Well This is Awkward

Looking back at my last post from December 1st (more than two months ago yikes!), I've realized that I should probably update everyone on where I am. Since it's not where I thought I'd be on the day I made that post. For those of you that don't know, I did not stay in Anaheim or with Disney. 

As time kept passing, the stress of budgeting and affording an apartment really took its toll on me. It came to my attention that if I stayed it would just be a year of me working a bunch of part time jobs struggling to get by. It would a lot of months of barely surviving and being broke and the first couple months were going to completely wipe me of my savings. So I had to make the decision to move back home. 

I knew this was the right decision for me when I told my mom that a huge weight would be lifted off my shoulders if I just moved home, saved money, and went back to school instead of panicking about finances. I really wanted to get my career started and staying at Disney would just be pushing that off. And the only way to get my career and future started was to go back and get my teaching credential. 

The most difficult part was having to realize that I'd be preparing for a long distance relationship (if he even wanted to actually do it). It wasn't an easy conversation to have, but now we're a month in to the long distance and it's manageable. Just not the ideal. 

My plan for now is to work on my credential up here and move back down there to teach. But as well can see from the last post to now, things change really quickly for me. 

------------------------------------------------------------

As for the last few day of the College Program....

I definitely think I was ready to leave. I was starting to get burnt out over going to work in retail. However, I miss my coworkers tremendously. They made each and every day manageable and exciting and it always felt like coming home. By the end of my program the parks were getting so crowded that going as a guest wasn't really an option, but more than anything I miss being able to pop in to play in the parks whenever I wanted to. Obviously Disneyland holds a huge place in my heart and now I feel like I am connected to it even more. I've lived, learned, loved, played, ate and worked in the Happiest Place on Earth. And to say I am incredibly grateful for that experience would be an understatement. It will be strange next week when I go in as a guest for the first time and not as a cast member. 

It's Time for an Update

It is ridiculously crazy how fast this program has flown by. I have a month left until I graduate the Disney College Program. The program has been incredible and although I am ready to get out of this apartment and change things up, I will miss a lot of these people. I've gotten to do some crazy incredible things like tour Haunted Mansion, Tower of Terror, and the Dream Suite. I've seen backstage of Disneyland and I've learned how this place operates 24/7 and I am just a tiny part of it. 

So I have big news. 

I'm staying in Southern California!

I'm staying on with the company (temporarily)!

Although I still believe that my future career is not with Disney, I've really enjoyed my time down here. My best friend is down here, I've got Disneyland right next door, I've met some pretty remarkable people, and there are so many school and job opportunities down here. Now this isn't permanent and I might just end up back in Northern California, but for at least one more year I plan on being here. 

Here comes the terrifying part. I have a month to find an apartment. And a month to find another job to afford said apartment. I have three other roommates and we're looking at a place, but the application process is so complicated for those without a high enough income and no credit. I've been a huge bundle of anxiety these past weeks. I just want to have a place and get it over with. I'm also panicking about how to afford it.

I'm just continuing to pray to God and believe that he knows what is right for me. He put me down here, gave me this opportunity, and put new people in my life for a reason. So I hope he has some good things planned for me. 

I've applied to a children's tutoring day care type school, so hopefully a full time position in that will arise. I'm getting ready to take the CBEST and hopefully apply for an emergency credential to start substitute teaching. I sometimes wish things would just get handed to me, but what would life be without a thousand pounds of stress. 

I'm really thankful that my parents have decided to support me through all of this. I know it's crazy and maybe (most likely) I'll be broke and calling home crying, but hopefully it ends up being a positive adventure. I have some other friends whose parents are not supporting them and are having a hard time with the decisions they're making. So I am blessed for my parents. Thank you, Mom and Dad.

A Lot About Everything

So as per request of my mother, I'll give you all an update of the actual goings on of my job. Today I was trained specially for Candy Palace, but I will get to that later. After being trained there I have come to love being at the Emporium. I missed it when I walked through it today. 

I can't talk too much about what goes on backstage, but we do have a check-in right before we go onstage to catch us up on new Disneyland news, trivia, and the nightly hours for our shows. Then we get an assignment and are either sent to give someone a break or pickup a shift. You can either be assigned a register, merchantaining, pins, or go-backs. There are a few other random things you might get assigned, but that's rare (I love retrieving all the hangers). 

To be honest, my favorite is register. You are usually pretty busy and when it's dead you can find things to do around your area. Merchantaining and go-backs can get pretty repetitive. Oh I should probably explain that merchantaining is basically when you go around and guest service your area. Like asking people if they need assistance and what not. A lot of people can get creative when it comes to using merchandise too. I, for example, one night was wearing the Mickey snap bracelet around my wrist and waving at little kids and another night I carried a Mickey plush around. They love it! Some cast members carry different plush around with them and put ears on them. It definitely makes it a little fun. 

I've had quite a few magical moments so far. I mentioned in an earlier post that I got to be a part of The Good Night Kiss, which hasn't happened again unfortunately, but I've had some more personal moments with guests. One lady I approached was near the pins and I asked if she had any questions. She said she was just buying a pin that she lost on Radiator Racers in DCA. It was a special 60th pin that she had just purchased earlier that day. I walked back and asked my lead if it'd be okay to give her an NSA (No Strings Attached) where I could give her the pin free of charge to her. They OK'd it and I went back to give her the pin and she was incredibly happy and grateful. She thanked me (and to be honest, she went on about the other pins her family had lost and I was like "Sorry, I'm just doing the one" ). Well I didn't say that, but I wasn't about the give her ten free pins. It was one special moment and I am incredible happy that I got to do that. 

