members made it Oh-So-Special. It’s the magic that has been passed from cast member to guest for generations, and repaid when a few of those guests grow up and become cast members themselves.


It’s the reason I’m here. Because one tiny little moment that costs nothing but three minutes worth of my time can make a little girl, her mom and her grandma so incredibly happy. Because the magic that is in my blood and the pixie dust that is in my hair is being passed on to little girls who are just like me.

A Day In The Life

So let's look at what a normal day in the life of an Emporium Merch CP is like!

Five days a week I wake up either at 1 or later. Some days I get up at 4 PM for my 7 PM shift, and other days I'm up at 1 for a 3PM shift. I hang around the house and make lunch, eat, get into my costume and then I head for the buses. Because I live at Patterson I take a nice walk from my home to Chatham's bus stop and hang out for a few minutes until either the A bus or the B bus gets there. The A bus stops at Vista, Wilderness Lodge, Contemporary and then at Westclock, which is where I'm headed. It takes roughly 45 minutes to an hour, which is the same with the B bus. The B bus goes to the Poly and then stops at the Grand, before stopping at Westclock.

When I get to Westclock, most days I go straight onto the Cast bus, but sometimes I go into costuming. If I have to go to costuming I allow myself about 30 minutes more time than I needed, just in case I really have to hunt. Luckily for me, I wash my 3 skirts and my expediting costume at home, and only have to worry about getting new blouses and maybe a new tie if mine falls apart. After this I head to the Cast bus and ride it to our entrance of the Magic Kingdom. A couple days out of the week I stop in the Mouse and get Subway for dinner, but if I don't get Subway I head straight down to the Main Street USA area.

A lot of the time I get there early so I hang around the tables and talk with my friends or I'll read a book. Sometimes I hang out on the couch and relax, or fall asleep in the armchairs. This really just depends on what time I get to work! 15 minutes before I am scheduled to start work in the Emporium, I head upstairs to clock in. After that I'll head outside to relax or I'll wander around and talk some more. At the time my shift starts, I go back and get my assignment which can be anything from picking up Stock 5 or Register 17, straightening the charm table, assisting a register, merchantainer 1, door greeter 6, assisting Baby Care or going to Baby Care myself!

If I'm on register I normally hope for Baby Care, but if not I head out to a register where I will hang out for about 3 hours. During those 3 hours I will chat with guests, clean up my area, put things away and of course ring up merchandise. Sometimes we get pulled for other little tasks around the store, but mostly you stay put. After about 3 hours, I get a break and go downstairs or outside to hang out and eat. I then go back up and get a new assignment and head out again. After another roughly 3 hours in my area, I will get my second break and after that I come back for my final assignment. Once our store closes, I get a new task to help in a certain area, do the trash or fill the registers. Once that's done, I head for the bus and go home.

If I am a floorstock that day, I will pick up my radio and my earpiece during my 15 minutes before I start, do a radio check and go and meet up with my expeditor. Once I get my assignment to a floorstock or replenish position, I head out to my area and start to straighten and catch up with my morning person to see what's going on. I then start going back and forth to fill my shelves, and get my carts of merchandise my expeditor pulls for me. I stock, help my guests and jump on the registers if it's getting busy. Sometimes we're slow enough to watch the parade or just spend time with a family, but most of the time this is go go go! When we close, I'll get a door assignment, which is making sure people are only moving south in our store, and not allowing them to go north. Once we fully close, then we get down to the business of fully restocking our area, and then once we are done we head home.

While I'm expediting, I start at 2, which is the earliest of most of my shifts. For this I spend my day in the back breaking down merchandise and picking stuff for the stockers to put out on the floor. I love this role the most, just because I always have something to do and I can help my friends. It's also fun because you get some downtime to chill, without the pressure of being onstage.

After I hop on the bus I take a 30 minute or so ride back to Chatham, and hop off the bus. I walk to Patterson, show ID at the gate and head home. Sometimes my roommates'll be awake, but most of the time I'm the last person home. I'll turn on a movie and make some dinner, sit down and relax a little bit. Then I hop in the shower and get into bed, red a little bit and then go to sleep. By the time I'm asleep it's about 4 or 5 AM, and I will do it all again this afternoon.

Goodnight!
Kelci

Sure Has Been A While!

Well hello there! It sure has been a long time since I even thought about this blog, let alone updated it! And since my post about earning my ears I've done a few wonderful things here at Disney! For one, I've worked at Disney's Boardwalk Resort in their On The Boardwalk shops which is a HUGE leap in differences than my home at the Emporium! For other work related things, I was stock and baby care trained and I asked my leader if I could be trained on anything and everything in the Emporium and she said she would see what she could do. :) Apparently my name was also put in for a merchantainment task force one of my managers is putting together, so I think I'm doing ok!

