August 5th was also the last day of work for most of us Internationals. Most of us had the PM shift which means we would be able to take pictures after work once the parc is closed. Break out was definitely emotional that night! We were all trying to keep the tears in and enjoy our last few moments together. The ones who had the morning shift even came back in their costumes to take pictures of all of us together! I am going to miss all of you Goonies so much! If you are ever in Québec, send me a message. I would love to see you! See you next summer! On the last day of our program, Alex, one of our coordinators, had organized as a congratulations for all of our hard work, a special screening of Pirates of the Caribbean on the beach. After working and changing out of our costumes, we made our way to the beach for this last moment together and popcorn!
0 Comments
Our program ended on August 7th this year and I was working everyday from July 31st to August 5th. Doesn't mean I was not going to have fun though! The last week of work is the best, but also the worst of the summer! It's the best because you know everyone and everything you have do to. You are no longer the trainee or the new girl, but part of the team. But that also makes it the worst because every moment that you spend with your coworkers, you are counting down the last moments you are going to spend with them and that is terrible! Typhoon has some of the best Cast Members on all of Disney property and I am going to miss all of them very much! On July 31st, after working all day, I went to Hollywood Studios to join Anipier and Julie for the fireworks and Fantasmic! It was my last time at Hollywood Studios and it was great to see two of my favorite shows after a hard day at work. The mornings of August 1st, 2nd and 3rd, before going to work, were spent packing all of my belongings into one and a half suitcases so I wouldn't have to do it on my last day. This was really hard for me, not only because I have way too many things to fit in only those tiny suitcases, but because it meant the end of a part of my life when I was very happy! As much as I was ready to go home when the end of my program arrived last year, I was so not ready to go and leave all of my Disney friends behind this time around. August 4th was probably my favorite day of work at Typhoon ever! I was on stand on my favorite rotation for the first part of it, but during the special event, from 8:30 PM to 1 AM, I was an extra! Being an extra is so much fun because it's so different from the usual lifeguard job. I spent an hour picking up lost articles and bringing them to guest services, and another hour picking leaves in the lazy river, and another one throwing the tubes out of the river and stacking them, all of that with the Teen Beach 2 soundtrack I could sing and dance to. Plus, I got lifeguard of the day!! Awesome right!?! On July 28th, Anipier and I decided to spend one last day at Typhoon as guest before the end of the program which is coming fast! We arrived when it opened at 9 AM and we did a few attractions before the Shark Reef opened at 11 AM. Something you don't know about me is that I am terrified of fishes! Even Nemo! It was one of my goals, after working at Typhoon Lagoon for two summers, to try the Shark Reef at least once. And I did it! I was screaming the whole time and I didn't enjoy it at all, but it's a start! After that it we were cold because it was cloudy that day so we went to get my phone and take a picture of all the Hidden Mickeys we know of. We were both working at 3:30 so we ate and went backstage to change and work until 1 AM! Hidden Mickeys are little Mickey heads that are hidden in the parcs. You can find them everywhere in the parks if you look close enough. Ask a Cast Member and they will be able to show you some of them, but even we don't know where they all are! Only the Imagineers who design them know exactly how many there are.
On Tuesday June 30th, I was working a PM shift and got put on the "Kiddie Rotation", which means I was mostly working at Ketchakiddie Creek, the kids section. I love that rotation because you don't have to scan all the time and can interact with kids. But, on that day, there were two little girls who were too tall to do the slides. Instead of arguing with us, crying or throwing a tantrum like most kids (or their parents) do, they decided to become "lifeguards in training" (their words not mine) and spent at least one and a half hours helping other children get on their tubes and gently pushing them down the slide and helping them get out at the bottom. They even asked us what the rules were for that slide so they could help us enforce them. They were awesome!
