WDW College Program

Sunrise at 6AM while on jetBlue plane, New York City -> Orlando

The setup for my next four months

Traditions, officially my first day working at Disney. Received my ears <3

First time at Universal Studios

The Polaroids on my board, reminiscing about my friends back home and the moments each picture was taken

Rewind Wednesdays at House of Blues, roommate bonding over music from the 80’s, 90’s and 00’s

My first week in Florida has been eventful, from arriving to Florida and meeting and bonding with all my new roommates, and starting training as a quick service food and beverage cast member at Pecos Bill cafe and inn at Frontier land in Magic Kingdom. The week started on Monday morning on August 17th with my 6AM flight to Orlando, from checking in and finding out that I will be residing at Vista way to casting where I received my training schedule and got my fingerprints taken all the way to my trip to Walmart to purchase a comforter set and food marked the beginning of my four month stay in Florida. On Tuesday I attended a housing meeting to learn about the basic rules and regulations that must be followed on property including anyone not living at the property must be off grounds at 1AM and if they are not apart of DCP they must be signed in by you and you are responsible for them. We were also warned away from party buses and were told that previously a cast member who was drugged and found naked in the bushes. Wednesday was the day I was able to completely unpack and settle down into my room slowly adjusting to life in a new house. While putting up my Polaroids I reminisced about my friends back home and the moments each picture was taken. Wednesday was also Rewind, Wednesdays at House of Blues in Downtown Disney where I attended with my roommates and bonded over music from the 80’s, 90’s and 00’s. Thursday was officially my first day working at Disney, traditions day. While attending class at Disney University I learned some fun facts about Disneyland and Walt Disney World. “Safety begins with me,” is one of the four keys they emphasize the most on, the other three are show, efficiency and courtesy. I also received my Mickey ears and also met the boss himself, there is only one Mickey. Friday was an eventful day, meeting up with several friends that came to Florida from Buffalo and traveling to Universal Studios for the day. While at Universal Studios I experienced the rides and it was exciting, they were interactive because you could feel the heat and it felt like I was in an movie or film, it was not something I believe I could have experienced on any rides in New York. Saturday was my first day of training, where we were introduced to operations, they explained and reviewed the basic understanding of how people should act or react in certain situations. Sunday we were given a tour of Magic Kingdom and also we were able to ride on the haunted house ride, my first Disney ride. Afterwards we were given a presentation on food and beverage and a trick to help remember the menu with a box method. I was also given the menu of my location and a picture of the uniform, looking at the picture I found out I was doing BOH (back of house) in the kitchen. I was excited because after conversing with my trainer she informed me I would be trained in both front and back of house, giving me more experience and a better understanding of how my location works and operates.

The “Traditions” was a great start of role training at Walt Disney World. After our three days of training classes, I was schedule to be on the job training. This is my first time at Hollywood studios as a cast member so I didn’t know what to expect. I thought to myself, “outdoor vending shouldn’t be that difficult, the tasks are simple such as selling the products and provide a great customer service.” Later did I know I underestimated this role as an outdoor food vendor. Ever since that day I’ve never worked so hard in my life before.

There are a lot of details to remember when it comes to fulfilling my role. Since I’m a CP intern, they gave us closing shifts most of the time. My training days were pretty successful. Even though some explanations were vague but I was glad that me and my training team worked until the end of the shift without complaining despite the weather conditions. I am also grateful for my trainers for being so kind and patient with the trainees. They made the working environment a friendly place to be in.