Crystal's comment from last time made me feel bad about not blogging in almost a week (thanks a lot for that! but I'm glad you like my blog!). So here we go. A Halloween post that has (almost) nothing to do with Halloween!
Things have been a whirlwind lately. First of all, everyone's been getting sick. And it's all been different sicknesses too. This guy I work with actually caught the chicken pox! I didn't even realize that was possible at our age! My roommate is sick with some nasty thing, and I've caught some sort of sore throat, goo-in-the-lungs kinda deal. Not fun. But the good news is I feel totally fine. It's just I can feel liquid in my lungs when I take deep breaths and I've been coughing and sneezing a TON!
Anyway, the animals are still as fun as ever. One of the baby elephants was chasing vultures the other day! Soooo adorable! She would find a bunch on the ground and charge at them until they flew up in the air. Then she'd stop, look around for mom, try to get mom's attention, and then try to do it again wherever the vultures had landed. Cutest thing EVER!
Today this little girl on my truck, maybe nine, got a little freaked out at the beginning when I mentioned it was a two week safari. She just had to ask me, "Is this really a two week safari?" When I told her that "Of course is was" she told me she couldn't leave for two weeks because Dad had to work and she had to go to school to be educated. I told her she'd be educated plenty on this. We had biology. Then she mentioned math. I told her we'd count the giraffes.
Finally at the end of the safari she got my attention one more time. "Um, excuse me, I have a question." "Yes?" "Umm... why...? um... why... never mind!" And she dug her face into her mom, embarrassed. Her mom urged her to ask the question, and finally she looked at me. "Why couldn't it be a two week safari?" she asked. Cutest thing ever. The story on the ride is that our safari gets cut short because we have to chase the poachers, and I make it clear that that's the reason we have to "come back early." She understood this, I think. But I also think she understood the poacher thing was a story, but the two week thing could have been real. I feel bad throwing people off sometimes, but other times it's just plain fun.
It's really sad when little kids leave my truck crying because they don't want to get off. They cling onto the truck or scream, "But I wanna go again!!" I feel bad for the parents, but I feel a slight sense of satisfaction as the slightly annoyed parent explains, "I know you enjoyed the ride, but it's time to get off. Maybe we can come back later!" Some parents enjoy it too, and I love it when I get requests for rerides! (no, it almost never ever happens, and only sometimes I can actually allow it!)
My favorite is when I get a little kid in the front seat with mom and halfway through the ride the kid makes a comment about how "This is my favorite ride!" and mom says, "I know, this is your 6th time!" Ours really is one of the best family rides I've ever been on in my life. Every single age absolutely loves it. Even people who don't speak a lick of English will ride it, because it doesn't really matter if you don't know what's going on. The animals are the show!
I had "Training" on my schedule the other day. I was totally confused, wondering what sort of "Training" I'd have since I've been here more than two months (it feels like it's been a lot longer than it sounds!). Anyway, the training ended up being a tour of the village of Harambe (the village within Disney that I work in). We learned the story behind our town and they pointed out a LOT of details throughout the town that I had never noticed before. Crazy! I'm thoroughly amazed at Disney and the detail and extent that they go to when they do things. Fantastic!
Next week I have more "training." This time, though, it's in preparation for the DAK PAK Olympics! Animal Kingdom is by far my favorite place I've worked so far because we have so many cast activities and things. A lot of them I haven't even written about on here, but trust me, it's been amazing!
The DAK PAK Olympics is basically what you'd think it is. We have six managers over our area, and each cast member is assigned a particular manager who is called their "DAK PAK Leader." DAK PAKs usually do fun things, for example ours toured the ride Dinosaur one morning. Another DAK PAK I know got to go do the backstage tour of Everest. Sometimes they'll take you backstage to the animal houses or do other fun things.
Well, apparently every few years they do the DAK PAK Olympics. The different DAK PAKs are competing against each other to "win." What do we win? I have no clue. But I don't really care, I'm just excited to play! The "awards ceremony" will be in December and they even passed out these official looking invitations for us to RSVP because we're allowed to bring one guest. The whole thing is super cheesy, but also super awesome. It just cracks me up!
So the different things we have to do for our "Olympics" are all basically things that we do for our jobs anyway, for the most part. One is parking ten feet away from a giant plastic zebra we have, because with animal stops, we're supposed to stop the truck ten feet away from animals. Whoever can get the bumper closest to ten feet away from the plastic zebra (without going too close) wins. Other events are timing things, like how long it takes us to switch out in the jog (switching trucks), or getting guests on and off the trucks in a timely fashion (it's all supposed to take about 30 seconds, but realistically... well, you can't really yell at guests to hurry it up).
I'm so excited for this! It's just such a good idea and so funny. Judging begins in another few weeks. I can't wait to start.
Anyway, tonight for Halloween, my roommate and I are making dinner. I know. Lame. Well, it's dinner in a pumpkin, so it's a little bit in theme! We also did Grocery Bingo: Halloween Edition the other night. I love playing Grocery Bingo, even though I haven't won yet. It's a free event housing puts on every once in a while for us poor cheap college students as a way to win free food! And sometimes Duffy Bears and Ipod Nanos. But I digress.
So my roommate and I are making dinner in a pumpkin. It's a recipe she found, and has apparently made before. She's not home yet, so I started making preparations. I cut up the peppers and the mushrooms... not sure how much I'm gonna like this meal, but hey. I'll try it! (I normally don't like peppers or mushrooms)
But yeah, I dressed up as a foreign tourist for Halloween. I went to a few parties, saw a haunted house, got scared, watched Halloween movies, and now am eating a Halloween dinner and carving pumpkins tonight.
Now I'm ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas!!! The most wonderful time of the year is right around the corner! And I can't even WAIT!
Monday, October 31, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
Halloween Party... Sort of
I can't tell you how much fear runs through my body when I get the hiccups between guests on my ride. Seriously. I think about how embarrassing it would be to have the hiccups on the ride and the sheer fear of that gets rid of my hiccups. Thank goodness!
This is me at my friend's Halloween Party Saturday night. The girls crammed on the couch for this. I wasn't planning on dressing up at all, but the day of my friend Kaunnalli (sitting next to me in this pic) texted me telling me that Austin reeeeeally wanted everyone to dress up. It was his party. She texted this to me the day of while I was at work. And I had nothing.
So I went as a Disney tourist. I had the big camera around my neck too, but said camera was used in taking this photo sooo... yeah. I planned on sunglasses but forgot them. Lamest costume ever, I know. But I bet you'll never guess who the girl on the right is. Some chick from X-Men? Something like that.
Anyway, Austin did a really good job and it was a fun party. It was extremely hard to get pictures because the lighting was so dark and there were black lights everywhere. The only way to get a decent picture was to use flash, but that lit up the whole room and was kind of annoying. So I refrained and most of my pictures ended up like this:
Good times!
This is me at my friend's Halloween Party Saturday night. The girls crammed on the couch for this. I wasn't planning on dressing up at all, but the day of my friend Kaunnalli (sitting next to me in this pic) texted me telling me that Austin reeeeeally wanted everyone to dress up. It was his party. She texted this to me the day of while I was at work. And I had nothing.
Anyway, Austin did a really good job and it was a fun party. It was extremely hard to get pictures because the lighting was so dark and there were black lights everywhere. The only way to get a decent picture was to use flash, but that lit up the whole room and was kind of annoying. So I refrained and most of my pictures ended up like this:
Sunday, October 23, 2011
DAK PAC
Yesterday I got to work PAC in Animal Kingdom for the first time ever! I was actually supposed to work on Thursday, but due to scheduling issues and extensions and such, they ended up taking me (and all other Safari Drivers) off of the PAC team. I was pretty bummed because I was so excited, but that just meant yesterday I was even more excited.
Working PAC in Animal Kingdom is just like I expected it from what people told me. Everyone I knew who worked both said that DAK is way more relaxed and chill about everything. It was true. It made me realize just how ridiculously uptight MK was. However I will say MK is more structured and better at PACtivities (entertaining guests before the parade begins). In DAK, the cast members are nicer, more laid back, and happier.
I liked how the people who work the parade daily were actually very patient and kind to us new people. Had we been in MK, they would have been talking down to us, gotten aggravated, and been overall just annoying to deal with.
At one point, a little girl stuck her head out from under the rope. Instead of running down there, screaming and calling to the girl to get back under there or else she'd die, the cast member quietly, calmly walked down to her and bent down to her level to explain that she needed to move back. Very nicely. Fortunately, the cast in DAK don't need to be such sticklers because the floats are much more manageable, less dangerous, and easier to drive. In MK, the float drivers have a much harder time seeing guests in front of them so it really is a bigger deal if people go out in the road.
Anyway, just my opinion on the differences. I can't wait to work PAC again. I did have to upset some people when I explained that they weren't allowed to get to the Safari during the parade (they could, they just had to go way down and around out of their way, or they could wait the 10 minutes for the parade to be over, which is a long time for excited vacationers to wait). However, I successfully kept my area clear and I basically completely owned that place. I think everyone eventually understood. I've learned to acknowledge the fact that people are upset about stuff. Instead of, "No, you can't go through here it's closed." it's better to say, "I'm sorry. I know it's inconvenient right now, but I can't let anyone through because the parade floats are moving and it's dangerous. The parade will be over soon, or if you'd like you can walk around." People are a little more likely to not yell.
Anyway. Good times. :)
Today I had more training. We got to walk through Africa and learn all kinds of things about our town and it's history that I didn't know before. Really, really cool stuff. I love how Disney constantly has training for it's employees. Absolutely love it.
Anyway, I'm hungry so I'm grabbing dinner. Meatloaf! Mmmm. :)
Working PAC in Animal Kingdom is just like I expected it from what people told me. Everyone I knew who worked both said that DAK is way more relaxed and chill about everything. It was true. It made me realize just how ridiculously uptight MK was. However I will say MK is more structured and better at PACtivities (entertaining guests before the parade begins). In DAK, the cast members are nicer, more laid back, and happier.
I liked how the people who work the parade daily were actually very patient and kind to us new people. Had we been in MK, they would have been talking down to us, gotten aggravated, and been overall just annoying to deal with.
At one point, a little girl stuck her head out from under the rope. Instead of running down there, screaming and calling to the girl to get back under there or else she'd die, the cast member quietly, calmly walked down to her and bent down to her level to explain that she needed to move back. Very nicely. Fortunately, the cast in DAK don't need to be such sticklers because the floats are much more manageable, less dangerous, and easier to drive. In MK, the float drivers have a much harder time seeing guests in front of them so it really is a bigger deal if people go out in the road.
Anyway, just my opinion on the differences. I can't wait to work PAC again. I did have to upset some people when I explained that they weren't allowed to get to the Safari during the parade (they could, they just had to go way down and around out of their way, or they could wait the 10 minutes for the parade to be over, which is a long time for excited vacationers to wait). However, I successfully kept my area clear and I basically completely owned that place. I think everyone eventually understood. I've learned to acknowledge the fact that people are upset about stuff. Instead of, "No, you can't go through here it's closed." it's better to say, "I'm sorry. I know it's inconvenient right now, but I can't let anyone through because the parade floats are moving and it's dangerous. The parade will be over soon, or if you'd like you can walk around." People are a little more likely to not yell.
Anyway. Good times. :)
Today I had more training. We got to walk through Africa and learn all kinds of things about our town and it's history that I didn't know before. Really, really cool stuff. I love how Disney constantly has training for it's employees. Absolutely love it.
Anyway, I'm hungry so I'm grabbing dinner. Meatloaf! Mmmm. :)
Friday, October 21, 2011
Twelve Hours
Today was pretty much the longest day ever. I woke up before the sun rose. I walked to the bus in the dark and made it to work around 6:30 so I could start at 7am. Park opened at 8am.
Basically my day was spent driving around in circles. For hours. And hours. During one of my breaks I interviewed one of my managers for my leadership class. And apart from that, I did one thousand safaris today. And that was my life.
Park closed at 6pm. I was extended until 7pm. My shift originally was going to be from 11:15a-6p. But no. I just had to choose to ask for extra hours today. I got on the bus and came home. The sun set while I was on the bus home. And I walked back to my apartment in the dark.
And they told me Animal Kingdom got normal hours... psh.
For the record, though, I'm not complaining. I wanted the extra hours, and the extra money. I'm just exhausted beyond reason and due to upcoming Halloween parties and other events, I'm not going to be sleeping for quite a while... it's okay though. Cuz I've been eating my vegetables. :)
Basically my day was spent driving around in circles. For hours. And hours. During one of my breaks I interviewed one of my managers for my leadership class. And apart from that, I did one thousand safaris today. And that was my life.
Park closed at 6pm. I was extended until 7pm. My shift originally was going to be from 11:15a-6p. But no. I just had to choose to ask for extra hours today. I got on the bus and came home. The sun set while I was on the bus home. And I walked back to my apartment in the dark.
And they told me Animal Kingdom got normal hours... psh.
For the record, though, I'm not complaining. I wanted the extra hours, and the extra money. I'm just exhausted beyond reason and due to upcoming Halloween parties and other events, I'm not going to be sleeping for quite a while... it's okay though. Cuz I've been eating my vegetables. :)
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
I Love My Job
I love it when:
people applause at the end of my ride!
little kids tell me my safari was "wonderful!"
little kids cry when they "have" to get off at the end of the ride. "But it was too much fun!"
the gorilla (who looks exactly like Kerchak from Tarzan) is out in the morning or evening and I can go over and watch him for a few seconds.
the animals walk in front of the road up ahead and my guests freak out. "Oh my gosh! Look! There's giraffe in the road! Oh my goodness, we have to take a picture of this! I'm sure it never happens." False.
a group of like thirty safari drivers start at the same time and together we take up about half of the bus going back to the Pride Rock
I come around the corner at the end of the ride to "Little Red" and everyone on the truck, in unison, goes "Awwwww!"
I hear the parents making sure their kids are learning from what I'm saying. "Did you hear that? Those Ankole cattle use their horns to cool off! Cool!"
I talk to guests on land and tell them that I drive the trucks too and they act all surprised like it's a really big deal!
children (and actually adults) ask the following questions about reality:
"Were there really poachers?"
"Is that a real tree?"
"Are those rhinos for real?"
"Is this ride on a track?"
"Are those ostrich eggs real?"
"What are the cattle guards for?"
"How do you get the birds to stay without flying away?" (they can indeed fly away... you would never guess how we do this actually!)
"How do the lions stay with the addax without eating them?" I once had a mom ask me this, wondering, "So do you just let nature take it's course out there?" I just love that it is so hard for guests to figure out just exactly how we do it. Usually it's a little girl around the age of ten asking this question. (it's okay, we don't let the lions kill the animals who are endangered... we have our ways) And yes, I went around today to see the cheetah eating a recent kill. Very nice...
And my personal favorite. "So do you chain the animals to the ground to keep them in the proper places?" How inhumane do you think we are!? What part of "free roaming" reserve do you not understand?
