Walt Disney World College Program

in front of universal studios

I made it! So there are 10 more days left until my program ends. These past few weeks were pretty good–we’re still busy at work and getting new part time and full timers. One of my leaders once told me that All Star Movies gets a lot of first time visitors so I spend a lot of time repeatedly answering the same questions. I’m also really enjoying being on cash register. I get to interact with guests and be in my own space in a way. I’m also done with classes and ended up getting better grades than expected so I’m happy.

For the first time in my life I went to Universal Studios. It’s surprisingly not that far from Patterson Court. I was there for most of the day and had a blast!!

a fellow CP and I at Animal Kingdom

It’s still really encouraging to meet other CPs who shared the same goals. Zintle who I met at Animal Kingdom shared she wants to be a flight attendant as well. It really made my day.

I was also able to take dance classes during my time here and ended up making both an awesome teacher and new friend. I hope she gets to visit me back home.

my new friend Nazirah and I at A Magi Bellydance Studio

The only thing I wish I would have done differently was gone random with roommates and opted to live in 6-8 person apartment but I have no regrets. People got the best and not so great version of me here and I’m ready to move on.

I can’t believe we are at week 15! This semester flew by!! Finals are finally over and I can breathe! My first presentation which was based on a “Shark Tank” pitch went pretty well!  Our Prof loved our pitch and “invested” in our company.  In my other class, my group had to do a presentation on the Build-A-Bear company. My job was to explain the training style and procedures on how they run their business. From first picking out a bear, to stuffing, accesories, and then making a birth certificate for the bear.  There is a lot of little things that go into the process.  That presentation went pretty well as well!  I think we knocked it out of the park.

Disney’s Contemporary Resort

This week, besides working at my home resort Disney’s Pop Century Resort, I also picked up shifts at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort and Disney’s Contemporary Resort.  This was my first time picking up a shift at the Contemporary and I was SO excited!! The costume was very professional, a suit and tie.  Because this was a DVC (Disney Vacation Club) resort, we did not have many physical check-ins. Most of the guests had online check-in.  Since I had a lot of down time, my leader took my for a full tour of the resort which was really sweet.  The top two floors of the resort, 12 & 14 are the executive suites.  You are only able to access them if you tap your magicband on the elevator.  There was additional concierge on these floors for our VIP’s which I thought was so cool. The lounges on the top floors were GORGEOUS and had amazing views of the Magic Kingdom!  One of the coolest parts of my day was checking in the voice of the Disney princess Moana.  She was so sweet (and young). I checked in her whole family and walked her to her suite on the 14th floor.  She was so grateful and kind.  Her suite was HUGE.  I think it was the biggest suite that the contemporary has to offer!

Overall, it was a great semester! I have learned so much about the hospitality industry and am looking forward to the next few months staying with the company!

Week 14… wow I can’t believe this semester is almost coming to a close!! I wasn’t scheduled many days this week which is perfect because our finals are next week.  This week has basically been spent working on my two class presentations!  The final in one class is a “Shark Tank” pitch trying to sell my Deluxe Resort to the sharks.  The premice is to show the sharks why they should invest in our resort.  Our deluxe resort is called “The Roots Resort & Spa” and is based in Louisianna.  Our selling point was that every guest would recieve a pop-socket for their phone which would act as a magicband.  This would allow guests to get into their room, charge to their room, and have access to the spa & other amentities straight from the pop-socket.  I love the idea and am so excited to present with my group! We put a lot of work into it!

Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa

Since I was not scheduled many days again, I also picked up a few shifts.   This week I picked up shifts at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa!  This was also very different than any other resort I have worked at in the past.  This resort is a DVC (Disney Vacation Club) so most of the reservations have opted for online check-in.  I was a little nervous at first, but it ended up being SO EASY to work there.  It was almost too easy.  Since many of their guests were online check-in, it was so slow at the desk!  At my home resort Disney’s Pop Century Resort we usually have 750-900 check-ins per night.  At Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa, we only had 47 physical check-ins all day! I personally only checked-in 6 guests during my 8 hour shift.  It was cool working there, but I don’t think I would want to pick up again! The day went by so slow, I felt like I wasn’t being challenged.

Overall, week 14 was great!  Looking forward to the last week for my journal entries!

Week 13 has come and gone! I was deployed at Disney’s Art of Animation again, but only for the beginning of the week.  I had a few days off the end of the week so I picked up shifts at a different resort.  The resort I picked up at was Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campgrounds.  It was MUCH different than the other two resorts I have worked at in the past, Disney’s Pop Century Resort and Disney’s Art of Animation Resort.  At this resort, you can book cabins or campsites.  There aren’t any hotel rooms at all! It took a little getting used to when checking-in guests, but it wasn’t too bad!  At one point in my shift, I was put into the “lanes”.  The “lanes” is basically a drive-thru check-in for campers or rv’s who want to drive straight to their campsite after check-in.  It was little cold standing out there with an iPad, wasn’t too bad.

Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort

Later on in the week I also had some cousins visit me from Miami! I haven’t seen them in a year, so it it was quite a nice surprise when they told me they were coming up for the week!  We has brunch at “First Watch” which is a really delicious brunch restaraunt chain down here.  After “First Watch” we headed to Disney Springs to walk around and check out the “Tree Trail”.  The “Tree Trail” is a christmas tree trail in Disney Springs which displays christmas trees decorated after different disney movies and rides from the parks.  The times spend with my cousins was so fun. Unfortunately I had work later on in the day so I wasn’t able to stay with them for long.

