Transitioning

After the holidays, the parks were really slow and it was a nice break from the craziness. My program was supposed to end on January 4th, but I extended and I am here until May. I moved apartments the first week of January and most of my friends left on the 4th like I was originally supposed to. It was a really weird transition time for me. I  was almost starting over, but there was no excitement of starting the unknown at work because I am still at Spaceship Earth and it is getting pretty repetitive. Going to work the first few days after saying goodbye to all of my friends was really depressing. The good thing about having a bad day when they were all here was that there was bound to be someone to vent to around every corner. They made work fun. And almost all of them left Orlando on the same day and it was so sad. There are 5 of us in the college program that extended and I feel like we have gotten a lot closer since our work friend group shrunk.

I got to stay in the same apartment complex, but had to move buildings. There are 4 apartment complexes for the college program and we didn't know where we had to move to until the morning of! So if I had to move complexes and none of my friends with a car were able to help me move, I would have had to take a bus! But thank god I stayed at Vista Way and Danny, my friend from work, was free to help me move. I moved into a room with a bathroom connected to it that I only share with my roommate, Sarah. My new apartment is renovated and feels very homey. But the first two weeks here I felt like I was just staying the night in someone else's apartment. I didn't feel comfortable looking through cupboards or cooking. I felt out of place at work and my home. I was really homesick and bored at the same time. It was tough. I have a few full time work friends that I am close to who, along with the 4 other college programers who stayed, were my saving grace.

Right before Christmas, my Aunt Debi and her two boys came to visit me and we went to Epcot and Animal Kingdom! We stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge for 2 nights and had so much fun. They used some of my guest passes into the park and they got to ride Spaceship Earth which I was so so excited about! It is hard to explain what I do every day without actually seeing it. At Animal Kingdom, we made FastPasses for a roller coaster and Joey and I convinced Debi to go on it, and she ended up loving it and going on it twice in a row! I was so proud of her. It was really nice to see family around Christmas since I was away from home for the first time.

A few weeks later, my cousin, Alisa, from my dad's side visited me while she was in Orlando. She was here in between the time when my friends went home but before I had moved apartments, and I was in desperate need of a friend. We went shopping and had lunch at one of my favorite restaurants in Orlando (outside of Disney property) and they accidentally mixed in a piece of fish with the chicken! I almost threw up because I hate fish that much and then they gave me a new item of my choice so of course I ordered a dessert. Alisa and I split the dessert and I ate some of her fries. And my whole meal ended up being free! So the fish was worth it.

I was in touch with my mom a lot throughout the transition time and wanted to make a short trip home or have her come visit me. But instead we planned a trip to Disneyland! We booked our tickets exactly 2 weeks before we met in LA and it was just what I needed.

Christmas Angels and A*sholes

The last two weeks have been the busiest time of the year at Walt Disney World. Our managers were preparing us for weeks about how busy it was going to be. Spaceship Earth's wait time is usually no more than 30 minutes at our busiest time of the day, but yesterday, New Years Eve, it was 95 minutes most of the day. When the wait times are long and the whole park is busy, generally people are more mean than usual. I don't know everything that has gone wrong during their day so I try to have some patience when they're rude to me. On the other hand, I have also met some of the nicest people since I've worked here just in the last two weeks.

The first family I met was a mom and daughter who seemed like she was in junior high. They wanted to use a free pass that they were given earlier to meet Mickey Mouse to go through the FastPass line at Spaceship Earth. I was at the entrance for that line and they very kindly explained to me that this was their last day of their vacation and they wouldn't have time to do much more. I instantly knew I was going to let them in the FastPass line because they asked nicely. (If you are nice to cast members at Disney, we will probably pull some strings for you!!) They were both so excited that I was going to accept their ticket to see Mickey in place of a FastPass, that I just gave it back so they were able to still use it. They were both so nice and wished me a Merry Christmas. A few minutes later, I got my break and realized that I didn't explain to her that she was still able to use the pass to see Mickey because some people aren't sure how the passes work. I waited for them at the end of the ride and told them they could still see Mickey, and I also gave them some ticket FastPasses that were good for any ride in Epcot. They were both shocked and gave me several hugs. The mom told me that I was their Christmas angel. They were supposed to have two more days of vacation but family circumstances back home cut their trip short. They were so sweet that I almost teared up! I was in a good mood for the rest of the night.