I love my job!
people applause at the end of my ride!
little kids tell me my safari was "wonderful!"
little kids cry when they "have" to get off at the end of the ride. "But it was too much fun!"
the gorilla (who looks exactly like Kerchak from Tarzan) is out in the morning or evening and I can go over and watch him for a few seconds.
the animals walk in front of the road up ahead and my guests freak out. "Oh my gosh! Look! There's giraffe in the road! Oh my goodness, we have to take a picture of this! I'm sure it never happens." False.
a group of like thirty safari drivers start at the same time and together we take up about half of the bus going back to the Pride Rock
I come around the corner at the end of the ride to "Little Red" and everyone on the truck, in unison, goes "Awwwww!"
I hear the parents making sure their kids are learning from what I'm saying. "Did you hear that? Those Ankole cattle use their horns to cool off! Cool!"
I talk to guests on land and tell them that I drive the trucks too and they act all surprised like it's a really big deal!
children (and actually adults) ask the following questions about reality:
"Were there really poachers?"
"Is that a real tree?"
"Are those rhinos for real?"
"Is this ride on a track?"
"Are those ostrich eggs real?"
"What are the cattle guards for?"
"How do you get the birds to stay without flying away?" (they can indeed fly away... you would never guess how we do this actually!)
"How do the lions stay with the addax without eating them?" I once had a mom ask me this, wondering, "So do you just let nature take it's course out there?" I just love that it is so hard for guests to figure out just exactly how we do it. Usually it's a little girl around the age of ten asking this question. (it's okay, we don't let the lions kill the animals who are endangered... we have our ways) And yes, I went around today to see the cheetah eating a recent kill. Very nice...
And my personal favorite. "So do you chain the animals to the ground to keep them in the proper places?" How inhumane do you think we are!? What part of "free roaming" reserve do you not understand?
I love my job!
Friday, October 14, 2011
Lily's Disneyland Surprise
If you love me, watch this video. If you've already seen it, watch again. It gets more hilarious each time.
That's my reaction every morning when I go to work. Well... not quite so dramatic. ;)
I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE my job!
"It's a monster... I mean Minnie Mouse!"
That's my reaction every morning when I go to work. Well... not quite so dramatic. ;)
I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE my job!
"It's a monster... I mean Minnie Mouse!"
Opening Trucks Is Just Not My Thing...
This morning I started work bright and early at 7:15am. Meaning I opened a truck. I made sure not to pick 24 this time, from past experiences. 32 seemed like a good number. I went with it.
I went through all the opening procedures (takes about 20 minutes) cleaning, sweeping, checking, double checking things, etc. etc. Filled out all my paperwork and finally went to drive the truck. As I put the truck into drive and pulled forward I heard a loud squeaking sound. It only lasted a second and I didn't think much of it. But as I went to drive around the VM lot, I realized it was happening each time I accelerated. I decided to tell the manager when I went to get my paperwork signed off. The last step of opening a truck is to get the leader to sign off the paperwork, then you drive on to the ride path.
I pulled up to the leaders and as I put my truck in park and explained what my truck was doing to the manager, a loud alarm went off. I looked around stupidly for a second thinking, "Is that my truck? Can't be... I checked the whole thing!" Turns out my aux brake light and alarm went off. Just like last time. Now the truth is (I swear it normally works like this... just not with me apparently) when that happens, most of the time a simple reset will fix it. So I turned to the manager since she was right there, asked if I could do a full reset, she said yes and I did.
And then I went to turn the truck back on. Nothing. Crank... Crank... Nothing. And that's when we decided this truck was no good because apparently the squeaking sound was from yesterday and it had a loose belt too. Lame.
So she had me pull around the lot, park the truck, shred the paperwork, and start from square one opening a different truck. And this time I didn't get to choose the truck.
Fortunately it wasn't 24 they gave me. That would have been hilarious though. But no, I was put on 12. I went through the paperwork to open 12, swept, did the evacuation ladder, everything. Then drove around the lot, yet again.
As I went to sign off the paperwork, I almost accidentally signed under the number 32 because that was the first truck I opened. I mentioned this near mistake to my leader as I signed under the number 12, and let her know we might want to double check the paperwork to make sure I filled it out for truck 12 and not 32. There are three different places on the paperwork where you verify what truck it is. I accidentally circled truck 32 in one of those places. So I had to pull back into the lot and refill out all of my paperwork from the beginning (fortunately I didn't have to actually do everything again, just the check sheet). But still. Super annoying. Finally, third time around, I was able to check out. Oi!
I'm thinking I'm just bad luck when it comes to opening trucks.
I went through all the opening procedures (takes about 20 minutes) cleaning, sweeping, checking, double checking things, etc. etc. Filled out all my paperwork and finally went to drive the truck. As I put the truck into drive and pulled forward I heard a loud squeaking sound. It only lasted a second and I didn't think much of it. But as I went to drive around the VM lot, I realized it was happening each time I accelerated. I decided to tell the manager when I went to get my paperwork signed off. The last step of opening a truck is to get the leader to sign off the paperwork, then you drive on to the ride path.
I pulled up to the leaders and as I put my truck in park and explained what my truck was doing to the manager, a loud alarm went off. I looked around stupidly for a second thinking, "Is that my truck? Can't be... I checked the whole thing!" Turns out my aux brake light and alarm went off. Just like last time. Now the truth is (I swear it normally works like this... just not with me apparently) when that happens, most of the time a simple reset will fix it. So I turned to the manager since she was right there, asked if I could do a full reset, she said yes and I did.
And then I went to turn the truck back on. Nothing. Crank... Crank... Nothing. And that's when we decided this truck was no good because apparently the squeaking sound was from yesterday and it had a loose belt too. Lame.
So she had me pull around the lot, park the truck, shred the paperwork, and start from square one opening a different truck. And this time I didn't get to choose the truck.
Fortunately it wasn't 24 they gave me. That would have been hilarious though. But no, I was put on 12. I went through the paperwork to open 12, swept, did the evacuation ladder, everything. Then drove around the lot, yet again.
As I went to sign off the paperwork, I almost accidentally signed under the number 32 because that was the first truck I opened. I mentioned this near mistake to my leader as I signed under the number 12, and let her know we might want to double check the paperwork to make sure I filled it out for truck 12 and not 32. There are three different places on the paperwork where you verify what truck it is. I accidentally circled truck 32 in one of those places. So I had to pull back into the lot and refill out all of my paperwork from the beginning (fortunately I didn't have to actually do everything again, just the check sheet). But still. Super annoying. Finally, third time around, I was able to check out. Oi!
I'm thinking I'm just bad luck when it comes to opening trucks.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Class Day
Wednesday. My class day. I actually got a phone call last night asking if I could come in to work today for a six hour shift because they needed people. I wanted to, but of course I couldn't because one class is from 8:30 to 12:30 and the other is 4-6.
In my morning class it was a girl's birthday. So the teacher had us sing Happy Birthday to her in each language that was spoken in our classroom. Because we have a lot of foreign people in my class. We ended up having Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin (the Chinese people I know actually call their own language Chinese, not Mandarin I've noticed), Korean and kind of Japanese. I say kind of Japanese because we have a group of Japanese kids, but they said that in Japan they sing the Happy Birthday song in English. I'm not sure if they were just getting out of having to sing it or if that's true. :) It was awesome, though.
The Asian group in the corner always completely blows away the rest of the class with assignments. I can now personally attest to the fact that Asian kids are crazy smart. With each of our class/group assignments they just go so far above and beyond on things I wouldn't have ever imagined doing. For example we had an activity where we needed to produce as many paper snowflakes as we could in a given amount of time with a set amount of paper and scissors. Our group figured out our design, and made an assembly line to keep things going and did, what I thought, was pretty well. We did in fact do a good job. The Asian group however, used internet research in less than five minutes figuring out designs online that were very efficient and then retrieved extra sets of scissors and came out with this elaborate design practically with glitter. Unbelievable. I conceded defeat from that point on with any and all competition from that group. And that's just one example. With another assignment the average score of the class was 200-300 points (you wanted as few as possible). Our group did second best on that one actually getting a score of 133. The Asians? 96.
How do they do it!?
So far this semester, ever since our first class only three of the five members of my group have been in class each day. One dropped today. We should be fine though. Our first real assignment is due in two weeks.
Then I had a break and I went to my 4pm class. Disney Heritage. Definitely one of the best classes ever. Our teacher is awesome, too. He basically spent almost the first hour of class just talking about his life. Which would normally be kind of weird, except that we all clung on to each word he said because he's had such an awesome life. His experience with Disney is so cool. Plus he showed us about his trip to Marceline, Missouri. Which I've decided I am definitely going to have to visit someday. Just sayin'.
Anyway, in other news our washing machines have been updated. We used to have washers where you got a card and put money on the special laundry card and then used that laundry card in the machines. Now they've gotten newer, nicer machines. These machines are credit card operated. You put your laundry in and then there's a credit card machine on the wall and you put your card in and it automatically charges you. If the machine breaks, malfunctions, or doesn't turn on, or if you choose not to use it, it will (supposedly) automatically refund you the dollar. Pretty awesome. Plus they're the high efficiency machines and they do the thing where is magically weighs how much laundry you have and determines just how dirty it is and uses just the right amount of time and washing. But then that means the time on the machines changes. So you can actually set up the machines so it text messages you when it's done, and you can look online to see what machines are available. Super, super cool. Kinda scary for me to be depending so much on technology, but still. Very cool.
In my morning class it was a girl's birthday. So the teacher had us sing Happy Birthday to her in each language that was spoken in our classroom. Because we have a lot of foreign people in my class. We ended up having Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin (the Chinese people I know actually call their own language Chinese, not Mandarin I've noticed), Korean and kind of Japanese. I say kind of Japanese because we have a group of Japanese kids, but they said that in Japan they sing the Happy Birthday song in English. I'm not sure if they were just getting out of having to sing it or if that's true. :) It was awesome, though.
The Asian group in the corner always completely blows away the rest of the class with assignments. I can now personally attest to the fact that Asian kids are crazy smart. With each of our class/group assignments they just go so far above and beyond on things I wouldn't have ever imagined doing. For example we had an activity where we needed to produce as many paper snowflakes as we could in a given amount of time with a set amount of paper and scissors. Our group figured out our design, and made an assembly line to keep things going and did, what I thought, was pretty well. We did in fact do a good job. The Asian group however, used internet research in less than five minutes figuring out designs online that were very efficient and then retrieved extra sets of scissors and came out with this elaborate design practically with glitter. Unbelievable. I conceded defeat from that point on with any and all competition from that group. And that's just one example. With another assignment the average score of the class was 200-300 points (you wanted as few as possible). Our group did second best on that one actually getting a score of 133. The Asians? 96.
How do they do it!?
So far this semester, ever since our first class only three of the five members of my group have been in class each day. One dropped today. We should be fine though. Our first real assignment is due in two weeks.
Then I had a break and I went to my 4pm class. Disney Heritage. Definitely one of the best classes ever. Our teacher is awesome, too. He basically spent almost the first hour of class just talking about his life. Which would normally be kind of weird, except that we all clung on to each word he said because he's had such an awesome life. His experience with Disney is so cool. Plus he showed us about his trip to Marceline, Missouri. Which I've decided I am definitely going to have to visit someday. Just sayin'.
Anyway, in other news our washing machines have been updated. We used to have washers where you got a card and put money on the special laundry card and then used that laundry card in the machines. Now they've gotten newer, nicer machines. These machines are credit card operated. You put your laundry in and then there's a credit card machine on the wall and you put your card in and it automatically charges you. If the machine breaks, malfunctions, or doesn't turn on, or if you choose not to use it, it will (supposedly) automatically refund you the dollar. Pretty awesome. Plus they're the high efficiency machines and they do the thing where is magically weighs how much laundry you have and determines just how dirty it is and uses just the right amount of time and washing. But then that means the time on the machines changes. So you can actually set up the machines so it text messages you when it's done, and you can look online to see what machines are available. Super, super cool. Kinda scary for me to be depending so much on technology, but still. Very cool.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Stupid Things From the Mouth of Dianna
I shouldn't do the safari when I'm tired. That last sentence was my original title of this post actually. But it's true. I need to get more sleep. Here is a list of the stupid things I said on the safari today... during my 8 hour shift of driving in circles talking about animals who randomly jump into the road in front of me.
"Flamingos are the lightest pink of all flamingos." ....no. That's not right.
"Ostriches can run up to 70 miles an hour!" ....nope. Not right either.
"The Ankole Cattle's long horns can grow up to 6 feet in length and 20 feet around at the base!" I actually said this one a few days ago... the guy behind me repeated, "Feet?" and then I realized what I said. Fail.
"Watering holes like this one up here on the right are great places for black rhinos to hang out!" Guest response, "Umm... that's the left." Me: "I always fail at directions."
"And up here on the left you'll see some giraffes out there in the distance." This would have been normal to say. Except there were no giraffes within sight. In fact there were only elephants.
"These crocs can snap their jaws shut with over 12,000 pounds per square inch of force!" Yep... that would be a gross exaggeration.
Fortunately I caught every one of these and was able to correct it. I just wish the guests would have laughed at me. I think it would have made me feel better. Usually I would just pause after saying it and then say, "Nope, that's not right..." And then I'd correct myself. I've certainly learned my lesson about turning my brain on autopilot.
One time I came around to see the ostrich and accidentally called it a giraffe. I corrected myself in a way like this, "And up here to the left you can see a giraffe.... wait... noooo, that's an ostrich. Just kidding! Whoever caught that gets two points!"
Anyway, final point: Dianna needs more than 6 hours of sleep. Or else.
Also. I'm tired.
"Flamingos are the lightest pink of all flamingos." ....no. That's not right.
"Ostriches can run up to 70 miles an hour!" ....nope. Not right either.
"The Ankole Cattle's long horns can grow up to 6 feet in length and 20 feet around at the base!" I actually said this one a few days ago... the guy behind me repeated, "Feet?" and then I realized what I said. Fail.
"Watering holes like this one up here on the right are great places for black rhinos to hang out!" Guest response, "Umm... that's the left." Me: "I always fail at directions."
"And up here on the left you'll see some giraffes out there in the distance." This would have been normal to say. Except there were no giraffes within sight. In fact there were only elephants.
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| We sell this shirt and it just seemed to fit this post like a glove. |
Fortunately I caught every one of these and was able to correct it. I just wish the guests would have laughed at me. I think it would have made me feel better. Usually I would just pause after saying it and then say, "Nope, that's not right..." And then I'd correct myself. I've certainly learned my lesson about turning my brain on autopilot.
One time I came around to see the ostrich and accidentally called it a giraffe. I corrected myself in a way like this, "And up here to the left you can see a giraffe.... wait... noooo, that's an ostrich. Just kidding! Whoever caught that gets two points!"
Anyway, final point: Dianna needs more than 6 hours of sleep. Or else.
Also. I'm tired.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Rainy Day
It's been raining all day long. All. Day. Long! Rainy days in FL are great, as long as you get to stay home curled up in a nice warm blanket with a good book and some hot chocolate.
Unfortunately, I didn't get that luxury and instead made my way to the bus stop bright and early (actually it wasn't bright... I woke up before the sun did) at 7am in the drizzling rain which was there to ensure that everything near Orlando maintained sogginess all day long. All. Day. Long!
