Swine Flu

No, I don't have Swine Flu. But a girl I work with went to the Disney Cast Health Center after work today and a bunch of people were talking about how they were sure that was what she had.

Honestly, I'm not really that scared of the Swine Flu. Flu happens. You get sick, you rest and puke for a few days, you get better. It sucks and is totally no fun, but I'm pretty sure even if I got Swine Flu I'd end up okay, just like every person I've known who's gotten it.

The only big negative I don't want to see is the lack of pay check that would come the week after. Here, when you get Swine Flu, you're not allowed to work for at least seven days no matter how good you feel after three days (trust me, it happened to my friend who got it).

I've resigned myself to the fact that I'm around so many people who have been getting it that there's a pretty good chance I could get sick. But I continue to take a daily vitamin and stay as clean as I can (yes, I've even been using hand sanitizer). And so far I've been okay... I think.

I guess at this point we'll just see what happens. But I'm not sick...

Shift Pick Up

Oh yeah, I picked up a shift in the Magic Kingdom Thursday. My hours for the week passed 50 and that made me happy! I'm excited to see my pay check next week. Anyway, working in the Emporium on Main Street was fun! There were TONS of super creative costumes and it was fun handing out jewels from Neverland taken from Captain Hook to little kids.

One particular mom was having a lot of trouble keeping her kid in one place while checking out. So I went over to the little boy and showed him the jewels and gave him a handful and finished just as the mom finished checking out. I love distracting kids.

I got an applaus-o-gram today. That's when people come to the park and see you giving them super service and then they give you these little papers that say something like, "Hey, you're a cool cast member. Congrats." And it's good. Sort of.

Half Over

I picked up a shift in the Magic Kingdom for Thursday. In the Emporium. On Main Street. More on that later. :)

Our Holiday packages came in the mail yesterday. Yay! We get all kinds of awesome discounts and it all begins Oct. 25 and goes through the end of the program. AWESOME!

I can't believe the program is already half over! I can't believe how fast the time has been going. Things here are so stinkin' amazing. I would love to go on to be in the Professional Internship but chances are I won't because it's extremely competitive and I'm not quite cool enough. Most of the high up people (most, definitely not all) are super awesome people. I don't know if I'd ever be fun enough to get that high in a company.

Anyway, I have to go to work. I work every single day this week but I'm getting fifty hours! Yay!

Hectic Morning!

I got to work today 54 seconds early, sweating and wheezing, voiceless, and no name tag. What a morning.

First I woke up to find my voice gone for the second time this week. That sucked. I got up and had a nice leisurely morning and left to catch the bus five minutes early. Except the bus wasn't there. And it didn't come. And it didn't come. Just as I rounded up some friends getting ready to drive, the bus came. In a way I prefer the bus because if I drive I have to park ridiculously far away from the building and it takes a while to walk. so I chose to stick with the bus even though it was late. I would still be at work almost ten minutes early even though it was late.

Except after getting on the bus and going to Vista Way we just sat there. And sat there. And sat there. The driver got out and started chatting with the other drivers. I would have said something to him except I had no voice (and I'm too shy of course).

Well finally we left. I got to cast services at 9:53 and had to make the fifteen minute walk across the park in front of guests in half the time of usual. Somehow it happened and I didn't get a point.

But after arriving I remembered that my name tag was still clipped onto yesterday's uniform. Oops! So today my name was Stephanie.

Despite the hectic morning today was pretty fun!

Silly People

I lost my voice. It's just gone. Actually, it's not totally gone, but it's sure hurting my throat a lot.

I saw the Tinker Bell movie the other night. It was cute. I can't WAIT for the newest Disney princess movie to come out this December. The Princess and the Frog it's called. Apparently it's animated and just like the old classic films. I'm so excited for it!

In another side of things...

I get really annoyed when I get the whiny guests that I can tell like to just manipulate people all they can as a hobby. I don't mind giving real, genuine, decent guests free things. For example a little girl was crying the other day because one of her pins fell off her lanyard. I got down and let her pick her favorite pin from my lanyard and gave it to her. So cute and the parents were thrilled.

I had 46 hours last week, 48 this week, and 44 next week. Before I came here I figured if I could work between 40 and 45 hours a week every week while here I'd be fine. Guess what? I'm doin' fine.

The sad part though is that most of my shifts are 10-7 or 11-6 type shifts. And I only have one day off a week. So there's pretty much no time to play. Ever. My life basically consists of getting up, showering, making a quick breakfast, throwing a sandwich together for lunch, going to work, getting home, cleaning the kitchen, messing on the computer for about half an hour, cleaning some more, making dinner, going to bed. Every day. On my one day off I get really excited to sleep in.

And I just noticed it's almost 1am. When did THAT happen!? What the? Well, I have to wake up at 7am tomorrow so I'm going to go now. Anyway, hope this was a good enough update. :)

I'm Not Gonna Get Sick Now

I got home today and there was a bag hanging on my doorknob.

And inside the bag? Four small hand sanitizer containers.

Yep, no way I'm getting Swine Flu now. Not a chance.

Especially since swine flu is passed through the air.

(okay of course I know washing your hands often can help prevent it and yes, I'm being a good girl and staying clean, but really? this was just funny!)

Loooooong Day at Work

I just finished my sixth consecutive day of work. Okay, not so bad.

But it was a 14 hour shift.

