The first week is complete and here’s to the second week of a continuation of training day 2. This training day was called “All Jazzed Up!” I got to the Port Orleans Cast Services Building early so we had to wait inside their cafeteria to clock in 15 minutes before the class started. There was a lady who was there to assist us on how to swipe our blue I. D’s into their system, so we can get paid for it. The 15 minutes before is for us not to rush to clock in, it gives us time to gather everything we need before the actual time our shift starts and we do not get paid for us clocking in 15 minutes before. The class was able to see a full map of Port Orleans Resort and they described to us that the resort itself is two times bigger than Manhattan. The different teams in the resort such as food and beverage, merchandise, and housekeeping gather as a team to be efficient, so they can make magical moments for their guests. In the video, each person from those teams gave us a warm welcoming for joining their teams. Afterward, our instructors took us on a little trip to see both side of the Resort which are Port Orleans Riverside; where I work at and Port Orleans French Quarter. At Port Orleans Riverside we were able to experience one of the rooms in alligator bayou, the theme for this family room is all about Louis the Alligator from the Disney movie, The Princess and the frog. One of our instructors pointed out to us that Port Orleans Resort is one of the Resorts that eliminated the individual travel sized bottles of boday wash, shampoo, and conditioner from all their rooms. Disney replaced it with larger bottles of H20+ Beauty Sea Marine Hair and Sea Salt Body Sets instead to save money and sadly many guests cannot put these bottles inside their suitcase to take home. Once we experienced the family room we went into the lobby to visit the front desk and to see where the QSR is at the sit-down dining restaurant (Boatwrights), the merchandise store and their arcade.
At Disney University depending on your role people were divided up to their assigned groups. I was assigned for the Quick Food and Beverage Management group where we first got the chance to look at many videos of how Walt Disney World makes their guests feel special every time no matter how old someone is or whichever condition they have physically or mentally. One specific video that stood out to me was a little girl whose language is sign language and her parents were afraid the characters that she will meet at Disney World wouldn’t understand her. Once she got to meet Mickey Mouse and he did sign language back to her, she automatically smiled and gave him a hug. She was so amazed and felt so delighted to have that special moment with Mickey and seeing that in the video made me get a little emotional in a happy way. Afterward, we ended up heading to their computer lab for food and beverage safety training which consists of five different sections for us to pass.
On my first day of Onsight training, my group was bigger than most training groups it consisted of eight CP’s including me, so they gave us two trainers. Our two trainers, Russell and Angel were very friendly and funny they made us feel comfortable by allowing us to play a game. They separated us into teams which I worked with one girl whose name is Nichole from New Jersey. The game was to fill out as many questions as we can about food and beverage, ask anyone who works in the Back of the house only two questions the most and whichever team has the most questions filled out will win something. Unfortunately, my partner and I ended up coming into third place and everyone was able to win a cookie which is the size of an IHOP pancake, they make their cookies from scratch. Afterward, they taught all eight of us on how to clean beverage island in an orderly manner which is in the center of the quick service dining room. It has two sides of two soda machines that talk to guests on how to place their Resort mugs with a magical sound effect, regular coffee and decaf, an ice tea machine, and all the condiments. They basically explained to us that one person who is assigned to close beverage island must clean both sides. When I heard this I knew this will be difficult to do all alone. At first, it didn’t seem as much work due to everyone cleaning it all together at once. When we all completed with cleaning beverage island we were able to pick out our cookies which our options were chocolate chips, sugar cookie with sprinkles, oatmeal raisins, and the M&M cookie. Overall, my first day of Onsight training was fun and filled with any information I had to memorize, and I was looking forward to Day two.
On Day two of Onsight training, my trainer was Rut who is originally from Puerto Rico and trained my colleague Abigail from Michigan and I, Create Your Own Salad, Burger, and Sandwich stations. For the salad station it was straightforward there’s two different lettuce; Romaine and Spring mix, people can pick the choices that they see in front of them; mandarin, chickpeas, Cherry Tomato, cucumber, cranberry, and there are five dressings; Citrus, Caesar, Ranch, Italian, and Balsamic Vinaigrette, and croutons. Next, to the salad station is the sandwich where they have pre-made sandwiches; Roast Beef Melt, Carved Cajun Turkey Club, Chicken Salad, Caprese, BBQ Pork, Kids Turkey, Kids PB&J, and Kids Chicken Salad. One person takes the orders on a slip and states to the Culinary cook which sandwich it is, all the adult sandwiches come with their house-made chips. Also, in the sandwich station, they have chicken noodle soup and Creole Gumbo soup with rice underneath. I got to taste their Gumbo soup which was my first time and it was very delicious. In the burger station, there are three positions which are the person taking orders, the second person completing the orders with sides on them such as fries and coleslaw, and the third person is on fryer frying chicken nuggets, corndogs, French fries, and shrimp. Teamwork in this station is very important because the person taking the orders must be able to yell out what exactly needs to be fried when that person hears them, they usually yell out “HEARD” which is letting that person know you are aware to what they just said. I was able to experience all three positions and for taking orders I was a little bit nervous, but the guests were very understanding and patient, they can tell that I was training due to me having “Earning My Ears” bold in white stuck underneath my name tag. When Rut taught us how to use the fryer I was slightly afraid of getting burned. In the middle of Ruth training us she allowed us to taste their signature Bayou burger which the ingredients are Brioche Rolls, Chopped Braised Prime Rib on top of the Patty, Abita Beer Fondue and house-made pickles. The Bayou Burger was so delicious and juicy, I barely eat burgers, but I will like to get this burger during my lunch break one day. When we went back to the burger station, she pointed out that there’s a little sign to remind us where to put the nuggets, fries, corn dogs and shrimp in which fryer just in case we forget. I didn’t have to worry about how long it stays in the fryer because once the button is pressed the timer automatically comes on and when it’s done it makes a loud beeping sound. Towards the end of the night, she taught us how to pre-close which is around 9:00 pm and exactly at 11:00 pm we must get rid of the food, wrap up everything that has been open, complete the spoiler sheet and usually one person cleans up the burger station. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would’ve been, it was just tiring, and a lot of cleaning had to be done in Burger. I am looking forward to week 3 to see how the other stations will be.