It was also cold today. Freezing, actually. So cold that we had to turn on the heaters on the trucks. And after several months of no use... well let's just say they were smart to announce in the morning that there would be burning smells coming from the trucks and that that would be normal because we would have had lots of worried call ins from people thinking their trucks were on fire.
But it was still a fun day. The animals were really active this morning. I actually heard a giraffe today! I heard it make noise! And after coming home and trying to look up the noise again online, I'm finding that actually, it's super duper insanely rare to ever hear one. But I did! I was driving around and I heard this kind of quiet moaning noise that sounds closest to something a sheep would say (which makes perfect sense because in The Lion King show they tell you that they sound just like sheep... it didn't sound exactly like a sheep, but that is the closest animal noise I'd relate it to). So cool! I heard it and did a double take, wondering where that noise came from. I was on an empty round and I turned my head and looked at the giraffe to my left and there she was and she even made the noise again. I have no idea why, I'm sure she wasn't upset and she wasn't really even close to my truck. Absolutely the coolest thing ever!
I also heard the hippos today. They're much, much louder. I actually had guests too, and I'm always a little sad at the lack of excitement I get from people when rare things like that happen. We even saw a hippo out on land today since it was raining all day. I told them it's very rare to see them out on land during the day, but I think I was more excited than they were!
No sign of the cheetahs all day. Kind of a bummer. Although usually they're pretty far away anyway, and they're kind of hard to spot. The lions were mostly hiding most of the day as well, however there was a short time this morning when they were both out and licking each other.
The elephants were playing with each other. They kids kept pushing each other around with their trunks. So cute!
I never saw the addax and only saw the oryx once. Mandrills, though, were out and visible all day long which is really rare, actually! Crazy!
Anyway, I won't go through all the animals out there, but it was an interesting day. Just when I think I'm getting to know the animals, or decide they're predictable, they change things on me!
Unfortunately, I didn't get that luxury and instead made my way to the bus stop bright and early (actually it wasn't bright... I woke up before the sun did) at 7am in the drizzling rain which was there to ensure that everything near Orlando maintained sogginess all day long. All. Day. Long!It was also cold today. Freezing, actually. So cold that we had to turn on the heaters on the trucks. And after several months of no use... well let's just say they were smart to announce in the morning that there would be burning smells coming from the trucks and that that would be normal because we would have had lots of worried call ins from people thinking their trucks were on fire.
But it was still a fun day. The animals were really active this morning. I actually heard a giraffe today! I heard it make noise! And after coming home and trying to look up the noise again online, I'm finding that actually, it's super duper insanely rare to ever hear one. But I did! I was driving around and I heard this kind of quiet moaning noise that sounds closest to something a sheep would say (which makes perfect sense because in The Lion King show they tell you that they sound just like sheep... it didn't sound exactly like a sheep, but that is the closest animal noise I'd relate it to). So cool! I heard it and did a double take, wondering where that noise came from. I was on an empty round and I turned my head and looked at the giraffe to my left and there she was and she even made the noise again. I have no idea why, I'm sure she wasn't upset and she wasn't really even close to my truck. Absolutely the coolest thing ever!
I also heard the hippos today. They're much, much louder. I actually had guests too, and I'm always a little sad at the lack of excitement I get from people when rare things like that happen. We even saw a hippo out on land today since it was raining all day. I told them it's very rare to see them out on land during the day, but I think I was more excited than they were!
No sign of the cheetahs all day. Kind of a bummer. Although usually they're pretty far away anyway, and they're kind of hard to spot. The lions were mostly hiding most of the day as well, however there was a short time this morning when they were both out and licking each other.
The elephants were playing with each other. They kids kept pushing each other around with their trunks. So cute!
I never saw the addax and only saw the oryx once. Mandrills, though, were out and visible all day long which is really rare, actually! Crazy!
Anyway, I won't go through all the animals out there, but it was an interesting day. Just when I think I'm getting to know the animals, or decide they're predictable, they change things on me!
Friday, October 7, 2011
On The Truck... Day 43-ish
I often look in the mirror at my guests as I drive my truck. Obviously, that's a good thing to do, I make sure the guests are staying seated and sometimes when I tell them there's an animal in a certain direction I like to see how many are listening (or how many actually understand English). It's also nice to watch in my rearview mirror for the direction people are watching in case they spot an animal I don't. When I see several of them looking and pointing in one direction I try to look too to see what they see. It's very rare that they actually see something I don't, and sometimes it's an animal that's so ridiculously difficult to see I don't even bother mentioning it. I refuse to mention some animals that are near impossible to see because when the majority of my truck can't see it, it's just a let down for everyone. But I digress...
So my story for today. I was showing everyone the Thompson's Gazelle's to the right. And the Patterson's Eland, also to the right. As I talked about them I glanced up in my mirror to notice a woman on the front row. She had a really nice, big camera, and while everyone was looking to the right at the animals, she was quite obviously taking pictures left. I looked left again, to make sure I hadn't missed an animal. I had already scanned that area, but hadn't noticed anything.
Finally, just as I noticed a single animal over there, I heard the woman's voice confirm the animal she saw. "Brandon, look over here! A squirrel!"
She was taking pictures of a lonely squirrel hanging out on the grass as I pointed out the very obvious (and numerous) animals to the right. I had to turn off my mic from fear of them hearing me laugh. Totally awesome.
A random manager got on my truck halfway through the day. I literally had no idea who this woman was. I had never seen her before, she didn't say a word to me, and she left before I could talk to her. I'm hoping it was a good thing she did my safari. Unfortunately, while she was on my truck, we had an animal stop. Just as I approached lions an ostrich walked right in front of my truck. I stopped my 10 feet away, but then it walked right up to the truck so it was literally inches from the front of my truck. And then it just stood there. Staring at me.
Fortunately, with every animal stop I've ever had, my guests have been great sports. Everyone was laughing and making jokes. We were stopped long enough to make the ride go down. Animal programs actually had to come out an move the ostrich. I was totally honest with the guests as the truck pulled up, "So, I have no idea what's going to happen here, but I can tell you we should be on the move shortly." I told them all the information I knew about ostriches and all I knew about lions, since both lions were up there. It was one of the most fun animal stops, but I was really nervous with the manager person on board. (I don't really know that she was a manager, she was just dressed like that... she could have been way more important, or not very important... I really have no clue)
Anyway, today's been a fun day. I ended up going to work an hour early because they called me this morning asking if I could and I would never turn down extra hours. Then I realized that despite the fact that I came in an hour early, I only got paid for fifteen extra minutes of work because the hour early turned my 6 hour shift into a 7 hour shift meaning I needed to have an unpaid 45 minute break in there. Also, because I had to hurry in to start my shift early, I drove the car. So basically, I made 2 extra dollars but spent 3 for driving. Fail.
Other than that it was fun, though! I love my job! And the people I work with!
So my story for today. I was showing everyone the Thompson's Gazelle's to the right. And the Patterson's Eland, also to the right. As I talked about them I glanced up in my mirror to notice a woman on the front row. She had a really nice, big camera, and while everyone was looking to the right at the animals, she was quite obviously taking pictures left. I looked left again, to make sure I hadn't missed an animal. I had already scanned that area, but hadn't noticed anything.
Finally, just as I noticed a single animal over there, I heard the woman's voice confirm the animal she saw. "Brandon, look over here! A squirrel!"
She was taking pictures of a lonely squirrel hanging out on the grass as I pointed out the very obvious (and numerous) animals to the right. I had to turn off my mic from fear of them hearing me laugh. Totally awesome.
A random manager got on my truck halfway through the day. I literally had no idea who this woman was. I had never seen her before, she didn't say a word to me, and she left before I could talk to her. I'm hoping it was a good thing she did my safari. Unfortunately, while she was on my truck, we had an animal stop. Just as I approached lions an ostrich walked right in front of my truck. I stopped my 10 feet away, but then it walked right up to the truck so it was literally inches from the front of my truck. And then it just stood there. Staring at me.
Fortunately, with every animal stop I've ever had, my guests have been great sports. Everyone was laughing and making jokes. We were stopped long enough to make the ride go down. Animal programs actually had to come out an move the ostrich. I was totally honest with the guests as the truck pulled up, "So, I have no idea what's going to happen here, but I can tell you we should be on the move shortly." I told them all the information I knew about ostriches and all I knew about lions, since both lions were up there. It was one of the most fun animal stops, but I was really nervous with the manager person on board. (I don't really know that she was a manager, she was just dressed like that... she could have been way more important, or not very important... I really have no clue)
Anyway, today's been a fun day. I ended up going to work an hour early because they called me this morning asking if I could and I would never turn down extra hours. Then I realized that despite the fact that I came in an hour early, I only got paid for fifteen extra minutes of work because the hour early turned my 6 hour shift into a 7 hour shift meaning I needed to have an unpaid 45 minute break in there. Also, because I had to hurry in to start my shift early, I drove the car. So basically, I made 2 extra dollars but spent 3 for driving. Fail.
Other than that it was fun, though! I love my job! And the people I work with!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Picking Up Shifts
I picked up a PAC shift today! It was awesome! I was a little nervous this morning when I first picked it up. I've been checking the Extra Hours line every day, numerous times a day because I've only been getting 30-32 hours each week. And there haven't been any shifts I could pick up. The very, very few there have been have been during the time I'm already working. And no restaurants in the area want to hire me because they need more availability than I can offer.
But today was the day! I was not only able to pick up six hours tonight, but I picked up eight extra hours for next week so I'll have almost 40 hours both weeks. Ugh. Pathetic. Hopefully things will pick up for the Holidays.
But anyway, I worked the Halloween party tonight so I wore the old purple bat hat costume. I saw a lot of friends from last year, which was great too. Plus, it was an awesome night. However, I have learned that there is an attitude among MK workers that is not present in any other location I've ever worked. They really are more arrogant about themselves and their jobs. I wish they'd be more helpful to "new" people than the way they are just judgmental and not helpful. For me, I already knew exactly what I was doing and actually remembered well enough to the point that I was able to help a lot of the new people. Some of the EHH-ers didn't even know I wasn't statused in that location.
Some of the cast members just knew I was "new" though and talked down to me a lot and it was really annoying. However, overall it was a really fun night. My only problem was that I kept wanting to greet everyone with the word "Jambo!" which is an African Safari word. Not really useful in the Magic Kingdom...
I spent the day in Magic Kingdom and even got my hair cut under the castle! I've been wanting to get my hair cut for ages, but it hasn't really been a high priority. Finally today I had time and a ten dollar bill. I was in and out of Kingdom Kutters in less than ten minutes and she had cut my hair exactly like I wanted it with layers and bangs and everything! I was very impressed (and when I told her, her response was, "I should hope so, I've been doing this for thirty years!")
Great day overall! We also got free rice krispies because apparently tonight we did a phenomenal job at everything! A few days ago at work we got a free pancake breakfast too and calendars! They were pushing some sort of donation thing. Yes, I donated. Fifty cents. Of my paycheck. Each week. For however long I choose to continue. They try to get all cast members to participate and they have a looooong list of organizations you can choose to donate to. And you can even choose the percent of what you donate, but they encourage all Disney employees to donate to charity organizations.
I was skeptical this morning but I'm definitely glad I picked up this shift. I could have had today off, but I had a lot more fun at the parks than I would have sitting on my butt watching TV and messing around on the computer all day. Plus, my teacher said to do one thing that scares you each day, and picking up that shift honestly did scare me a bit...
But today was the day! I was not only able to pick up six hours tonight, but I picked up eight extra hours for next week so I'll have almost 40 hours both weeks. Ugh. Pathetic. Hopefully things will pick up for the Holidays.
But anyway, I worked the Halloween party tonight so I wore the old purple bat hat costume. I saw a lot of friends from last year, which was great too. Plus, it was an awesome night. However, I have learned that there is an attitude among MK workers that is not present in any other location I've ever worked. They really are more arrogant about themselves and their jobs. I wish they'd be more helpful to "new" people than the way they are just judgmental and not helpful. For me, I already knew exactly what I was doing and actually remembered well enough to the point that I was able to help a lot of the new people. Some of the EHH-ers didn't even know I wasn't statused in that location.
Some of the cast members just knew I was "new" though and talked down to me a lot and it was really annoying. However, overall it was a really fun night. My only problem was that I kept wanting to greet everyone with the word "Jambo!" which is an African Safari word. Not really useful in the Magic Kingdom...
I spent the day in Magic Kingdom and even got my hair cut under the castle! I've been wanting to get my hair cut for ages, but it hasn't really been a high priority. Finally today I had time and a ten dollar bill. I was in and out of Kingdom Kutters in less than ten minutes and she had cut my hair exactly like I wanted it with layers and bangs and everything! I was very impressed (and when I told her, her response was, "I should hope so, I've been doing this for thirty years!")
Great day overall! We also got free rice krispies because apparently tonight we did a phenomenal job at everything! A few days ago at work we got a free pancake breakfast too and calendars! They were pushing some sort of donation thing. Yes, I donated. Fifty cents. Of my paycheck. Each week. For however long I choose to continue. They try to get all cast members to participate and they have a looooong list of organizations you can choose to donate to. And you can even choose the percent of what you donate, but they encourage all Disney employees to donate to charity organizations.
I was skeptical this morning but I'm definitely glad I picked up this shift. I could have had today off, but I had a lot more fun at the parks than I would have sitting on my butt watching TV and messing around on the computer all day. Plus, my teacher said to do one thing that scares you each day, and picking up that shift honestly did scare me a bit...
Monday, October 3, 2011
Oh Jabali
Jabali is the baby elephant. And he acts exactly like a little kid. He can't just walk anywhere, he just has to run. And he's always looking for attention from the adults. The older elephants just laze around, slowly walking or drinking or whatever. And then Jabali comes in and runs underneath them or rubs up against their sides or something.
Well, the awesome thing about today is that I got to hold right by Jabali and the other elephants. Not only that, but I was running an empty round. So there were no guests on my truck, I didn't have to spiel or entertain anybody, and there were no other trucks within sight of me where I stopped. I just got to sit there, listening to the ducks and watching the elephants play. Or mainly, Jabali annoy the adults. He's also a climber, just like a little kid, seriously. There's the watering hole, and there's a way for the elephants to just walk down to the water's edge to get a drink.
Jabali walked around and tried to get attention from the elephant that was doing that, and when he failed he left her and walked over to the only part of the bank where there's a kind of cliff that goes into the water. And then he kind of slid down backwards on his stomach. So. Stinking. Adorable.
And the whole time I was just thinking how much I love my job! I got to sit there for several minutes before we were back on the move. Even then I pushed it a little bit longer and stayed all the way until I saw the next truck. So great!
On another note, I signed up for Rosetta Stone today. Apparently I have free access to Rosetta Stone. But you have to be put on a 3-4 month waiting list and I've never worked here for long enough before to join the list. But, since now I'm planning on staying through next year, I went ahead and signed up today! I can't wait! Hopefully I'll get to start sometime in January. They also told me that when I do get access, I'll have full access to every single language Rosetta Stone puts out. I seriously can't even WAIT!