Other than that I've really just been sleeping and spending time with my friends and roommates. We've had some issues, but nothing we couldn't overcome with some mediation from housing! Also, don't be afraid of the hours. I have the worst hours in the universe but I wouldn't trade it for the world!

A normal day in my life right now is getting up at about 3 or 4 PM and eating breakfast while checking things online, reading or just generally hanging around the apartment before getting ready for work. I then leave for work two (or more if I need a costume) hours before my shift starts, just to make sure I get there on time thanks to the crappy bus system. I stop by costuming if I need to, or head straight to the Main Street Breakroom and hang around there until about 15 minutes before my shift. Majority of my shifts at the moment are stock shifts, which I prefer to register because I'm not locked down to one location and I can roam my zone and others as long as my work is done. I normally get out about 3, 4 or 5 AM right now as our hours are getting longer and longer and we head to the Mouse to get breakfast after, before we head home and do it all again that night. I love it so much, and I wouldn't give it up for the world.

Until next time! (hopefully sooner than this was!)
Kelci

I've Earned My Ears!

Since last Friday I've been working on earning my ears in the Emporium and as of Wednesday, January 16th I have done it! I have earned my Merchantainment ears in the Emporium! :)

It was a lot of hard work (5 days of orientations and training) but it's nice to know that on Sunday when I go to work I can do everything on my own, and if I need help there will be someone there to help me! I'm pretty terrified to go out on my own, to be honest, so at least there is another CP who earned her ears with me on Tuesday that will be working with me at first.

I think the best part about the training I had in the Emporium is that they set it up really well, I had one day in costume training, followed by a day of classroom training, followed by an entire day of register training in costume, followed by another day of in class training and finally my last day of in costume training which basically went through all the jobs we could possibly do in the Emporium followed by 3 days of to rest and recharge. (Minus baby care and stocking of course, as those are separate training sessions I won't be getting for another week or two.)

My first day was basically an orientation of sorts, where I got my costume and got to wear in in the park while I had my Main Street tour! We went in all the back stockrooms, all over backstage and then into every single store on Main Street West and Main Street East! We also went up in front of the train station and nearly all the way back to the castle, so we could see where our costumes would take us and where they were not allowed. We also did a lot of paperwork on the computers, pin traded and met all the coordinators, leaders and managers that were on staff.

The second day was Merchantainment which started out with computer work that is required by Disney and ended with about 3 or 4 hours of a lecture and practice on our point of sale machines (Registers!). This class was actually pretty boring, but has a lot of really important information that we needed to know and remember. I also got a long lunch and ate in the Mouse and got more costumes this day!

Day three was another park day that started early and went seemingly forever. I spent nearly the entire day moving from zone to zone in the emporium working on the registers. I learned how to do all the paperwork that we can possibly do with a customer, how to send things to hotels and to the front of the park and also how to package mugs. I also pin traded some more and learned how to trade in my lame pins that no one wants for good pins that go super fast!

Day four was another classroom day that really had nothing to do with a classroom. Technically this was my park orientation, but I had basically had all of this my first day so I was pretty bored out of my mind. It was a lot of trivia I already knew, and a lot of park history I had read a lot about. For the people who had nvever been to Disney World, it was fun, but for me it was not so much fun.

Day five was my last day of training and we basically did a mishmash of the things I did on day one and day three. I ran the registers for a while, did some merchantainment, pin traded and once again visited just about all the storerooms we have. I also took my final test for merch and I passed! The test really is common sense, and they go over just about 95% of what is on it, but the other questions are pretty easy to answer if you know your basic safety!

However, not all merch training is set up like mine was. My roommate G works at the Boardwalk, and she has nearly 10 days of training because she is being trained in 4 stores vs the one I work in. So just keep that in mind if you are merch, because even on the other side of Main Street USA the training is longer than mine (But there are 4 stores to work in, vs my 1 gigantic store!

Past the training I've just been trying to get used to living in Florida and using the buses. I went to Typhoon Lagoon on Thursday though, which was great! We were there for about 2 hours and we rode every slide with no wait! (AND FOR FREE!) Other than that I'm heading to the parks soon, even though I really haven't bee motivated to do so, and I'm gonna ride Mission Space and Space Mountain!

Till next time!
Kelci

Check In Jan 7th 2013!!!!!