Christina, an other lifeguard who had been at the kiddie raft while they were helping us, and I thought that they should be rewarded for their good work and, since she was out early that day, she clocked out, went to Guest Services (while she wasn't working), asked for Honorary Citizen pins and coupons for free ice cream and came back to the kiddie area to give it to them. They were so happy and it totally made our day! It was so cute! And girls, if you are reading this, thank you so much for your help! You did a great job! It's days like this that I love working for Disney! On Tuesday June 23rd, I had to go back to work for 8 days in a row, BUT we started something amazing this week at Typhoon Lagoon: the split shifts! It is very simple, instead of working the whole day, you work either the morning shift or the afternoon shift. 6 hours everyday! Isn't it amazing?! I now feel a lot better because the cough medication as been helping a lot and the split shifts allow me to enjoy at least half my day and get some rest when I need it.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, I simply slept in and got some rest before going to work in the afternoon, but on Thursday, I was working the AM shift so, after work, I went to Epcot with Erin, a girl from Ontario I work with. There was a HUGE thunderstorm, but we did Soarin' (remember that fastpass that Sean gave me? I didn't have to wait in line this time!), Living with the Land and Circle of Life. After that, we met Pooh and Tigger in United Kingdom, went to the Rose & Crown Pub for dinner and we got to see Illuminations form the restaurant's terrace and had the best possible view! And a duck tried to eat Erin's food, it was funny! On Friday, I was working PM so I went to Typhoon to play with Erin and Vanessa in the morning, worked 6 hours, and then spent almost the whole night talking with Florence and Laurie. We hadn't spent any time just the 3 of us since the program started and it was great to see them and get updated on each other's life. We live right next door, but with our busy schedules we don't get to see each other as much as we would like. Since we went to bed at 4 in the morning, I slept in on Saturday before going to work. On Sunday, I went to Typhoon to play again, but with Anipier this time. She had In-Service Training in the morning and we were both working at 2:30! Plus, her family was coming so she had to be there anyway. We had so much fun and I hadn't seen her in forever (ok 4 days, but we usually spent everyday together so it felt like forever!) so it was good to see her. At night, I went to Vista Way because Simon's sister and her boyfriend are here so they had a BBQ. Florence and Rosalie were there too and it was so much fun. We talked, went to the pool and laughed. We ended up leaving Vista at about 2 AM and going to bed way too late, but it was so worth it! On Monday, instead of sleeping in, Florence and I made a reservation to spend one night at the Polynesian Village Resort on July 7th! I am so excited! I also passed my inspection (Thanks Disney Housing for the Rice Crispies :D). I worked my PM shift and then went to bed early because I was exhausted from the night before. And here I am, Tuesday morning, updating my blog before going to work for my last day in a row! It's been an awesome 8 days and I hope the rest of the summer is just as amazing! The split shifts are wonderful because I can finally take advantage of the fact that I live in Florida, right next to Disney World and actually enjoy my summer! My schedule has been pretty crazy lately. I expected it because it was the same thing last summer, but I still wanted to show you guys what it looked like :) Sorry for the bad quality! I just took a picture of my computer screen.
How it works is, every week at midnight, during the night between Saturday and Sunday, we get the schedule for the next week. So we know two weeks in advance when we are going to work. As you can see, we are working a lot of very long hours. Everyday, we get a 30 minute unpaid break and, depending on how many hours we work, we can get a 30 and/or a 15 minute paid break. Since I have been here, I never had less than two 30 minute breaks since I have never worked less than 9 hours. The title sounds like so much fun, but it's not exactly what you think! "Let's Go Play" is in fact the name of an event held at Typhoon Lagoon once a year for which I was working. It was fun though! It is a gay pride event and I have no idea how people heard about it and got tickets or how much it cost, but there were a lot of people there. I was working from 7:30 PM to 2:30 AM. The whole week before the event, everyone kept telling us that they didn't want to work the event, that it would just be guys kissing and being way too intimate in public. Even though I did see a couple of things I wish I could unsee, they were all very nice to us and it was way better than I thought it would be. A lot of them thanked me for working late and they kept asking me how I was doing and if I was having fun. Yes they were extravagant and yes they were wearing very tiny speedos, but they were also super nice and respectful for the most part. I wouldn't mind working that event again and I actually DID have fun!
MAGICAL MOMENT Just before the event, there was a gigantic thunderstorm and when the event started it was still raining a little, but the sun was setting at the same time so the whole sky was bright pink and there was a complete double rainbow over the park for about 45 minutes! Get it? A double rainbow for a gay pride event!! I'm sure it was planned! Disney magic at it's finest haha Sorry for not updating in forever, but like I said in the last post, I have been working a lot. I survived my six days in a row of 9:45 AM to 7 PM! Hooray! Oh and don't forget on that last day I had in-service training so instead of starting work at 9:45, I started at 7:30! I'm exhausted and my feet still hurt so bad. I bought blister band-aids and tape because the band-aids won't stay in place and they fall off as soon as I step in the water or the sand (I work at a beach themed water park where there is sand everywhere). Not much has happened. I wake up, go to work, work very long shifts, go home, sleep and do it again! Life at Disney is hard, but even if the good days don't necessarily out-number the bad ones, they are still completely worth it and I wouldn't trade my life here for anything in the world!
|
AuthorHello everyone! My name is Marie-Ève. I am from Québec, Canada and this blog is about my summer as a cast member in Walt Disney World. Since most of my family and friends speak French, everything on this blog will be written both in English and French. Archives
December 2015
Categories
All
|