And my final awesome story of the day... After my last safari, a 12 year old boy came to the front of the truck to talk to me. I often get guests, typically adults that come to the front asking me extra questions (was that rhino really real?) or wanting to take my picture. Sometimes a concerned little girl will come up who's worried about the lions eating the addax. But today, it was this boy who excitedly told me, "That was the best safari ever! And I would know! I've been on three today!"
He has no idea how good that made me feel. I mean, really. It's hard to impress a 12 year old boy. That comment alone totally made my day! I seriously do appreciate compliments from guests.
Especially since just yesterday I had a kid the same age who spent the whole safari behind me saying things like, "It's not really a two week safari... it's way shorter!" and "I don't think that lion's real! If he's really real, make him move!" or "That wasn't really scary! I knew that was going to happen!"
But really, I always appreciate compliments. And I'm sure my other drivers would agree with me as well. They never get old! And just to clarify, I like my safari, but it is in no way the best.
What a great day!
Well, the awesome thing about today is that I got to hold right by Jabali and the other elephants. Not only that, but I was running an empty round. So there were no guests on my truck, I didn't have to spiel or entertain anybody, and there were no other trucks within sight of me where I stopped. I just got to sit there, listening to the ducks and watching the elephants play. Or mainly, Jabali annoy the adults. He's also a climber, just like a little kid, seriously. There's the watering hole, and there's a way for the elephants to just walk down to the water's edge to get a drink.
Jabali walked around and tried to get attention from the elephant that was doing that, and when he failed he left her and walked over to the only part of the bank where there's a kind of cliff that goes into the water. And then he kind of slid down backwards on his stomach. So. Stinking. Adorable.
And the whole time I was just thinking how much I love my job! I got to sit there for several minutes before we were back on the move. Even then I pushed it a little bit longer and stayed all the way until I saw the next truck. So great!
On another note, I signed up for Rosetta Stone today. Apparently I have free access to Rosetta Stone. But you have to be put on a 3-4 month waiting list and I've never worked here for long enough before to join the list. But, since now I'm planning on staying through next year, I went ahead and signed up today! I can't wait! Hopefully I'll get to start sometime in January. They also told me that when I do get access, I'll have full access to every single language Rosetta Stone puts out. I seriously can't even WAIT!
And my final awesome story of the day... After my last safari, a 12 year old boy came to the front of the truck to talk to me. I often get guests, typically adults that come to the front asking me extra questions (was that rhino really real?) or wanting to take my picture. Sometimes a concerned little girl will come up who's worried about the lions eating the addax. But today, it was this boy who excitedly told me, "That was the best safari ever! And I would know! I've been on three today!"
He has no idea how good that made me feel. I mean, really. It's hard to impress a 12 year old boy. That comment alone totally made my day! I seriously do appreciate compliments from guests.
Especially since just yesterday I had a kid the same age who spent the whole safari behind me saying things like, "It's not really a two week safari... it's way shorter!" and "I don't think that lion's real! If he's really real, make him move!" or "That wasn't really scary! I knew that was going to happen!"
But really, I always appreciate compliments. And I'm sure my other drivers would agree with me as well. They never get old! And just to clarify, I like my safari, but it is in no way the best.
What a great day!
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Lions and Elephants and Band-aids... Oh my!
I cut my thumb on an ECV yesterday. It wouldn't have mattered at all except I was bleeding everywhere and needed something so the guests didn't see me with a bloody thumb handled all of their wheelchairs. So I called someone and seconds later someone came with a band aid. He actually brought three band aids. And two alcohol wipes. And some neosporin. And then asked if I needed to be bumped from my position. It's a finger cut! So funny.
Yesterday was a good day. The elephants were even playing. The other day the baby, Jabali, and the other little one, Luna, were playing together by the water. Jabali literally reminds me of a little kid. He was running around, tripping, trying to climb up the water bank and falling or slipping in the mud. So stinking adorable!
The lion was scratching his claws up against a tree the other day as we went by, too. So cool, I've never seen a lion do that before! Just like a cat. Then, yesterday, I was listening on the radio and a conversation went something like this, "Reserve warden, this is safari 8, I think there's something wrong with the lion... it looks like he's choking on something." "How long has it lasted? Do you want us to call animal programs?" "Umm.. it's looking like he stopped... oh no... now he's doing it again. I really think he's choking or something..." "Reserve warden, this is safari 12, the lion is fine. Hairball."
I was in the middle of my safari as I heard this exchange take place and almost died holding in my laughter. Who knew lions get hairballs too? Makes sense, I guess. :)
Yesterday was the 40th anniversary of the MK opening, so they had special fireworks so my roommate and I went to watch them from the Contemporary. For the record, the contemporary really is a great place to view the fireworks. It's far away, but you can see and hear them, plus they play the music! It's great! My roommate and I saw a random shot of water in the middle of the parking lot that nervoused both of us, but when we reported it, they told us it was a fountain and it was supposed to be there. I still don't think I believe it. Random fountain in the middle of a parking lot? Psh.
Well anyway, I have to get to work. Bus leaves soon!
Yesterday was a good day. The elephants were even playing. The other day the baby, Jabali, and the other little one, Luna, were playing together by the water. Jabali literally reminds me of a little kid. He was running around, tripping, trying to climb up the water bank and falling or slipping in the mud. So stinking adorable!
The lion was scratching his claws up against a tree the other day as we went by, too. So cool, I've never seen a lion do that before! Just like a cat. Then, yesterday, I was listening on the radio and a conversation went something like this, "Reserve warden, this is safari 8, I think there's something wrong with the lion... it looks like he's choking on something." "How long has it lasted? Do you want us to call animal programs?" "Umm.. it's looking like he stopped... oh no... now he's doing it again. I really think he's choking or something..." "Reserve warden, this is safari 12, the lion is fine. Hairball."
I was in the middle of my safari as I heard this exchange take place and almost died holding in my laughter. Who knew lions get hairballs too? Makes sense, I guess. :)
Yesterday was the 40th anniversary of the MK opening, so they had special fireworks so my roommate and I went to watch them from the Contemporary. For the record, the contemporary really is a great place to view the fireworks. It's far away, but you can see and hear them, plus they play the music! It's great! My roommate and I saw a random shot of water in the middle of the parking lot that nervoused both of us, but when we reported it, they told us it was a fountain and it was supposed to be there. I still don't think I believe it. Random fountain in the middle of a parking lot? Psh.
Well anyway, I have to get to work. Bus leaves soon!
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Food vs. Candy
I had a big group of foreigners on my truck the other day. In the middle of the savannah, I looked in my rearview mirror to find one of them passing candies out to the others, over three rows of them. They were all passing the sweets around taking bits here and there. They were all in the front three rows so I stopped the truck and asked if they could please put the food away.
Their response?
"Noo, no, eet's okay. Ees not candy."
"Yes, I need you to please put that away. It's bad for the animals if it accidentally falls out of the truck."
"But, no. Ees not food. Ees candy."
Food vs. Candy? For the record, candy is food.
As a side note, all went well. They did kindly put it away very shortly after when I explained that candy, too, was not good for the animals and needed to be put away because of the smells. They even applauded for me at the end of that safari. I was very surprised at that since I figured they'd be mad at me for making them put away theirfood candy.
Every day brings a new surprise, a new challenge... a new story! I love my life!
Their response?
"Noo, no, eet's okay. Ees not candy."
"Yes, I need you to please put that away. It's bad for the animals if it accidentally falls out of the truck."
"But, no. Ees not food. Ees candy."
Food vs. Candy? For the record, candy is food.
As a side note, all went well. They did kindly put it away very shortly after when I explained that candy, too, was not good for the animals and needed to be put away because of the smells. They even applauded for me at the end of that safari. I was very surprised at that since I figured they'd be mad at me for making them put away their
Every day brings a new surprise, a new challenge... a new story! I love my life!
Monday, September 26, 2011
Pictures of the Safari!
I got to see a baby pelican yesterday! I knew the birds were nesting, but I had no idea there were babies so as I pointed out the hippos and noticed a tiny little head peeking out of the nest to ask mommy for food, I kind of got really excited. "And over there you can see a baby pelican sticking it's head out from the nest! That is so cool! I've never seen that before in my life!" I don't think the guests believed me... you know, since I also told them we were in Africa and we were planning on a full two week safari.
For the record, that's a pink backed adult pelican in the photo above. The babies are, obviously, much smaller and their beaks are tiny. So stinking adorable. I wonder it the one I saw hatched that day...
Oh yeah, and we have hippos. :) It's pretty cool when they open their mouths really really wide for a breath or yawn or something. I feel bad when I'm coming around the corner and I can see one doing that, but the guests don't get to see it because as we come closer, they close their mouths and submerge. Ah well.
Below is a sight that nervouses us safari drivers, but in the end is actually very, very good. White rhino crossing. This one is in the process of walking, so all is well with the world. This just happens to be the exact same spot I was in just a few days ago where the rhino actually decided to stop, right there where this one is. And he just stood there, looking around. I seriously could just see my brother's attitude in him. "Oh, am I blocking your truck? Oh... goodness... I just don't know what I could do about it. Maybe I'll just stand here acting totally innocent like I have no clue that I'm making the ride go 101.
This is where I drove around once and found mom elephant with baby, sitting under the water right here with nothing but the tops of the backs and their two little trunks sticking above the water. They were side by side and their trunks were intertwined with each other. Cutest. Thing. Ever!
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Best Safari Day EVER!
For starters, I always like my 8/8:30am shifts because the time goes by quicker and I finish early. For example today, I was done by 2:30. But today's shift was even better because I got to do the Magical Moment on the first safari of the day.
Basically, my job this morning was to create magic. I went up to the front of the park to pick the lucky family. I walked around, looking specifically for a family with several kids, because those are always my favorite families on the safaris. There weren't a whole lot, and I didn't have tons of time, so I went right up to a family with two little boys. I talked to them for a minute, they were waiting in line to enter the park. I brought them right up to the front of the line and got them in fifteen minutes before park open so we could walk back to the safari together.
Not only did I get to take them on the first safari of the day, but that one little family got their own truck, and I got to spiel for them. So we separated it out where the driver was only driving, and I was only spieling. Because it was so different, we turned off the "normal" safari radio and I just spieled on my own, letting them know little random facts we don't always reveal to guests. I let them know little extras like why people can't see the zebras and where hidden Mickeys are. It was so much fun and the little boys just LOVED it!
The awesome thing about that magical moment is that I can tell that family will remember that experience forever. The whole family loved it, and it was so classic. Mom holding the little one on her lap and helping the kids feel comfortable, Dad taking pictures everywhere, older brother showing stuff to the little brother, and everyone absolutely amazed that they, of all people, got picked!
And at the end they got a special certificate. To add to it, at the end this family let me know they'd never been to Animal Kingdom before. They'd visited every park except for this one, so it was awesome that I got to be their first impression! Absolutely loved it!
After I did that, I worked the Cheers 2 dock for a while (the person who opens Cheers 2 gets to do the First Safari family of the day), and then went on my first break. Then I got another land and got to work Fastpass for a while. I hadn't worked Fastpass since training and it's ridiculously rare that we get two lands in a day, so that was extra awesome!
I decided I love working Fastpass. I love being able to fix people's problems and that's basically all I do there. I answer questions, fix machines, and get people the Fastpasses they want. I was really proud of my ability to fix the machines because there were several different problems I was dealing with. Machines eating cards, the paper getting jammed, random beeping noises (a simple reset fixed that... I still don't get it).
At first I actually almost just covered the machine up and called it good since we had like eight more, but then I figured I should at least try to fix it. I was able to keep everything going well, until near the end one of them broke. Someone tried to jam their VISA card into it (no, the machines don't take VISA) and it freaked out the system. I tried for the last like fifteen minutes of my shift, in which time I had another cast member come try and help me too. He told me to just cover it up, but I was entirely convinced that I'd fix it. But then I got bumped from that position so I told the next girl to just cover it up, and I'm fairly certain she did.
After my second break I worked the truck. I only did two rounds before it was time to go, but they were very fun rounds. The guests were perfect and happy. Everyone was excited, and the whole day just went well.
As I was walking to the break room, I heard a little kid yell out my name. I figured I didn't know any little kids in the park, so it couldn't have been me he was calling for. But then I heard my name being yelled again and out of curiosity I turned my head. There was little Zack, one of the two little boys in that family I had taken on the safari this morning. Absolutely one of the cutest things ever and I was amazed that he remembered my name! Then again, it was the same day. I'm so glad I picked that family! And I'm especially glad they had a good time.
My friend even gave me a ride to and from work today, just to make things better. There's a group of us who all have pretty much the same schedule so we've all been going together. I love my job. So. Stinking. Much!
Basically, my job this morning was to create magic. I went up to the front of the park to pick the lucky family. I walked around, looking specifically for a family with several kids, because those are always my favorite families on the safaris. There weren't a whole lot, and I didn't have tons of time, so I went right up to a family with two little boys. I talked to them for a minute, they were waiting in line to enter the park. I brought them right up to the front of the line and got them in fifteen minutes before park open so we could walk back to the safari together.
Not only did I get to take them on the first safari of the day, but that one little family got their own truck, and I got to spiel for them. So we separated it out where the driver was only driving, and I was only spieling. Because it was so different, we turned off the "normal" safari radio and I just spieled on my own, letting them know little random facts we don't always reveal to guests. I let them know little extras like why people can't see the zebras and where hidden Mickeys are. It was so much fun and the little boys just LOVED it!
The awesome thing about that magical moment is that I can tell that family will remember that experience forever. The whole family loved it, and it was so classic. Mom holding the little one on her lap and helping the kids feel comfortable, Dad taking pictures everywhere, older brother showing stuff to the little brother, and everyone absolutely amazed that they, of all people, got picked!
And at the end they got a special certificate. To add to it, at the end this family let me know they'd never been to Animal Kingdom before. They'd visited every park except for this one, so it was awesome that I got to be their first impression! Absolutely loved it!
After I did that, I worked the Cheers 2 dock for a while (the person who opens Cheers 2 gets to do the First Safari family of the day), and then went on my first break. Then I got another land and got to work Fastpass for a while. I hadn't worked Fastpass since training and it's ridiculously rare that we get two lands in a day, so that was extra awesome!
I decided I love working Fastpass. I love being able to fix people's problems and that's basically all I do there. I answer questions, fix machines, and get people the Fastpasses they want. I was really proud of my ability to fix the machines because there were several different problems I was dealing with. Machines eating cards, the paper getting jammed, random beeping noises (a simple reset fixed that... I still don't get it).
At first I actually almost just covered the machine up and called it good since we had like eight more, but then I figured I should at least try to fix it. I was able to keep everything going well, until near the end one of them broke. Someone tried to jam their VISA card into it (no, the machines don't take VISA) and it freaked out the system. I tried for the last like fifteen minutes of my shift, in which time I had another cast member come try and help me too. He told me to just cover it up, but I was entirely convinced that I'd fix it. But then I got bumped from that position so I told the next girl to just cover it up, and I'm fairly certain she did.