I checked in yesterday and I thought I would tell you all about what happened!



It was actually really easy and went super fast. You start in the line (Be there no later than 3:45-4:00 AM) and they don’t turn you away if you get there early don’t worry. At about 7:00 they let us start in the gates and we stood there for about half hour. After that we dropped off any luggage at the room they held it in and then we lined up outside the welcome building at Vista. When the line started moving inside at 8 we were checked in, asked a few questions, picked up our guidebook/ planner then found out our work location. Next you signed your housing contract and took it to the ladies who circled wellness or non-wellness.


Then you went inside and you went to a desk and got your apartment (It’s VERY important for your whole group to be together at this point or they MIGHT not be able to hold what you want.) then you got your apartment key. After that you sign another housing form, pick up your photo slip and then you get your photo for your housing ID taken. (Make sure you are 100% in the Disney Look and you are NOT wearing a necklace) and wait for the ID to print. Keep that with you! Next you sign the confidentiality form and then you go over the educational opportunities that Disney has. After this if you have a car make sure you have all the information as they need it in order to get you your sticker and your plate frame.

After this station you move to the Disney Look table where you go over the Disney Look with a current CM who will answer any of your questions that you may have about tattoos, jewelry, clothing and shoes. Next you go to the snack table (BRING A SNACK AND WATER BECAUSE THIS IS NOT FILLING AND YOU WILL BE DYING BY THE END IF YOU DON’T!) and then you have to have your I-9 forms ready before you get on the bus to casting!



At casting you will either be in the Mickey Sticker Group or the regular group. You do the same thing, the Mickey group just does it backwards in order to make sure they get things done faster. I had a screwup with my paperwork but they really take care of you at Casting. Everyone that was helping me was really nice, actually talked to me about stuff and they were all wonderful! You verify information you put into your application (over and over! Memorize your social security number!) and then you move on to getting your fingerprints done for the background check.

They scan your ID here so make sure you have it. Then we waited in a little room and was told about the need to change your address on the HUB within 48 hours of Traditions in order to get your Main Entrance Passes (MEPS) and then you cross the hall and wait. You go inside and they give you your training sheet and you traditions information and then send you down the hall to the I-9 station. You will wait at a little room and then while the person at the computer does your I-9 the other person will talk to you about your location and your first day of training. (Be wary if you take out your phone as more than one of us was yelled at for not talking to our fellow new CPs.) The next desk took your ID and talked to you a little and then you gave your purple paper to them (If you were Mickey Sticker Group) and then you were told where to go to catch the bus and you are done.



After that you wait for the bus which will take you back to Vista and then you can grab your bags and head to your complex! You will have your housing meeting the next day and if you are a Monday check in you will have your Traditions on Thursday and if you check in on Tuesday it will be Friday! :D



I hope everyone's check in goes great and if you have any questions leave them below!


Kelci

Bucket List Pt 2

Alright well I don't know what else I can put that's not in the parks, but I guess I'm going to try it anyways. :) I guess there ARE things I can do outside the parks (hard to believe, right??) Here goes my bucket list Pt 2!

Everywhere Else

1. Go diving at least 10 times while in Florida.
2. Complete my Advanced Open Water diver cert.
3. Buy myself a Cressi Big Eyes mask.
4. Visit with the Manatees!
5. Go to the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse.
6. Celebrate my 21st Birthday at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (On July 31st! No, really.. That's my brithday!)
7. Go to Gatorland.
8. Give blood. (Apparently Disney does blood drives!)
9. Watch some Hockey (NHL or whatever, I don't care!)
10. Spend a day at Discovery Cove.
11. See La Nouba.
12. Go indoor skydiving at iFly Orlando.
13. Visit the Space Center.
14. Go to the Orlando Science Center. (I love museums, and Science Centers are my favorite!)
15. Explore the Disney Boardwalk.
16. Fireworks on the Poly beach with the girls!
17. Be a VoluntEar
18. Visit the Holocaust Memorial.
19. See the march of the Peabody Ducks
20. If I can get a good fare, fly up to NYC for a few days.
21. Go Jet Skiing
22. SeaWorld!
23. Visit Celebration, Florida
24. Visit Spook Hill to see if the Legend is true (and to see if Katie's car rolls up hill)

There are many more, but these are some I really want to do! Especially the march of the Peabody ducks. Oh my gosh. Little ducks in a hotel that march from their elevator to their little fountain? OMG PLEEEASE!

Until next time,

Kelci

My DCP Bucket List Pt 1 (In The Parks!)