Dancing Lights at Hollywood Studios! I went to visit a week before Christmas

On Christmas Eve, I was working until close and my first assignment of the night was to go to the FastPass kiosks where we're supposed to help people make and change their FastPass reservations and answer questions. I was there for less than 20 minutes when a grown man and his young son came up to me and asked about how he could make more FastPasses for the day when he already had some at another park for later that night. I explained that he must use all three before the system will let him make another selection. He was angry that the reservations that HE SCHEDULED were so late in the night and he wouldn't be able to make more after he used them because the park would be closed. I apologized and explained the system more in detail and said there wasn't really anything I could do. (Coincidentally, I didn't even have a paper FastPass in my pocket, so even if he was nice and I wanted to give him one, there was literally nothing I could do.) He was pissed and stormed off. Not even 10 minutes later, while I am helping another guest at the kiosk, I see the same guy standing a few feet away from me and shakes his finger at me. "You're a liar! You don't know the system and you should know how to do your job! Guest Relations gave me more FastPasses because you're a liar! You don't know how to do your job!" I didn't know what to say and it was really embarrassing because a bunch of other people heard. As I was helping another family, I started to cry and couldn't stop. They tried to comfort me and I went to the bathroom to try to stop. On my way there, two little old ladies gave me hugs and told me not to be sad because it was Christmas. I know I didn't do anything wrong because there is really nothing I could do to make him more FastPasses. Later, he rode Spaceship Earth and I saw him as he got off the ride and he growled at me like a dog. I told all of my coworker friends the story and they also tried to make me feel better. I was so embarrassed all night and kept thinking of what I could have said before he went to Guest Relations so he wouldn't have yelled at me. Then I put myself in his shoes. I thought if I was really mad at something so trivial like that, there is no way in hell that I would have gone back to the cast member and yelled in their face and called them a liar, especially on Christmas Eve. And I realized that it wasn't me or anything I said, but that he was just an ugly person who's anger got the best of him. I hope his son doesn't grow up to as horrible as his dad.

My friend Amanda and I sneak in a selfie at midnight while we're at work on NYE!

Last night, New Years Eve, the busiest day of the year for every park, a family of four were in the FastPass line for Spaceship Earth. The dad scanned his card and it said he didn't have a FastPass. I usually just ask for a picture or confirmation of their reservation and see what went wrong when they made their reservation, and then I just let them in anyway so families aren't separated. When I told the dad that the computer was telling me that he wasn't linked with his family he instantly got so mad at me and was talking to me like I was the one who deleted him from the reservation. I just asked for a picture then he and his wife both started chiming in about how ridiculous this was. Their daughters, who were close to my age, seemed calm and showed me their online account, and I would have been so embarrassed if my parents were being so immature. I told him that I believed him that he made a FastPass, I just wanted to try to see what went wrong with their reservation. Several times, the wife said, "Well if you believe him, then why don't you just let him in?!" If there was actually a problem with their account, they didn't even let me say that they should go to Guest Relations because other attractions will not let them in if everyone does not have a reservation. But because they were so mean and wouldn't let me get many words out, I just took a deep breath and told them to have a great night. I hope karma bit them later.

The pins from the sweetest family

To end on a positive note, the last family I met is one of my favorites ever. I randomly noticed the family of 4 as I walked out of the break room, and the parents both gave me big smiles, so I decided to make some magic for them. I asked if they had ever been to Epcot and how their vacation had been. They seemed so nice and those are the kinds of people that I like to help. The line for Spaceship Earth was so long, that I took them through our VIP entrance and gave them a paper FastPass that was good for any ride at Epcot. They were so excited and that was the first ride of the day for them! My assignment for that time was to be cleaning and sweeping the part of the ride where everyone gets off. I saw them after the ride and they came up to me to tell me thank you again and that I made their day. I wished them well and they told me that they decided to go to Test Track, which has one of the wait times at Epcot. I went back to cleaning and about a half hour later I see them again. The two kids, a boy around 10 and a girl around 8, came up to me and told me that since I gave them VIP access to the ride and a FastPass, that they had something for me. They both gave me one of their Disney trading pins from their lanyards as a thank you. I was so excited! I had never been given something by a guest before and they seemed so excited to give me something that was important to them (and that are sometimes expensive). The mom took a picture of the kids with me and I gave them both hugs. Those pins are now some of my favorite things that I've acquired since I started my program. I try to remember people like them when I have a bad day at work.

xx