After my second break I worked the truck. I only did two rounds before it was time to go, but they were very fun rounds. The guests were perfect and happy. Everyone was excited, and the whole day just went well.
As I was walking to the break room, I heard a little kid yell out my name. I figured I didn't know any little kids in the park, so it couldn't have been me he was calling for. But then I heard my name being yelled again and out of curiosity I turned my head. There was little Zack, one of the two little boys in that family I had taken on the safari this morning. Absolutely one of the cutest things ever and I was amazed that he remembered my name! Then again, it was the same day. I'm so glad I picked that family! And I'm especially glad they had a good time.
My friend even gave me a ride to and from work today, just to make things better. There's a group of us who all have pretty much the same schedule so we've all been going together. I love my job. So. Stinking. Much!
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Animal Stops and Classes
I had my first animal stop yesterday. And by "my" first animal stop I mean I've stopped for animals numerous times, but my truck hadn't been stopped directly by an animal until yesterday.
The first one was while I was being show op'd. So I had to show my evaluator just how I know how to call it in. I did it all right, even the stopping ten feet away thing, which I hate. I prefer to stop more like thirty feet away. But I called in when the rhino was in front of my truck and the warden asked me, "How far away are you?" So I was honest, "About twenty feet..." "Okay make sure you're just ten feet away, don't worry, he's not gonna do anything. Then call me back when you're ten feet away." "Oooookay."
So I pulled up closer to the rhino and as I did so my guests started freaking out. "Is it okay to be this close?" "What if he attacks the truck?" "Will he attack?"
No worries though. I was able remain calm. Unlike the other time I came around a corner and there was a white rhino in the road and my spiel went something like this:
"And coming around this corner here, take a good look up there at those rocks. That seems to be a kopjeohmygosh!" (coupled with me slamming the brakes... from like 4 MPH, so it wasn't really too dramatic)
Yeah... I got laughed at that time.
Anyway, we only made the entire ride shut down for less than five minutes with my animal stop. Which is good because sometimes the animal stops have lasted upwards of fifteen minutes. And that's not much fun when you're on a truck in an animal safe zone (no animals within sight, even) with crying children who wanted to see crocodiles.
But all has been well so far. Every animal stop I've ever had, I've always had wonderful, happy, excited, patient guests. I love my job!
In other news, I started my first class today. Organizational Leadership. And I'm super excited. The teacher is great. He's an old man teacher which, in my past experience, means he's either really really good, or really really bad. This one is really really good. But then I always think that about teachers after the first day of class... so we'll see how this goes. :) There will only be like four assignments in the whole class, a project, two papers, and a final group presentation.
I have to say it's very, very different than any class I've ever taken before, since it's through Disney and I went to college in Mormonville. The rules are stricter than any class I've ever been to before, too, though. For example, you miss two classes no prob. You miss three, you automatically fail and they notify your work location. Every class is business attire and you have to wear a nametag. And there's pictures of Mickey and the parks all over the walls of the classroom. That has nothing to do with being strict... just something random.
There are also two big screen TVs on either side of the classroom that play the news before class and during breaks. During class he uses those as his powerpoint. So funny.
Anyway, I think it'll be fun. I can't wait to start the Disney Heritage class. I love my job!
The first one was while I was being show op'd. So I had to show my evaluator just how I know how to call it in. I did it all right, even the stopping ten feet away thing, which I hate. I prefer to stop more like thirty feet away. But I called in when the rhino was in front of my truck and the warden asked me, "How far away are you?" So I was honest, "About twenty feet..." "Okay make sure you're just ten feet away, don't worry, he's not gonna do anything. Then call me back when you're ten feet away." "Oooookay."
So I pulled up closer to the rhino and as I did so my guests started freaking out. "Is it okay to be this close?" "What if he attacks the truck?" "Will he attack?"
No worries though. I was able remain calm. Unlike the other time I came around a corner and there was a white rhino in the road and my spiel went something like this:
"And coming around this corner here, take a good look up there at those rocks. That seems to be a kopjeohmygosh!" (coupled with me slamming the brakes... from like 4 MPH, so it wasn't really too dramatic)
Yeah... I got laughed at that time.
Anyway, we only made the entire ride shut down for less than five minutes with my animal stop. Which is good because sometimes the animal stops have lasted upwards of fifteen minutes. And that's not much fun when you're on a truck in an animal safe zone (no animals within sight, even) with crying children who wanted to see crocodiles.
But all has been well so far. Every animal stop I've ever had, I've always had wonderful, happy, excited, patient guests. I love my job!
In other news, I started my first class today. Organizational Leadership. And I'm super excited. The teacher is great. He's an old man teacher which, in my past experience, means he's either really really good, or really really bad. This one is really really good. But then I always think that about teachers after the first day of class... so we'll see how this goes. :) There will only be like four assignments in the whole class, a project, two papers, and a final group presentation.
I have to say it's very, very different than any class I've ever taken before, since it's through Disney and I went to college in Mormonville. The rules are stricter than any class I've ever been to before, too, though. For example, you miss two classes no prob. You miss three, you automatically fail and they notify your work location. Every class is business attire and you have to wear a nametag. And there's pictures of Mickey and the parks all over the walls of the classroom. That has nothing to do with being strict... just something random.
There are also two big screen TVs on either side of the classroom that play the news before class and during breaks. During class he uses those as his powerpoint. So funny.
Anyway, I think it'll be fun. I can't wait to start the Disney Heritage class. I love my job!
Monday, September 19, 2011
Six Hours Later
I'm thinking it's going to be one of "those" days today.
After not even six hours of sleep, I'm already very tired. And I'm going to spend the next eight hours driving around in circles. Then Walmart. Then a goodbye dinner for one of my friends.
Yeah, so one of my friends is leaving. She just can't afford to stay with the hours she's getting and the minimum wage pay and another year of school to pay off. Which is perfectly understandable because I've been getting 30-32 hours/week as well which is the least I've ever gotten since working for Disney. And the really stinky thing about that is that I'm in a job where I can't pick up shifts. I used to be able to pick up extra hours, but my job doesn't allow it. I'm just hoping that during the holidays things will pick up.
Anyway, back to my being tired. Not only did I just go to bed six hours ago, but I spent one of those sleepless nights where I woke up every hour or so freaked out that I missed work, or missed my alarm. So I set four alarms, just to be sure.
Then my roommate came home. She's always extremely quiet and never wakes me up, but it woke me up. Then I felt terrible because one of the alarms I accidentally set for 3am instead of 5am (my Ipod still thinks it's in Idaho and I can't get it to believe otherwise!). And I totally tried to sleep through it for quite a while before I realized what it was.
Now I'm eating cereal and heading down to the bus stop to begin my awesome day of looking at cute baby animals and explaining things to people who don't speak English.
After not even six hours of sleep, I'm already very tired. And I'm going to spend the next eight hours driving around in circles. Then Walmart. Then a goodbye dinner for one of my friends.
Yeah, so one of my friends is leaving. She just can't afford to stay with the hours she's getting and the minimum wage pay and another year of school to pay off. Which is perfectly understandable because I've been getting 30-32 hours/week as well which is the least I've ever gotten since working for Disney. And the really stinky thing about that is that I'm in a job where I can't pick up shifts. I used to be able to pick up extra hours, but my job doesn't allow it. I'm just hoping that during the holidays things will pick up.
Anyway, back to my being tired. Not only did I just go to bed six hours ago, but I spent one of those sleepless nights where I woke up every hour or so freaked out that I missed work, or missed my alarm. So I set four alarms, just to be sure.
Then my roommate came home. She's always extremely quiet and never wakes me up, but it woke me up. Then I felt terrible because one of the alarms I accidentally set for 3am instead of 5am (my Ipod still thinks it's in Idaho and I can't get it to believe otherwise!). And I totally tried to sleep through it for quite a while before I realized what it was.
Now I'm eating cereal and heading down to the bus stop to begin my awesome day of looking at cute baby animals and explaining things to people who don't speak English.
Friday, September 16, 2011
No Accident By Accident
I accidentally didn't get into an accident yesterday.
I was driving my friend home from Bed, Bath and Beyond where she had to return something. The store is kind of far away in a part of Orlando I'm not really familiar with. As we drove home, I accidentally pulled into the left turn lane because I thought I had to turn left at that light. As I approached it, I realized I was making the turn one light too early.
I started complaining about how I had accidentally went to turn in the wrong place, and rolled my eyes at myself, annoyed that I'd have to go slightly out of my way. As I complained inside my head I casually looked over to my right as I heard screeching tires and watched a car slam into the back of another, forcing it to collide with the car in front of it. This occurred not even ten feet from my car. Only a few seconds after I had made the "mistake" of pulling into the left turn lane.
The left turn light stayed red, as Florida lights do, for another several minutes and I hated just sitting there watching the people as they got out of their cars to check out the damage. The front lady's car was smoking, and I started envisioning it exploding right next to my car. The back guy's car (the one who caused it) was probably messed up the most, the hood was really smashed good.
Thank goodness I make mistakes!
I was driving my friend home from Bed, Bath and Beyond where she had to return something. The store is kind of far away in a part of Orlando I'm not really familiar with. As we drove home, I accidentally pulled into the left turn lane because I thought I had to turn left at that light. As I approached it, I realized I was making the turn one light too early.
I started complaining about how I had accidentally went to turn in the wrong place, and rolled my eyes at myself, annoyed that I'd have to go slightly out of my way. As I complained inside my head I casually looked over to my right as I heard screeching tires and watched a car slam into the back of another, forcing it to collide with the car in front of it. This occurred not even ten feet from my car. Only a few seconds after I had made the "mistake" of pulling into the left turn lane.
The left turn light stayed red, as Florida lights do, for another several minutes and I hated just sitting there watching the people as they got out of their cars to check out the damage. The front lady's car was smoking, and I started envisioning it exploding right next to my car. The back guy's car (the one who caused it) was probably messed up the most, the hood was really smashed good.
Thank goodness I make mistakes!
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
On The Safari: Randoms
On Strollers: Stroller parking is one of my many jobs. It's actually called "Pram Parking." Because "Prams" are strollers. Anyway, it's a fun job because it's the only job where you actually get to interact and talk with other cast members as well as guests. It's also not such a great job because parking strollers and keeping everything looking good and organized is really, really hard. But we encounter funny things too, every once in a while.
I can officially say that I have now had a parent attempt to leave their child in the stroller while they went on the ride. Many parents do so jokingly. They'll jokingly ask about babysitting and such. But then there was that one dad. Who pushed his stroller, with four year old in it, into our area (which is what we like them to do... just we prefer them to take the child out first), and continued down the walkway leaving his four year old happily munching on his Pringles and watching the birds fly around.
It took us a second to track him down since he just continued walking and didn't speak English. We told him he needed to take his child with him, and he got mad at us! He actually got mad at us because he said that we told him he wasn't allowed to take the kid with him because his kid had Pringles. Okay, the Pringles can't go on the ride, but the kid can. Crazy!
We ask the guests to unload their child from the stroller quickly, and/or in line to make the process as smooth as possible. It's always annoying when a parent takes five minutes to unload their stroller because they have child, other child, certain buckles, rain shades, food, candy, cameras, purses, etc. etc. to deal with. This is very understandable. They are tourists and there is a lot to keep up with. I just really appreciate it, though, when we have very simple people who have nothing but a backpack and a small foldable stroller with a kid in it. It's always a relief.
Sometimes guests don't like us to park their strollers. This is really annoying, but again, understandable for those with trust issues. But it's hard on us because there's a fairly specific system that we use in order to keep everything looking good and organized (and keeping it easy for guests to later find their strollers - for example: park strollers in one places, "limos" in another, foldables are together, and big clunky singles in another, etc. etc.). But then others come in and mess it up. But, overall, it really is a nice job. Plus we get fans.
On Fastpasses: I am thoroughly amazed at the amount of guests who don't understand the Fastpass system. The more I learn about it, the more I can see where people could get confused, but still. It's always been a very simple concept for me. You go to the ride for which you want a Fastpass, you put your park ticket in, it spits out a Fastpass that says "Return between 'A time' and 'B time'" and you return between those times to skip to the head of the line. You can't get another Fastpass until your current one expires OR two hours from the time you got it, whichever comes first.
I had a very angry man today who showed me his Key To The World card (the card that Disney Resort guests get that is basically their room key, but they can also charge money to it in the parks... kind of like a credit card, and it is their park ticket to get in as well) and insisted that he had paid "good money" for it to have Fastpasses on it and why wouldn't I let him skip the line when he paid "good money" to skip to the front of each line for the duration of his vacation.
It doesn't work like that. I tried to explain how it worked to him, but he was so mad he couldn't even listen. He just walked away grumbling about how everyone changes their stories and Disney gipped him out of his "good money." I literally couldn't even get five words out. The funny thing is, the way Disney works, if he had just talked to me we were slow enough that I could have just given him some Fastpasses to "make up" for his anger and such. But he wouldn't even listen to anything I had to say. He just wanted to yell. Lame.
It's the worst when I get people who don't speak English asking about it. It's hard to explain in a foreign language. But people think you have to pay extra, some think you have to have a Fastpass in order to ride the ride at all, some also get Fastpasses and then still enter through the normal line. At the very end, right before they get on the truck, they'll pull it out... this always confuses me because I'm wondering what in the world they're thinking it's for. Weird. And then of course, they get mad that they paid extra and didn't get anything.
Don't worry though, I get really, really happy guests too!
On BoCo: Booking Coordinator is another really fun position, but it can get extremely boring when it's slow. You basically stand at the front of the line scanning for food and drinks, making sure everyone is "appropriate" to ride (everyone, even children and babies has to have clothes on, including shoes, which we have to enforce sometimes because parents will strip down their kids when it's hot sometimes), and counting the guests and helping the wheelchairs and such. I had two little kids the other day who came through and were your classic Disney kids who were unbelievably excited about everything. "We went on Everest! It was so much fun!" "No, my favorite part was Dinosaur, but it was really scary." "Yeah, she was scared, but I didn't even close my eyes even once!" "Yes you did! Remember, with the big dinosaur!?" "No I didn't, it was so much fun." "Oh oh, and we got to see Tigger! We saw Tigger!" "Mom, where's the autograph book, I want to show her his autograph because we really met him!"
Cutest thing EVER!
On Cute Things: Baby elephants drinking the water together. Rhinos rolling around in the mud. Lions playing, pacing, and climbing. Giraffes running (actually that looks a little more awkward than cute because their bodies are so long and gangly... it looks like it's got to be hard). Thompson's Gazelles wagging their tails like puppies. Baby mandrills the size of my foot running around playing with each other (okay, so my foot is an awkward thing to compare them to, but I couldn't think of anything else that's their size). Warthogs leaning down on their elbows to eat. Hippos freaking out at the birds that land on their backs.
I get to see this stuff. All. The. Time. :)
On Free Stuff: Definitely one of the best parts of any poor college students life (or anyone's life, for that matter) is free food. I love that Disney randomly has these picnic things where the managers cook for all their employees and we all pig out on the food that is served to us by our managers. It's just great on so many different levels. But anyway, yesterday they made hamburgers and hot dogs with Disney potato chips and every kind of dessert imaginable. Seriously, there were so freaking many desserts. I'm pretty sure every manger must have brought one, and some more than one.