I've also had a lot of fun moments with kids. Whether it's listening to an 8 year old talk meticulously about trains or asking a girl in a princess dress to twirl, their eyes light up and it brings just as much joy to me as it does to them. I try to make as much magic for adults as I do for kids. 

But let me tell you...those buttons will be the death of me. Birthday buttons, happy anniversary, first time, I'm celebrating. People ask constantly for buttons and usually, because I'm nice, I'll scour the store for a particular one. It drives me insane because now so many people ask for them, I feel like they're not as special any more. Some people have the audacity to ask for a button and when I ask "which one" they say they don't know and they just want to see which ones we have. We're handing them out like we give out our plastic bags. It's getting ridiculous.

But now for Candy Palace. Most people love or hate working here. I haven't worked there long enough to firmly pick a side, but for now I'll say that I don't love it. It's manageable, I'm just not a fan of handling other people's food. And that hair net!! :( I'm sure I'll get used to the inventory we have, it'll become as comfortable as the Emporium. But for now I will love the Emporium every single shift I have.

Catch Up

I haven't posted in awhile and I finally got my iCloud synced up so here are a couple pictures to update you all. 

My side of the room ( I've added a few more decorations since then)

In late August when absolutely no one was in the parks. It was amazing!

 Two friends visited me at work :)

This needs no caption. It's beautiful.

My best friend forever came to the parks!

 The highest score I've ever gotten on Buzz Lightyear!

 My two very best friends. Kyle flew in to visit and Rachel joined us. One of my favorite days.

As for more news, I recently attended a training for Mickey's Halloween Party. They taught us how to hand out candy the proper way and let us watch the fireworks. That night was the College Program's Space Mountain ride through with the lights on. My friend and I were scheduled for the training so we unregistered from the event, but then as we were clocking out all of the College Program was standing there waiting to get on. So they still allowed us to ride in our costume! It was magical. 

The next day we had a College Program scavenger hunt. The concept seemed really cool, but in reality it wasn't what I expected. We spent most of our time sitting at tables trying to figure out clues that were difficult rather than running around the park. (maybe it was just the clues we were given). We decided to call it quits with an hour left to spare and grab some lunch. The roommates and I love food more than anything, so giving up winning the scavenger hunt for food was an easy decision.

My computer is dying so I will make this quick. Work has been great as usual, I absolutely love my  coworkers and have been actually spending more time with them after work. They are incredible people. I have a lot of events and visitors coming in the next week so I will post another update then.

Let's Talk About Yesterday

First of all, I decided to go to the park by myself. I knew I wanted to visit my roommate at her attraction and get a picture with her so I made my way over there. Then I ate lunch and went on Radiator Racers by myself. It's pretty nice going alone because you can choose what you want to do and go your own pace.

Yesterday was officially the best day of work so far. To start it was only a four hour shift and get this...it started at 10:45 PM! It was really odd starting that late and when we got on the cast shuttle the bus was pretty vacant besides the maintenance guys who work 3rd shift overnight. It just seemed really strange. Once we got there, however, it felt like an normal night. I was asked to start Go Backs (putting back items that guest didn't want) and then a lead came over and was looking for people to help with A Kiss Goodnight. I was supposed to go on registers, but I made it really apparent that I would rather help with the Goodnight. And my wishes came true and I was told to meet in front of the arcade registers. We all got to wear a Mickey glove and went out in the street and waved goodnight. Then we made a little arch that people ran through and gave high fours. 

It was probably one of the most fun things I've ever done at work and I was grinning the whole time. The guests were absolutely loving it and I've never been more happy to work here. I was awarded a Four Keys card for helping make magic. Then later that night I was helping other coworkers wrap mugs and bag items and one of the cashiers rewarded me with another Four Keys card. Two in one night!! I was so ecstatic. It was overall an incredible night.

Two Posts in One Day!

That last post was from several days ago, because I wrote it around 3 AM, but never got around to rereading it before I posted it. Work is still going really well. I joke around that I basically sold my soul to the Emporium, because I am sacrificing time with friends and special events (no more Space Mountain ride through for me) because of my schedule. But at least I am getting hours because now that they have started to take out rent, I see how crucial it is that I grab as many hours as I can. 

My best friend came and spent a couple hours with me in the park. It was a completely blessing and definitely made my week. She has an annual pass so hopefully we will be going to the park a lot. 

So far my weeks have been pretty similar. Nothing too exciting or extraordinary to report and I apologize that most of the posts basically say the same things about how exciting this is and how it is going really well. Once my class starts and peak season picks up, I will hopefully have more to talk about. 

Right now I'm just all about Starbucks and sleep. So Starbucks gift cards are a blessing.

The Magic of Main Street

This post was written several days ago...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Working Main Street has been a really inspiring experience. I am not used to 8 hour shifts, so it's a little intimidating at first, but once I actually get there the time usually flies. And so far, every single shift I've have, I've been hit with a feeling of shock and gratitude. Once it happened when I was driving out of the cast parking lot and then last night it happened when I was roaming the plush section of the store. I'll just be in my own mind realizing how cool it is that I get to do this everyday. I won't say that everyday is a piece of cake, sometimes we're bored out of our mind during non peak season, but I have some of the best managers and leads, I'm starting to get to really know other cast members, and I continue to try and make magic for the guests.

Today is my first day off this week. I work five day weeks that usually range between 6-8 hour days. The past two days ended at 3AM for our AP private event. Surprisingly my crash happens around 12 and then once we're closing, I'm wide awake and skipping around the store.

For anyone thinking about doing this program, it really is what you make of it. A couple of people aren't really fond of their role, and I can't say that I love retail all the time, but I go in and make every hour of my shift super positive. Sometimes you'll catch me walking with a little jump in my step or humming around the store. It's something that I found helps me keep smiling and loving working there.