So, as promised, here is the first part of my Spring 2013 WDW bucketlist. This is open to change and revision, so if you have an idea for me be sure to let me know!

I'm going to section it out into different posts with the first being in the parks! Here we go!


In The Parks!

1. Take photos with at least 100 different characters!
2. Be in a parade.
3. Tour the Castle Suite.
4. Do the Segway tour of EPCOT
5. Do the Behind the Steam Trains Tour with my Grandfather
6. Do EPCOT DiveQuest
7. Ride every ride in each park.
8. Go people watching with my roomies.
9. Be the rebel spy on Star Tours.
10. Take a weekend off for Star Wars Weekend.
11. Take the roomies and finish the Kitchen Sink.
12. Drink around the world on my 21st Birthday!
13. Ride Space Mountain with the lights on.
14. Find as many hidden mickeys as possible.
15. Picture with the Boss in each park.
16. Get my graduation ears embroidered! 
17. All 4 parks in one day.
18. Work in each park. (Is this possible? I am Merch..)
19. Start an autograph book.
20. Get t-shirts signed by the characters.
21. Meet someone from each state.
22. Run (well, walk!) one of the Disney marathons.
23. Group photos with the girls in front of the Castle.
24. Eat at each restaurant.
25. Eat around the world.
26. Get my silhouette done on Main Street.

There will be more to come, but these are my basic in the parks want to do! I think next up will be out of the parks, like at the resorts and what not. :)

Have a good one!
Kelci

58 Day Mark & I'm Bad At This Blogging Stuff!

Woow.. Okay, well, sorry for the fact it's been a month. I've been working 6-7 days a week and I have school and I've been crazy busy. Thanks to my wisdom teeth being extracted, I do however have a few days off and I thought I would get on and update.

I know I said my bucket list would be next, but I'm thinking I'm actually going to talk about the expenses of the program, which is something I wish I would have known before I actually applied and was accepted. (Please excuse any spelling errors, I'm on a heavy dose of Percocet and I'm trying to keep my head on straight!)

So during the process of applying to the DCP, I knew there would be fees (And the fees are one reason I'm making the 3500 mile move from Seattle to Orlando, instead of going to Disneyland.) For the Orlando DCp, you pay $300 up front after being accepted. Now, what this goes to is your first two weeks of rent, and various activities that Disney puts on during your program. For California, you pay (I believe) $860 up front, and that covers about the same thing.

Now, as a college student that works two minimum wage jobs, I don't have the money for the Cali DCP, but when I added it all up, that's about what I'm spending. My flight to Orlando is costing me just over $200, which is a pretty good deal considering I'm flying down right after New Years. We are also going to stay at Art of Animation for three days before my check in (I don't know the cost, my grandma is paying for that, but last I looked it was pretty expensive!) and then the night before check in I'm staying with the girls in a suite near the hotel which is costing the 6 of us about $25 each. This doesn't even count my 3 day park hopper for while I'm down there.

Yeah, so while the DW DCP is cheaper in the fees, make sure you think about the gas you will have to buy driving, or the plane ticket to fly down, extra baggage fees, shipping extra stuff down once you get there, your hotel for the night before, or couple days before if you and some loved ones are coming down, and your park tickets! The more I think about it, the more I wonder if I could be paying the same as I would have to go to Disneyland. (Not that I wanted to, I'd rather spend my DCP in DW with my awesome roomies!)

Anyways, I have 58 or so days left till I check into my DCP with my wonderful Suietmates! I can't wait to meet Katie, Kira, Gisselle, Rachel and Ashley in person! We're going to have one of the craziest, most fun times ever!
Until next time,
Kelci

Guess What!

I WAS ACCEPTED!

I haven't posted in a week or so because I really had nothing to say about the wait. Now that it's over, I have one thing to say about it.

IT WAS AWFUL.

It was long and terrifying, and seeing people get accepted every day made me so nervous that something had gone wrong with mine and I was going to be denied! But, at 10:46AM on 9/24/12 I got a "Congratulations!" Email from Disney and the world fell into place.

To be honest I screamed and started to cry hysterically when I read it, and then proceeded to call everyone and tell them my wonderful news! I paid fees, picked my dates AND to top off my wonderful day, I found a group of ladies looking for a few more roomies, and we completed our group of 6! I am already excited, we're al; quite fun and interesting! I think this is going to be wonderful!

Alright well this was just a quick update before bed, so I'll be back in the next few weeks to talk about some other stuff! :)

Kelci



I AM MERCHANDISING!