Anyway, along with all that free food (which in and of itself was awesome) we had a raffle with prizes. And nearly everyone who entered won something. I won another copy of the Toy Story 3 Commemorative Edition on BluRay and DVD. Goody!
On Playing: I've been out playing a few times lately. I'll try and put up pictures soon. LOTS of pictures. Yesterday we went to Hollywood Studios and then Beaches and Cream and then visited some resorts. So much fun! :)
I can officially say that I have now had a parent attempt to leave their child in the stroller while they went on the ride. Many parents do so jokingly. They'll jokingly ask about babysitting and such. But then there was that one dad. Who pushed his stroller, with four year old in it, into our area (which is what we like them to do... just we prefer them to take the child out first), and continued down the walkway leaving his four year old happily munching on his Pringles and watching the birds fly around.
It took us a second to track him down since he just continued walking and didn't speak English. We told him he needed to take his child with him, and he got mad at us! He actually got mad at us because he said that we told him he wasn't allowed to take the kid with him because his kid had Pringles. Okay, the Pringles can't go on the ride, but the kid can. Crazy!
We ask the guests to unload their child from the stroller quickly, and/or in line to make the process as smooth as possible. It's always annoying when a parent takes five minutes to unload their stroller because they have child, other child, certain buckles, rain shades, food, candy, cameras, purses, etc. etc. to deal with. This is very understandable. They are tourists and there is a lot to keep up with. I just really appreciate it, though, when we have very simple people who have nothing but a backpack and a small foldable stroller with a kid in it. It's always a relief.
Sometimes guests don't like us to park their strollers. This is really annoying, but again, understandable for those with trust issues. But it's hard on us because there's a fairly specific system that we use in order to keep everything looking good and organized (and keeping it easy for guests to later find their strollers - for example: park strollers in one places, "limos" in another, foldables are together, and big clunky singles in another, etc. etc.). But then others come in and mess it up. But, overall, it really is a nice job. Plus we get fans.
On Fastpasses: I am thoroughly amazed at the amount of guests who don't understand the Fastpass system. The more I learn about it, the more I can see where people could get confused, but still. It's always been a very simple concept for me. You go to the ride for which you want a Fastpass, you put your park ticket in, it spits out a Fastpass that says "Return between 'A time' and 'B time'" and you return between those times to skip to the head of the line. You can't get another Fastpass until your current one expires OR two hours from the time you got it, whichever comes first.
I had a very angry man today who showed me his Key To The World card (the card that Disney Resort guests get that is basically their room key, but they can also charge money to it in the parks... kind of like a credit card, and it is their park ticket to get in as well) and insisted that he had paid "good money" for it to have Fastpasses on it and why wouldn't I let him skip the line when he paid "good money" to skip to the front of each line for the duration of his vacation.
It doesn't work like that. I tried to explain how it worked to him, but he was so mad he couldn't even listen. He just walked away grumbling about how everyone changes their stories and Disney gipped him out of his "good money." I literally couldn't even get five words out. The funny thing is, the way Disney works, if he had just talked to me we were slow enough that I could have just given him some Fastpasses to "make up" for his anger and such. But he wouldn't even listen to anything I had to say. He just wanted to yell. Lame.
It's the worst when I get people who don't speak English asking about it. It's hard to explain in a foreign language. But people think you have to pay extra, some think you have to have a Fastpass in order to ride the ride at all, some also get Fastpasses and then still enter through the normal line. At the very end, right before they get on the truck, they'll pull it out... this always confuses me because I'm wondering what in the world they're thinking it's for. Weird. And then of course, they get mad that they paid extra and didn't get anything.
Don't worry though, I get really, really happy guests too!
On BoCo: Booking Coordinator is another really fun position, but it can get extremely boring when it's slow. You basically stand at the front of the line scanning for food and drinks, making sure everyone is "appropriate" to ride (everyone, even children and babies has to have clothes on, including shoes, which we have to enforce sometimes because parents will strip down their kids when it's hot sometimes), and counting the guests and helping the wheelchairs and such. I had two little kids the other day who came through and were your classic Disney kids who were unbelievably excited about everything. "We went on Everest! It was so much fun!" "No, my favorite part was Dinosaur, but it was really scary." "Yeah, she was scared, but I didn't even close my eyes even once!" "Yes you did! Remember, with the big dinosaur!?" "No I didn't, it was so much fun." "Oh oh, and we got to see Tigger! We saw Tigger!" "Mom, where's the autograph book, I want to show her his autograph because we really met him!"
Cutest thing EVER!
On Cute Things: Baby elephants drinking the water together. Rhinos rolling around in the mud. Lions playing, pacing, and climbing. Giraffes running (actually that looks a little more awkward than cute because their bodies are so long and gangly... it looks like it's got to be hard). Thompson's Gazelles wagging their tails like puppies. Baby mandrills the size of my foot running around playing with each other (okay, so my foot is an awkward thing to compare them to, but I couldn't think of anything else that's their size). Warthogs leaning down on their elbows to eat. Hippos freaking out at the birds that land on their backs.
I get to see this stuff. All. The. Time. :)
On Free Stuff: Definitely one of the best parts of any poor college students life (or anyone's life, for that matter) is free food. I love that Disney randomly has these picnic things where the managers cook for all their employees and we all pig out on the food that is served to us by our managers. It's just great on so many different levels. But anyway, yesterday they made hamburgers and hot dogs with Disney potato chips and every kind of dessert imaginable. Seriously, there were so freaking many desserts. I'm pretty sure every manger must have brought one, and some more than one.
Anyway, along with all that free food (which in and of itself was awesome) we had a raffle with prizes. And nearly everyone who entered won something. I won another copy of the Toy Story 3 Commemorative Edition on BluRay and DVD. Goody!
On Playing: I've been out playing a few times lately. I'll try and put up pictures soon. LOTS of pictures. Yesterday we went to Hollywood Studios and then Beaches and Cream and then visited some resorts. So much fun! :)
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Just Living the Dream
When you work at Disney, and someone asks "Hey, what's up?" or "Hey, how are you?" The correct response is, "Just living the dream."
The good news is I picked up a shift so I got to work Thursday! More hours! But the bad news is that means I only got one day off this week. Which means only one day to catch up on sleep. And instead of catching up on sleep yesterday (and laundry, and groceries, and cleaning) I woke up at 7am again and went to the parks with some friends.
I know it's pathetic, but despite having worked here for the past two years, there were still some attractions I'd never been on, mainly because I had decided they were boring and lame. So I never did them. Yesterday, Chelsey made me do the ones in MK that were like that. So I went to Tom Sawyer's Island, watched the Country Bears show and did the Hall of Presidents. Surprisingly (actually, I really shouldn't have been surprised, this is Disney after all) I really enjoyed all of them. Especially Tom Sawyer's Island. I couldn't believe I'd never been there and now I really want to reread the books.
After MK, we went to Blizzard Beach and met up with the boys. I did the Summit Plummit twice, which is why I'm bruised all up and down my right side today. I think somehow I accidentally slammed my body into the right side of the slide at the bottom. It hurts!
After that we ended up at EPCOT after a lot of confusion and meeting people and, of course, the daily thunderstorm. We went on Soarin' and watched IllumiNations, which is basically one of the best shows ever.
Such a great day! Unfortunately I only have pictures from the morning since I didn't have my camera in the water park and later it was pouring rain. But take my word for it, it was fun!
So then today, I had to work at 8:15am. But due to rotten bus schedules I got to work at 7:30am. Meaning I left at 7am. (I'm not complaining about getting to work early because A, I have a car and B, I work with really fun people who also get to work early and we all have fun hanging out)
I opened a truck which I haven't done since training, but I did just fine. And I only got one ride around before being bumped for my first break. Then, later I did a round and I came back to pick up my next group of guests and a trainer jumped into the front seat next to me. I was in the middle of spieling and doing the ride, so I didn't really have time to ask him what was up, or why he was there. I just kind of went with it and did my spiel.
We went through the whole ride with him and his clipboard taking notes. I was thinking the whole time trying to figure out if I was in trouble, doing something wrong, had someone complained about me? I had no idea!
Finally at the end I let the guests off and turned to the trainer to ask what was up. He was doing "show control." Apparently, it's a common thing for trainers to randomly do rides with us and listen to our spiels making sure we're still doing it right and we're not veering too far from the script and driving correctly, remembering speed limits and such. He said I did everything just fine and complimented me. He said the only negative thing he had was that I sounded kind of nervous, however I was still able to sound energetic and happy... just a little nervous. Not sure how those go together.
Well of course I was nervous, I thought I was in trouble! Although it did make me think, because while I was nervous, I thought I was doing a really good job completely hiding it, but apparently not. Anyway, I need to work on stage fright, I guess.
Later I got to work Departure 2, which is just about my favorite position out of all of them. It's the one where you ask how many and then assign guests a row. It's like a never ending tetris puzzle, where the pieces are constantly not going where you want them to go, jumping out of line, or where a piece says it's a blue rectangle when in fact it's a square.
I'm not even kidding. I would ask people, "How many in your party?" And the first person would say three so I'd put them in a row and it would turn out there were six people. I can understand a party of five saying they are four because one is a baby or something. But really? Three people being five adults and a child just doesn't make any sense to me. And it happened a few times.
I would also tell people "Row 4" and they'd go to row 3 or something. At one point I had assigned them to row 8 and went to the next guests to tell them where to sit, when I turned around again I found that every member of that party had happily decided they would each get their own row, taking up row 3-5... but nobody in the one where I had put them.
But it's fun. It's like a never ending puzzle that's constantly changing and needing to be fixed. I have to be constantly thinking and figuring stuff out and fixing things which is fun for me. I totally love that job, as frustrating as it may be sometimes.
Anyway, I'm still living the dream! Still loving life! (and taking more pictures to post on here shortly!)
The good news is I picked up a shift so I got to work Thursday! More hours! But the bad news is that means I only got one day off this week. Which means only one day to catch up on sleep. And instead of catching up on sleep yesterday (and laundry, and groceries, and cleaning) I woke up at 7am again and went to the parks with some friends.
I know it's pathetic, but despite having worked here for the past two years, there were still some attractions I'd never been on, mainly because I had decided they were boring and lame. So I never did them. Yesterday, Chelsey made me do the ones in MK that were like that. So I went to Tom Sawyer's Island, watched the Country Bears show and did the Hall of Presidents. Surprisingly (actually, I really shouldn't have been surprised, this is Disney after all) I really enjoyed all of them. Especially Tom Sawyer's Island. I couldn't believe I'd never been there and now I really want to reread the books.
After MK, we went to Blizzard Beach and met up with the boys. I did the Summit Plummit twice, which is why I'm bruised all up and down my right side today. I think somehow I accidentally slammed my body into the right side of the slide at the bottom. It hurts!
After that we ended up at EPCOT after a lot of confusion and meeting people and, of course, the daily thunderstorm. We went on Soarin' and watched IllumiNations, which is basically one of the best shows ever.
Such a great day! Unfortunately I only have pictures from the morning since I didn't have my camera in the water park and later it was pouring rain. But take my word for it, it was fun!
So then today, I had to work at 8:15am. But due to rotten bus schedules I got to work at 7:30am. Meaning I left at 7am. (I'm not complaining about getting to work early because A, I have a car and B, I work with really fun people who also get to work early and we all have fun hanging out)
I opened a truck which I haven't done since training, but I did just fine. And I only got one ride around before being bumped for my first break. Then, later I did a round and I came back to pick up my next group of guests and a trainer jumped into the front seat next to me. I was in the middle of spieling and doing the ride, so I didn't really have time to ask him what was up, or why he was there. I just kind of went with it and did my spiel.
We went through the whole ride with him and his clipboard taking notes. I was thinking the whole time trying to figure out if I was in trouble, doing something wrong, had someone complained about me? I had no idea!
Finally at the end I let the guests off and turned to the trainer to ask what was up. He was doing "show control." Apparently, it's a common thing for trainers to randomly do rides with us and listen to our spiels making sure we're still doing it right and we're not veering too far from the script and driving correctly, remembering speed limits and such. He said I did everything just fine and complimented me. He said the only negative thing he had was that I sounded kind of nervous, however I was still able to sound energetic and happy... just a little nervous. Not sure how those go together.
Well of course I was nervous, I thought I was in trouble! Although it did make me think, because while I was nervous, I thought I was doing a really good job completely hiding it, but apparently not. Anyway, I need to work on stage fright, I guess.
Later I got to work Departure 2, which is just about my favorite position out of all of them. It's the one where you ask how many and then assign guests a row. It's like a never ending tetris puzzle, where the pieces are constantly not going where you want them to go, jumping out of line, or where a piece says it's a blue rectangle when in fact it's a square.
I'm not even kidding. I would ask people, "How many in your party?" And the first person would say three so I'd put them in a row and it would turn out there were six people. I can understand a party of five saying they are four because one is a baby or something. But really? Three people being five adults and a child just doesn't make any sense to me. And it happened a few times.
I would also tell people "Row 4" and they'd go to row 3 or something. At one point I had assigned them to row 8 and went to the next guests to tell them where to sit, when I turned around again I found that every member of that party had happily decided they would each get their own row, taking up row 3-5... but nobody in the one where I had put them.
But it's fun. It's like a never ending puzzle that's constantly changing and needing to be fixed. I have to be constantly thinking and figuring stuff out and fixing things which is fun for me. I totally love that job, as frustrating as it may be sometimes.
Anyway, I'm still living the dream! Still loving life! (and taking more pictures to post on here shortly!)
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Reminiscent
Almost two years ago my grandpa died. I never wrote about it on here. Those feelings and such were kept for my private, more personal journal. (yes, I don't actually put every single detail of my life on here)
Anyway, the day my grandpa died, I had to work. I didn't want to call in, and while I was sad, there was no reason to miss work over it. But I was kind of out of it and distracted all day. I forgot my ID to log into the computer at one point, and due to my mistakes I had to call my manager to come fix my login. After messing up so many times it locks you out and you have to have a manager come.
I felt terrible because I knew my manager was extremely busy, but he also happened to be an extremely nice manager. So I called him and told him I locked myself out of the computer, and he very kindly dropped what he was doing to come help me. We walked backstage into the office in the back.
As my manager got onto the computer, he was typing here and there as my mind stayed in fogland. Then, I heard the printer start to go and he turned around with a piece of paper, "Did you see the picture of the new baby giraffes in Animal Kingdom?" He handed me the paper of the two babies and I nearly started to cry. Seeing the picture of the baby giraffes just made me feel more emotional.
All ended up well. My account was fixed, I didn't make any more mistakes, and I eventually told my manager all about what happened. But I never knew at that time that one day I'd be working in Animal Kingdom. In fact, I'd be seeing those giraffes every single day on the Savannah. And every time I'd see them, nearly two years later, I'd remember my grandpa and the day he died and how much I love and miss him.