14 is a lot of hours. To be alone. In the same tiny store. With the same three questions being asked a gazillion times.

"Where is the bathroom?" (variations include washroom, ladies room, restroom, wash area, toilet, and anything else you can think of)

"Can I see your pins?" (usually followed by, "Can I trade this pin for...")

"What time do you close? What time is Illuminations? If the park closes at 9 and Illuminations is at 9... how does that work out?"

Probably the top three. My favorite though is "Excuse me, do you work here?"

Nooo. This is just my favorite outfit and I wear the Disney name tag to make myself feel special. And why I'm standing behind this register working it and giving children free stickers? I just like playing.

Anyway, I'm tired as heck. It was actually a wonderful day and I'm super glad it happened. Tomorrow I have off but it looks like I'll be playing chauffer all day. Long story. We'll see what happens though. I'm still working on getting out of it.

At 3:13 am. After a 14 hour work day.

Oh yeah, this lady came in and basically tried something illegal and it's a long story but as soon as she found out I called a manager she fled and my manager is super happy with how I handled things PLUS the story got around to pretty much everyone I work with. I kept hearing as I was closing, "Dianna, what was up with this crazy lady I hear you had?" It was great.

We went to IHOP after work. I got chocolate chip pancakes. They were amazing but too many to be eaten at 2am.

I freakin' LOVE my job. And my life. And everything.

The end.

All Kinds Of People

I kinda wish there were more than 24 hours in a day.

I got to do glow yesterday. It turned out wonderfully because I sold a LOT more than they expected. The negative was that I was $10 short because I sold an item for ten dollars that was actually fifteen. And I sold two of them. Oopsy. They were happy with me anyway though because I did so much better than expected.

Triplets came into my store the day before yesterday. I had all of them autograph Mickey's autograph book. I'm pretty sure they were identical but didn't ask. They were five and absolutely adorable. Their names were something like Alexis, Alana, and Alyssa. So cute!

This guy came into the store yesterday who had some weird Arabic/Russian/Chinese looking writing on his shirt. I asked him what it meant and he told me he didn't know. So I told him it said, "Blob a doop er micka whop boop a doop" or something like that. He corrected me saying the end was "boop a deep" instead of doop. I apologized for my folly and he went on his way chuckling. As I returned to stand by the lady doing sales with me she said quietly, "I didn't know you spoke Russian!" to which I laughed and told her I didn't, I had made it up. "Well that was awfully rude of him to correct you then, wasn't it?!" I just laughed. I think she totally missed the sarcasm memo. Ah well.

I've learned a lot about people since coming here. And a lot about parenting. A friend and I were talking just the other day about how if you want to learn about different parenting styles and techniques, just observe at Disney World. I see so many variations of parenting it's insane.

Like the mom last week who was telling her kid to get in the stroller. "Get in the stroller or I will run you over with it!" Or the parent who, while walking through a gift shop, if their kid shows even the slightest interest in an object they will buy said object for the child.

I had a guy last night when I was on glow cart come up to me just as I was leaving. He asked if I was still open and I told him yes. He bought two glow necklaces for his two girls and as he was getting ready to leave two things happened. One girl started to look at the Cinderella light up toy and his wife came up from behind with a little boy saying, "Um, honey you have three children, remember? Aren't you going to get our son something?" So the dad proceeded to buy the boy a toy as well as the Cinderella toy the girl was looking at. Then the second daughter showed interest in the light up princess wand. As the dad paid for that toy he told me, "I'll give you an extra five if you just get out of here!" Pretty funny actually, but he dropped a total of $45 right there for toy that, had I said I was closed, he never would have gotten.

Not that I judge parents. I really try not too. Most parents I totally respect and look up to unless they're literally cussing at their kids or something. It was late at night and that dad I met probably just didn't want to deal with more tears or something.

When I take pictures is when I meet that hugest variety of people. I had a family from France, who, when I took their picture they all just stared blank faced at the camera not smiling at all. I took the picture, let them see it, asked if it was okay, and when they all nodded (still blank faced) I went ahead and did it. Weird...

Other families with small children sometimes insist that their kids give perfect adult like smiles sitting perfectly with hands in laps. I've seen parents threaten spankings, as well as promises for ice cream and even money for being good and smiling. Other parents don't even try. "She never smiles, that's just her personality" they say as I have a picture of the kid grimacing or just staring.

My mom's idea of playing "Simon Says" works like a charm almost every time. However usually the kids old enough to play that are old enough to smile on their own too. I've had some parents amazed by me though that I got their kid to smile sometimes whether it's from Simon Says or me just being a gooftard. That always makes me feel better.

Some families come in and when I try to pose them for a picture they think "No, my way of posing will be better" so they do their own thing after I tell them it won't work. It just about never works and then they have to end up posing the way I told them anyway and we waste tons of time. Why do people even do that? There are strict rules we have to follow with our Disney pictures to make sure the standards are still good. Some people don't understand why and when we explain they complain.

"We can't put six people in that photo because it will get too crowded and not look professional. You can choose from these photos over here though."

"But I like that one, and what if we think it looks professional?"

"It doesn't matter what you think because what you think is wrong."

Okay, so we don't really say that to the guests but you get the idea.

I have a lot more to say but I'm bored of updating this now. So sorry for the abrupt stop. But hey, at least it's an update. :)