Wow I actually love my life, it currently consists of beaches, cocktails, beer, amazing food, perfect weather, fireworks and of course Disney. As my previous posts were fairly mundane and didn’t really instil much excitement I thought I would postpone my blogging until events demanded a post be created. Therefore as I sit in my Chatham Square apartment I happen to be writing my first post on US soil and this time I have an abundance of exciting Disney related news to report on. The only difficulty is where to start, the flight would be sensible but I think we all know the intricacies of a long haul flight and apart from a entertaining attempt by me and laura to name as many Disney characters as possible (we managed about 70) there is nothing extra ordinary to bring to your attention. Nor with our arrival in Orlando the journey was pretty average, and despite been considerably delayed in Miami due to the notorious Floridian storms we arrived in Orlando with out any issues, although through a fortunate error immigration at Miami had to extend my visa by a further 6 months – very useful if I actually had the funds or purpose to stay in the US however at the time of writing i have neither, but nice to have the option.
After collecting bags we made our way to Vista Way to check in to our home for the next few months, I always love been greeted by very happy, very enthusiastic members of the housing operations department and despite been horrifically tired you also make a valiant attempt to be just as happy and enthusiastic. After an initial introduction you are issued with your key – a critical moment which much anticipation had surrounded, however the god of housing operations smiled on me and although Patterson was unavailable I was lucky to be allocated Chatham. So far so good the rooms are great actually bigger then Patterson which is nice and I have some pretty cool roommates, and quite bizarrely a strange sense of de ja vue (yes spelling isnt my forte - nor is french, but you get the idea) as I am again sharing with 2 Turkish, guys, 2 French guys and 2 British guys, in addition this year we also have 2 Dutch guys which is great and we are all getting on pretty well.
As anticipated the first 2 days of Disney were spent in the commons club room going through the laborious, monotonous paperwork and housing regulations although its for our benefit it is undoubtably the most boring 2 days of the program. Plus side, we did get our specific role assignments and this is always a fun moment to compare locations, its clear to see who is elated with their location and who is majorly disappointed with where they will be working for the summer. Im afraid I was bordering more on the disillusioned side as it was confirmed i will be working at pop century, although in complete contrast to my previous experience I will now be working in a value resort, not exactly what I wanted but open mind and all that so the show must go on.
My first couple of days on location were actually alot different to what I was expecting, I envisioned a Travelodge style hotel with dull decor, miserable staff and dilapidated building, but of course this is Disney and with that comes the notorious level of guest service, instead i was greeted with a flamboyant, colourful, immaculately maintained pleasant resort that carried a not so subtle element of entertainment . For those of you that don’t know pop century is a themed hotel that features different decades from the 50’s to the 90’s and exhibits over size iconic items appropriate to the decade, so the 90s building has a huge (and I mean huge) cell phone on either side, its difficult to depict in writing so see the photo below to fully exemplify the eccentricity of this resort.
At this point I feel I should talk about traditions although slightly out of sequence it is a defiantly worth a mention. For most traditions is a little dull, I however love the traditions class it really emphasises the value of the Disney company and what it means to people across the world, and to be a part of that is incredibly exciting. Traditions really does instill a sense of pride and also a momentary period of self reflections as you consider your own ability to make magic. (yes I know cheesy, but when you think over 3000 people applied for this position and less then 500 were selected really does make you want to do the best you can do for the guests.
Well I think that’s enough for this blog, I have another one already in the pipe line so see ya real soon
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