Who knew a giraffe could mean so much?
Anyway, the day my grandpa died, I had to work. I didn't want to call in, and while I was sad, there was no reason to miss work over it. But I was kind of out of it and distracted all day. I forgot my ID to log into the computer at one point, and due to my mistakes I had to call my manager to come fix my login. After messing up so many times it locks you out and you have to have a manager come.
I felt terrible because I knew my manager was extremely busy, but he also happened to be an extremely nice manager. So I called him and told him I locked myself out of the computer, and he very kindly dropped what he was doing to come help me. We walked backstage into the office in the back.
As my manager got onto the computer, he was typing here and there as my mind stayed in fogland. Then, I heard the printer start to go and he turned around with a piece of paper, "Did you see the picture of the new baby giraffes in Animal Kingdom?" He handed me the paper of the two babies and I nearly started to cry. Seeing the picture of the baby giraffes just made me feel more emotional.
All ended up well. My account was fixed, I didn't make any more mistakes, and I eventually told my manager all about what happened. But I never knew at that time that one day I'd be working in Animal Kingdom. In fact, I'd be seeing those giraffes every single day on the Savannah. And every time I'd see them, nearly two years later, I'd remember my grandpa and the day he died and how much I love and miss him.
Who knew a giraffe could mean so much?
Monday, September 5, 2011
This Job Is Messing With My Life
-When I close any door or gate I have to double and triple check that it is, indeed, entirely secure
-I freak out if people get into my car, or out of it, before I had the chance to put it in park and turn on the parking brake
-I keep spotting random animals by the side of the road and feel the need to get excited and talk about them.
-Speaking of the car, my car seems entirely too tiny, and I can't get over how cute and little the steering wheel of my Accord is. It feels like I'm sitting on the ground using a donut to steer.
-I keep using words like "Jambo" "Karibuni" and "Kwaharini" when saying hello or goodbye.
-Being covered in sweat just feels natural. And rain? That doesn't even phase me anymore.
-I keep talking in my totally weird tour guide voice.
-I have to drink lots and lots and lots of water. All the time. I come home and I'm still thirsty. I drink three cups of water before (and again during) any meal.
-I feel the need to honk twice at intersections before I begin motion.
-New words have been added to my vocabulary, or have gained new meaning for me, for example: prams, reserve warden, Kilimanjaro 12, FLIK cards, Pride Rock, 103, Jabali, BoCo, Departure 3, Cheers, Safi River, and more.
I freaking love every second of it! Every. Single. Second. I love my job.
-I freak out if people get into my car, or out of it, before I had the chance to put it in park and turn on the parking brake
-I keep spotting random animals by the side of the road and feel the need to get excited and talk about them.
-Speaking of the car, my car seems entirely too tiny, and I can't get over how cute and little the steering wheel of my Accord is. It feels like I'm sitting on the ground using a donut to steer.
-I keep using words like "Jambo" "Karibuni" and "Kwaharini" when saying hello or goodbye.
-Being covered in sweat just feels natural. And rain? That doesn't even phase me anymore.
-I keep talking in my totally weird tour guide voice.
-I have to drink lots and lots and lots of water. All the time. I come home and I'm still thirsty. I drink three cups of water before (and again during) any meal.
-I feel the need to honk twice at intersections before I begin motion.
-New words have been added to my vocabulary, or have gained new meaning for me, for example: prams, reserve warden, Kilimanjaro 12, FLIK cards, Pride Rock, 103, Jabali, BoCo, Departure 3, Cheers, Safi River, and more.
I freaking love every second of it! Every. Single. Second. I love my job.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Tidbits Of My Life!
The reason for lack of pictures is lack of desire to take pictures of myself after work... because I look like this:
But, since you asked, there ya go! Me in my hot costume. Literally.. it's hot. It's covered in sweat, just like my entire body in this picture and my hair is a frizzy mess due to constant sweat and sticking sticky headphones on my head all day. Blech!
Speaking of my costume, take a look at my patch on my right arm. The one that says where I work. That's not really a patch. We call it our "target." Because when you do stupid things you get punched there. My first trainer told me about it, and warned me about an older woman who's a trainer who likes to punch her trainees in their targets when they make mistakes. I was fortunate enough not to have her as my trainer.
However, I was unfortunate enough to sit beside her in the break room one day. She started telling a story to the people across the table about a trainee she had who went up on the curb. "And so I punched him! Right in his target!" She said. And she punched me! Me! I was the innocent bystander listening to her story! So funny.
Below is a picture of how FLIK cards should not be dealt with. (no worries, this picture was taken well before park open) Those cards were a stinking crazy mess. And instead of helping, I thought I'd take pictures!
I don't really have any more pictures. Legal pictures that is. Since technically all backstage pictures are off limits, and that's the only time I have to take pictures of the trucks. But suffice it to say, they are coming!
So, more random tidbits of my life:
I was driving the truck around empty the other day (reason explained later). The animals tend to do more interesting things when there are no guests in the truck, I've noticed. Except that one time the hippos let out these huge loud noises and yawned really big. That was awesome and the guests went crazy. Totally got an applause at the end of that one! But I digress. So the other day the mommy elephant and her baby (we have a lot of those, but a particular pair...) were hanging out under the water super close to the truck with nothing but their little trunks sticking up out of the water, and they were intertwined together. So stinking cute!
Then the lion actually stood up as I came around and started walking towards me. It actually kind of frightens me when the really big animals walk right towards my truck. Particularly the white rhino since they actually can come right up to the truck. But anyway, it was the first time in my life, I think, when I actually thought that a lion looked slightly scary instead of relating him to a soft, gentle Mufasa or Aslan. This lion looked almost ravenous!
While I'm on about lions, the male and female were cuddling today under the tree. Well, cuddling as much as lions can cuddle. Super cute. Again, they only did that when I was driving alone. When I had guests most of the day I didn't see them at all, and the few times I did see the male he was just laying there. Then at one point, the male sat up and moved his head and my whole truck freaked out. It was soooo funny!
There's a part of the safari when music comes on. Every once in a while I'll say something like, "Oh! This is one of my favorites! Sing along, if you know it!" No one knows the song, it's just some random Swahili song. And no one ever sings along, and really I don't expect them to. I just say it to say it. However, one time I said that and three little kids in the back started "singing." Cutest sound EVER! They were trying so hard and I had to turn off my mic I was laughing so much.
I had a little girl who was very concerned today that we keep the lions so close to the addax, and don't lions eat them!? How do we prevent the lions and cheetahs from eating all the rest of the animals? She was so concerned, but I assured her that the addax were safe. I left out the part that in real life, that's just how it works. Sad, really.
My favorite guests are the parents with little kids. My least favorite, I recently decided are teenage boys and Brazilian tour groups.
Teenage boys because they spend the whole ride screaming about how "I just saw the elephant peeing! Hahaha, did you see that!? He was peeing! Hey, hey talk about how it was peeing!" and "Is that real? I don't think that's real. In fact I'm pretty sure it's fake. Why do you pretend that's real? You shouldn't lie. Are you sure that thing's real? It looks manmade!"
And the Brazilian tour groups because they spend the whole ride singing "La Cucuracha" over the sound of my voice. I'm not even kidding you! That literally happened today! 30 of them. Got the truck to themselves, and not a single one spoke a lick of English. I just gave up spieling because they were too busy singing their songs (they really did break into a chorus of 'La Cucuracha' for quite a while through Ituri Forest) and yelling about the "olifants!" The only English word they did know was "Stop!" But they kept yelling at me to stop in places where I couldn't stop. So annoying. But for some reason, this group applauded at the end too.
Lots of groups applause at the end! I love it when that happens! It feels great!
To explain what I said earlier, we have some shifts where we drive empty trucks around at the end of the day. That's because the park is closed, so the ride is closed. But the animals need to stay out longer and the animals are trained that when the trucks stop, it's time to go in. However, the animals can tell the time of day anyway, and often I'll find them standing by their gates anyway. The lion paces a lot at that time of day.
This is really long, so I'm going to finish it here. But there are just a lot of random things about my job I'll have to document at some point. For the record, I love it! I love my job! And I'm scared to be so incredibly happy and satisfied with my life at this point because I'm scared that means something bad is going to happen soon.
But that's just a part of my personality. :)
Speaking of my costume, take a look at my patch on my right arm. The one that says where I work. That's not really a patch. We call it our "target." Because when you do stupid things you get punched there. My first trainer told me about it, and warned me about an older woman who's a trainer who likes to punch her trainees in their targets when they make mistakes. I was fortunate enough not to have her as my trainer.
However, I was unfortunate enough to sit beside her in the break room one day. She started telling a story to the people across the table about a trainee she had who went up on the curb. "And so I punched him! Right in his target!" She said. And she punched me! Me! I was the innocent bystander listening to her story! So funny.
Below is a picture of how FLIK cards should not be dealt with. (no worries, this picture was taken well before park open) Those cards were a stinking crazy mess. And instead of helping, I thought I'd take pictures!
So, more random tidbits of my life:
I was driving the truck around empty the other day (reason explained later). The animals tend to do more interesting things when there are no guests in the truck, I've noticed. Except that one time the hippos let out these huge loud noises and yawned really big. That was awesome and the guests went crazy. Totally got an applause at the end of that one! But I digress. So the other day the mommy elephant and her baby (we have a lot of those, but a particular pair...) were hanging out under the water super close to the truck with nothing but their little trunks sticking up out of the water, and they were intertwined together. So stinking cute!
Then the lion actually stood up as I came around and started walking towards me. It actually kind of frightens me when the really big animals walk right towards my truck. Particularly the white rhino since they actually can come right up to the truck. But anyway, it was the first time in my life, I think, when I actually thought that a lion looked slightly scary instead of relating him to a soft, gentle Mufasa or Aslan. This lion looked almost ravenous!
While I'm on about lions, the male and female were cuddling today under the tree. Well, cuddling as much as lions can cuddle. Super cute. Again, they only did that when I was driving alone. When I had guests most of the day I didn't see them at all, and the few times I did see the male he was just laying there. Then at one point, the male sat up and moved his head and my whole truck freaked out. It was soooo funny!
There's a part of the safari when music comes on. Every once in a while I'll say something like, "Oh! This is one of my favorites! Sing along, if you know it!" No one knows the song, it's just some random Swahili song. And no one ever sings along, and really I don't expect them to. I just say it to say it. However, one time I said that and three little kids in the back started "singing." Cutest sound EVER! They were trying so hard and I had to turn off my mic I was laughing so much.
I had a little girl who was very concerned today that we keep the lions so close to the addax, and don't lions eat them!? How do we prevent the lions and cheetahs from eating all the rest of the animals? She was so concerned, but I assured her that the addax were safe. I left out the part that in real life, that's just how it works. Sad, really.
My favorite guests are the parents with little kids. My least favorite, I recently decided are teenage boys and Brazilian tour groups.
Teenage boys because they spend the whole ride screaming about how "I just saw the elephant peeing! Hahaha, did you see that!? He was peeing! Hey, hey talk about how it was peeing!" and "Is that real? I don't think that's real. In fact I'm pretty sure it's fake. Why do you pretend that's real? You shouldn't lie. Are you sure that thing's real? It looks manmade!"
And the Brazilian tour groups because they spend the whole ride singing "La Cucuracha" over the sound of my voice. I'm not even kidding you! That literally happened today! 30 of them. Got the truck to themselves, and not a single one spoke a lick of English. I just gave up spieling because they were too busy singing their songs (they really did break into a chorus of 'La Cucuracha' for quite a while through Ituri Forest) and yelling about the "olifants!" The only English word they did know was "Stop!" But they kept yelling at me to stop in places where I couldn't stop. So annoying. But for some reason, this group applauded at the end too.
Lots of groups applause at the end! I love it when that happens! It feels great!
To explain what I said earlier, we have some shifts where we drive empty trucks around at the end of the day. That's because the park is closed, so the ride is closed. But the animals need to stay out longer and the animals are trained that when the trucks stop, it's time to go in. However, the animals can tell the time of day anyway, and often I'll find them standing by their gates anyway. The lion paces a lot at that time of day.
This is really long, so I'm going to finish it here. But there are just a lot of random things about my job I'll have to document at some point. For the record, I love it! I love my job! And I'm scared to be so incredibly happy and satisfied with my life at this point because I'm scared that means something bad is going to happen soon.
But that's just a part of my personality. :)
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Kilimanjaro Safari Driver!
You are officially reading the blog of the latest and greatest Kilimanjaro Safari Game Driver! (minus the other CPs that assessed and passed today as well, of course!)
Yep. I passed! Thank freaking goodness! I did the driving and spieling this morning, and the rest of the day was lands. I worked every single possible position today, the driving literally only took up about an hour and a half of the 8 hour day. I had so much fun!
The paper test was the worst part, mainly because so many of the questions are poorly worded or trick questions. Or the answer is just plain wrong (it's a sort of universal test for numerous attractions, and our attraction is different than others on some things). But I had a nice assessor and we went over everything and I was able to prove that I knew it.
Surprisingly, the hardest part wasn't learning the facts, even though I was mostly afraid of that. And to be honest, I've got driving down pretty well now too. I'm thinking, now after I've worked every position, the one that's going to get me the most is Departures. That's the one where we ask how many in the party and assign them to a row. I get so flustered and stressed there. So many people don't listen, don't understand which truck they go on, make up their own rules, don't speak English, refuse to obey, walk around in circles, or whatever other variation they have. It's frustrating for me. Fortunately, it's something that always tends to work itself out with minimal annoyance from guests, so it's not too bad. So even that goes well for the most part.
I'm so stinking excited to officially work here! I love my life!!
Yep. I passed! Thank freaking goodness! I did the driving and spieling this morning, and the rest of the day was lands. I worked every single possible position today, the driving literally only took up about an hour and a half of the 8 hour day. I had so much fun!
The paper test was the worst part, mainly because so many of the questions are poorly worded or trick questions. Or the answer is just plain wrong (it's a sort of universal test for numerous attractions, and our attraction is different than others on some things). But I had a nice assessor and we went over everything and I was able to prove that I knew it.
Surprisingly, the hardest part wasn't learning the facts, even though I was mostly afraid of that. And to be honest, I've got driving down pretty well now too. I'm thinking, now after I've worked every position, the one that's going to get me the most is Departures. That's the one where we ask how many in the party and assign them to a row. I get so flustered and stressed there. So many people don't listen, don't understand which truck they go on, make up their own rules, don't speak English, refuse to obey, walk around in circles, or whatever other variation they have. It's frustrating for me. Fortunately, it's something that always tends to work itself out with minimal annoyance from guests, so it's not too bad. So even that goes well for the most part.
I'm so stinking excited to officially work here! I love my life!!
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Last Day of Training... Hopefully
I was a little nervous for work this morning after my two day weekend of not going over the script at all. That is, during my conscious hours. It turned out fine, though. The very first thing we did this morning was take a truck out. There was a celebrity in the park today who I didn't drive around, but I'm fairly certain I wouldn't have recognized her even had I driven.
As I drove, I suddenly felt something on my arm. I continued talking as I reached over and flicked it off, realizing it was a giant stingy sort of bug. It scared the crap out of me, and I was really proud of myself that I continued my spiel as I silently swiped it off. But then Jeff had to get involved. He started teasing me about tourrettes as I spieled. Then I was working to not giggle as I spoke about the wildebeest. And that's when I accidentally said that "1.5 wildebeest make up the largest migration in the world" instead of "1.5 million wildebeest." Then I was teased for that. Even harder to not laugh. Thankfully, the guests didn't notice and as I listened to them speak amongst themselves, I didn't hear a word of confusion. Then again, I wouldn't be surprised if none of them spoke English.
I also worked grouping today. You know, the person who stands at the front of the line and asks "how many?" Easy. Or so it seems. Except that people don't like to listen. Or they don't speak English. Or, worst, when they pretend to speak English and don't and then try to put themselves on the truck or go places they're not supposed to go. My favorite is when the following occurs:
"How many?"
*blank stare*
"How many people do you have?"
"blank stare* "....yes!"
"How many in your group?" *I hold up my fingers to show counting*
"Yes, group! We have group!"
*facepalm*
Today I also saw the big tour group coming down the line. The one where there's about 30 matching bright blue shirts with tons of noisy kids with the chaperone flags. And then the guests I'm loading start to say things like "Looks like we got here at a good time!"
My trainer wished me good luck and then disappeared. The average age in the group was about 10 years old, but the worst part was that when the first kid got to me, and I asked him how many, he responded "Twenty-four." And then I learned that "Twenty-four" was the only word in English this kid, or any member of the group for that matter, knew.
After telling me the number, the kids flooded the loading dock. Entirely out of my control. I finally decided that they'd get their own truck, and explained to one of the chaperones how I wanted the kids loaded. The chaperone, thankfully, spoke English and translated to the group. All I got across to him was "Put four people per row. Four per row!" Then we had an extra couple of rows on the truck I could load so the line kept moving smoothly. Thank goodness!
That job, and the disability area, were the final areas for me to train. We covered both today.
And so alas, I find myself finished with training. Hopefully. I say hopefully because tomorrow is my assessment day. And if I fail assessment then I have to do more training. But hopefully I'll pass. I've never met the guy who's going to assess me, so I'm just hoping he's nice. But I'm also pretty confident that I know everything I need to know as well.
So tomorrow is the big assessment. Hope I pass!
As I drove, I suddenly felt something on my arm. I continued talking as I reached over and flicked it off, realizing it was a giant stingy sort of bug. It scared the crap out of me, and I was really proud of myself that I continued my spiel as I silently swiped it off. But then Jeff had to get involved. He started teasing me about tourrettes as I spieled. Then I was working to not giggle as I spoke about the wildebeest. And that's when I accidentally said that "1.5 wildebeest make up the largest migration in the world" instead of "1.5 million wildebeest." Then I was teased for that. Even harder to not laugh. Thankfully, the guests didn't notice and as I listened to them speak amongst themselves, I didn't hear a word of confusion. Then again, I wouldn't be surprised if none of them spoke English.
I also worked grouping today. You know, the person who stands at the front of the line and asks "how many?" Easy. Or so it seems. Except that people don't like to listen. Or they don't speak English. Or, worst, when they pretend to speak English and don't and then try to put themselves on the truck or go places they're not supposed to go. My favorite is when the following occurs:
"How many?"
*blank stare*
"How many people do you have?"
"blank stare* "....yes!"
"How many in your group?" *I hold up my fingers to show counting*
"Yes, group! We have group!"
*facepalm*
Today I also saw the big tour group coming down the line. The one where there's about 30 matching bright blue shirts with tons of noisy kids with the chaperone flags. And then the guests I'm loading start to say things like "Looks like we got here at a good time!"
My trainer wished me good luck and then disappeared. The average age in the group was about 10 years old, but the worst part was that when the first kid got to me, and I asked him how many, he responded "Twenty-four." And then I learned that "Twenty-four" was the only word in English this kid, or any member of the group for that matter, knew.
After telling me the number, the kids flooded the loading dock. Entirely out of my control. I finally decided that they'd get their own truck, and explained to one of the chaperones how I wanted the kids loaded. The chaperone, thankfully, spoke English and translated to the group. All I got across to him was "Put four people per row. Four per row!" Then we had an extra couple of rows on the truck I could load so the line kept moving smoothly. Thank goodness!
That job, and the disability area, were the final areas for me to train. We covered both today.
And so alas, I find myself finished with training. Hopefully. I say hopefully because tomorrow is my assessment day. And if I fail assessment then I have to do more training. But hopefully I'll pass. I've never met the guy who's going to assess me, so I'm just hoping he's nice. But I'm also pretty confident that I know everything I need to know as well.
So tomorrow is the big assessment. Hope I pass!
Monday, August 29, 2011
Sleeptalking and Blizzard Beach
Apparently I've been studying for work waaaay too much. Apparently, last night I was sleep talking to my roommate. I was going on and on about some nonsense. And then I "forgot" the word I was looking for.
"I'm awake. Because I can't go to sleep because the first one can't go until the second one has the sleep."
"Dianna, are you asleep?"
"No! I just can't think of the word... it's like.... something you have to say before the next one can't go to sleep.... but... like when I say 'move all the way to the left, place your bags in the net bag by your feet, and please stay seated for the whole ride.'"
"You mean your safety spiel?"
"Yeah! You can't sleep before the second one does the spiel... thing... sleep."
So, I don't really know exactly what I said, but according to my roommate Erica, that's kind of how it went. I was so stinking tired.
Anyway, today I slept in as late as I wanted. 7:45am.
Then we went to Blizzard Beach and spent the day hanging out in the water, and I didn't even get a sunburn! We had to leave a little earlier than we would have liked because there were thunder and lightening warnings and they made us get out of the water "until further notice." But we had already done everything we really wanted to do. Then Erica and I went to Celebration and had lunch and walked around the town a bit. After that we were entirely exhausted.
I've actually been exhausted ever since, but I don't want to sleep just yet because then I'll never fall asleep tonight. Then again, maybe I'll be just awake enough to sleep talk some more.
I swear, this job is going to make it into every single aspect of my life. For the rest of my life.
"I'm awake. Because I can't go to sleep because the first one can't go until the second one has the sleep."
"Dianna, are you asleep?"
"No! I just can't think of the word... it's like.... something you have to say before the next one can't go to sleep.... but... like when I say 'move all the way to the left, place your bags in the net bag by your feet, and please stay seated for the whole ride.'"
"You mean your safety spiel?"
"Yeah! You can't sleep before the second one does the spiel... thing... sleep."
So, I don't really know exactly what I said, but according to my roommate Erica, that's kind of how it went. I was so stinking tired.
Anyway, today I slept in as late as I wanted. 7:45am.
Then we went to Blizzard Beach and spent the day hanging out in the water, and I didn't even get a sunburn! We had to leave a little earlier than we would have liked because there were thunder and lightening warnings and they made us get out of the water "until further notice." But we had already done everything we really wanted to do. Then Erica and I went to Celebration and had lunch and walked around the town a bit. After that we were entirely exhausted.
I've actually been exhausted ever since, but I don't want to sleep just yet because then I'll never fall asleep tonight. Then again, maybe I'll be just awake enough to sleep talk some more.
I swear, this job is going to make it into every single aspect of my life. For the rest of my life.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Driving With Guests! Finally!
I got to drive the truck today with guests on it! First time ever! And it was so much easier than I thought it would be. I was seriously so nervous before today as to whether or not I was actually going to be able to pull this attraction off. I felt so behind, and like such a pathetic actor. After driving the first day, I realized that the driving part wasn't so bad. And memorizing the animals wasn't even that hard. But pulling everything together was a beast!
But I did it! I actually did it! I drove the truck, with guests, and didn't even mess up! Except for that one time... when I temporarily forgot what the bontebok was called. But I remembered... eventually! My trainer kept telling me that I was going to call it a bedonkedonk.
I thought it would be harder with guests, but it was actually easier. For one thing, having the back full of people makes the truck way easier to drive around. It's less bumpy too, which is nice. Also, the guests were all so happy and excited to be there it helped me get excited about the animals. I loved telling them random facts and having them be impressed at my random figures. "Yes, the white rhino can weigh up to 5,000 pounds!" "Ohhhh, ahhh!"
I even pulled up to each dock correctly, and my trainer didn't even say a single word to help me. Everyone agrees that docking is the hardest part. Which I think is why my trainer made me dock at Cheers 2 every time we came through. It's the hardest one to dock at, and it's not uncommon to have to back trucks out of there for pulling in wrong. Backing the trucks is a pain. My trainer is really hard on me, but as frustrating as it is, it's probably a good thing.
He did have to regulate my speed and stopping during the safari, though. I kept going too fast, or forgetting the stopping points. There are very specific points during the safari that you're allowed to stop, and you can only stop at them in specific conditions, so it's hard to keep track of that while watching the guests, listening to the radio, watching for animals, talking about the animals, keeping on the ride path, and keeping up with the script.
But I did it! And I feel so stinkin' accomplished! I think I'm gonna go buy myself a sundae. Just because! Ahh, what a good day. :)
But I did it! I actually did it! I drove the truck, with guests, and didn't even mess up! Except for that one time... when I temporarily forgot what the bontebok was called. But I remembered... eventually! My trainer kept telling me that I was going to call it a bedonkedonk.
I thought it would be harder with guests, but it was actually easier. For one thing, having the back full of people makes the truck way easier to drive around. It's less bumpy too, which is nice. Also, the guests were all so happy and excited to be there it helped me get excited about the animals. I loved telling them random facts and having them be impressed at my random figures. "Yes, the white rhino can weigh up to 5,000 pounds!" "Ohhhh, ahhh!"
I even pulled up to each dock correctly, and my trainer didn't even say a single word to help me. Everyone agrees that docking is the hardest part. Which I think is why my trainer made me dock at Cheers 2 every time we came through. It's the hardest one to dock at, and it's not uncommon to have to back trucks out of there for pulling in wrong. Backing the trucks is a pain. My trainer is really hard on me, but as frustrating as it is, it's probably a good thing.
He did have to regulate my speed and stopping during the safari, though. I kept going too fast, or forgetting the stopping points. There are very specific points during the safari that you're allowed to stop, and you can only stop at them in specific conditions, so it's hard to keep track of that while watching the guests, listening to the radio, watching for animals, talking about the animals, keeping on the ride path, and keeping up with the script.
But I did it! And I feel so stinkin' accomplished! I think I'm gonna go buy myself a sundae. Just because! Ahh, what a good day. :)
Friday, August 26, 2011
I Blame Lackage of Sleep
My schedule had me starting at 10 something. But because my trainer had a class, and I like my trainer and didn't want a different one for one random day, we both switched our schedules earlier so we started at 7:30. So I had to wake up at 5:45 to catch the bus at 6:30. Meaning I hardly got much sleep last night. Or the past few nights. But it was worth it. Minus the stupid things I've done today. So let's start the list of Dianna Dum-Dums today.
It all started with me taking the bus going in the wrong direction. Now, I got to DAK okay. But once there, I thought I'd take the backstage bus to my location. It's really within walking distance, but I was tired, so I decided to take the bus. But I got on going in the wrong direction. Then, I realized this. I got off the bus at the stop that's right before where the bus turns around and starts heading in the right direction, the direction I wanted to go. As I walked from the other end of the park (really it was just the Rainforest Cafe) to my location, the same bus passed me twice more. Fail.
Later, I was going through all of the signals and codes I had memorized with my trainer. I finished with Signal 8. Another trainer from across the room threw me a random pop question. "So what's the difference between Signal 70 and Signal 8?"
I had no clue what Signal 70 was. I knew I should have known, but I didn't remember it being on my list. So I answered the best I could.
"........62?"
My trainer would have accepted that. She wasn't impressed.
And then, later, we were going around the ride path. I was driving around, spieling, and purposely talking about every animal in the Savannah except for this one that I didn't know. Of course, my trainer noticed, pointed it out to me, and asked me what it was.
"Ummm, Sable Antelope?" "Nope." "Ummm... it's definitely not a Patterson's Eland..." "Nope." "Ummm... oh! Yeah! I remember his name! But we can't say his name. Umm.. a waterbucket?"
It was a Waterbuck. But my trainer kept making fun of me about waterbuckets the rest of the day. I'm pretty sure that torment will never end. On the upside, I know exactly what a Waterbuck is now.
In my defense, the animals really do look very different in real life than they do in their pictures.
The other problem I had today was I forgot my water bottle. That's a mistake I'll never make again. I was so thirsty by the end of the day that I bought a Powerade out of one of the vending machines (I never, ever buy vending machine stuff) and drank the whole thing in one minute. And was still thirsty.
Then I was on the bus going home. Someone asked if any of my roommates worked in the MK. I told her no, realizing about five minutes later that actually, every single one of my roommates works in the MK. Fail!
Anyway, it's been a crazy day! Totally crazy! Hopefully tomorrow will go better and I'll remember things better. Not likely though, since I'm going to play tonight. :)
It all started with me taking the bus going in the wrong direction. Now, I got to DAK okay. But once there, I thought I'd take the backstage bus to my location. It's really within walking distance, but I was tired, so I decided to take the bus. But I got on going in the wrong direction. Then, I realized this. I got off the bus at the stop that's right before where the bus turns around and starts heading in the right direction, the direction I wanted to go. As I walked from the other end of the park (really it was just the Rainforest Cafe) to my location, the same bus passed me twice more. Fail.
Later, I was going through all of the signals and codes I had memorized with my trainer. I finished with Signal 8. Another trainer from across the room threw me a random pop question. "So what's the difference between Signal 70 and Signal 8?"
I had no clue what Signal 70 was. I knew I should have known, but I didn't remember it being on my list. So I answered the best I could.
"........62?"
My trainer would have accepted that. She wasn't impressed.
And then, later, we were going around the ride path. I was driving around, spieling, and purposely talking about every animal in the Savannah except for this one that I didn't know. Of course, my trainer noticed, pointed it out to me, and asked me what it was.
"Ummm, Sable Antelope?" "Nope." "Ummm... it's definitely not a Patterson's Eland..." "Nope." "Ummm... oh! Yeah! I remember his name! But we can't say his name. Umm.. a waterbucket?"
It was a Waterbuck. But my trainer kept making fun of me about waterbuckets the rest of the day. I'm pretty sure that torment will never end. On the upside, I know exactly what a Waterbuck is now.
In my defense, the animals really do look very different in real life than they do in their pictures.
The other problem I had today was I forgot my water bottle. That's a mistake I'll never make again. I was so thirsty by the end of the day that I bought a Powerade out of one of the vending machines (I never, ever buy vending machine stuff) and drank the whole thing in one minute. And was still thirsty.
Then I was on the bus going home. Someone asked if any of my roommates worked in the MK. I told her no, realizing about five minutes later that actually, every single one of my roommates works in the MK. Fail!
Anyway, it's been a crazy day! Totally crazy! Hopefully tomorrow will go better and I'll remember things better. Not likely though, since I'm going to play tonight. :)
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