First Watch Brunch

Tree Trail at Disney Springs

Overall Week 13 was a great one! Looking forward to Week 14!

Wow can’t believe it’s close to the end of the program. I’m actually thrilled and can’t wait to start my new position, I’m honestly over food and beverage. Week 14, I got a few night shifts but mainly mornings, usually when this happens I attempt to trade my nights with people who have mornings but I decided to just keep my nights. One night my shift ended at 10:30 and towards the ending of my program, I finally get to close the sandwich and salad shops. First time ever but it wasn’t hard at all. Everything is pretty much wrapped up already, all I have to do is clean the counters, throw away the food that’s been out and finish wrapping plates and lids that have been opened.

I had a few entertaining and special moments during this week. A day before my family comes both of my classes end, which by the way I passed my midterm with a 80 something. Although I was nervous for both of my presentations I was able to ace them all with minor errors. Afterwards, I had to get a last minute outfit for formal which I was able to find something cute and simple. I ended up going with one of my roommates and my other roommate went back home to visit her family. Once we arrived, I immediately seen Gabby and her coworkers there, we all danced and had an amazing time. Sam ended up coming later but we was all able to take a cute picture together. I also was able to see some of my coworkers, neighbors and surprisingly one of my leaders was working as well during the formal. I really enjoyed myself at the formal, we all had a blast!!!

Next day, my family comes and I met them at Disney Springs to celebrate my older sister’s pre- birthday dinner at Planet Hollywood. I was also thankful that us cast members get a 20% off there as well. The days my family was here I got them tickets to enjoy Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at Magic kingdom, we got to enjoy all the four parks, and just kept celebrating my sisters birthday weekend. My family was very appreciative and had a delighted mini vacation in Florida with me. I, myself was extremely thrilled to have them here this week. I was able to get two days off, have morning shifts, and was able to get ER’s at work which are requesting to leave early before your shift ends. Looking forward to week 15 for our graduation ceremony!

Week 12 was one rollercoaster and Week 13 ended up being a little better. At work, there’s so much I continue to learn everyday, literally. Although it’s toward the ending of the fall program I still continue to find out new things at work. At this point mornings are my best friends I haven’t had a night shift once. When I was at the register a guest ended up teaching me something about the dining plan. If a guest has a child under 3 they’re not included into the dining plan and the parent has to pay for them separately. The program is almost over and I didn’t even know that until I had an interaction with this particular family. They were very understanding, wished me the best in my future and the college program. I ended up taking one of my coworkers three hour shift at night although I already worked in the morning. I didn’t mind getting the extra money and plus I haven’t worked nights in a while it wasn’t a closing shift so that’s why I took it. Closing shifts end at 11:30 and her shift was only from 6pm to 9pm. My coworker was a Cp and for me taking her shift she drove me home, brought me lunch and had an uber wait for me when I came out of work. I was extremely appreciative to her offerings since I had a morning shift the next day and didn’t want to take the Disney bus. The Disney buses take a long period of time to come sometimes and it takes about close to a hour to get home when my apartment is only fifteen minutes away from Port Orleans Riverside. The same CP who gave away her shift, sadly had to self term due to financial issues back home with her school.

For my Human Resources class I have a project on Trader Joe’s. There are four girls and myself in this group and everyone is in the ICP except for me. I have three girls from Japan and the other one is Canadian. It being the second to last week of classes to hand in the whole project with your partners there, none of them show up. I find out that they all went to their graduation ceremony for ICP’s and then the Canadian girl I thought was there ended up not being there. My professor ended up finding out for me that she self termed. Since she was the one who had the google file on her account and didn’t allow us to edit, I decided to take the leading role and do a PowerPoint instead. Since I’m the one who’s fluent in English, I made sure everyone had a part and I constructed the whole PowerPoint. Although it was a little frustrating, everyone did they part and all we had to do was prepare for the presentation. Looking forward to classes ending; receiving grades, the Disney formal, and my family is coming on week 14!!!

Here’s to week 12, once again I have all morning shifts and I love it. I prefer mornings shifts than nights. I mainly get along with every cast member, even culinary and a two of the chefs; not all of them are friendly but I’m still am. I was actually planning on heading home to see my family but it didn’t work out. Before I knew this I had asked a part timer if she can take my shift and she agreed to. To switch your shift with another cast member that is off, you will have to get the approval from a leader and they will have to get both perners (Our Disney’s I.D numbers) in order to put it into the system. At first, I had asked one of my leaders prior if she can approve it, I already gave her everything she needed and she was fine with it. I noticed on the hub I didn’t get any notification about my day off and I had to ask another leader, how long does it take for it to process through once a leader approves it. The other leader I had asked said it should go through right away and come to find out the initial leader I had asked never put it into the system before her ten week medical leave. To be honest I was upset but the second leader I had asked did it for me although I knew at that point I couldn’t go home due to personal circumstances. I didn’t mind giving away my shift and helping another cast member who barely had hours this week.

This week was a little overdue and stressful since Gabby and I had to finish our 35 page business plan. We both was busy but we made sure we got it done together and with our other partners including Dez. Also, I forgot about my human resource midterm and I had this misconception that it was going to be online I don’t know why. I still had some time to study as much as I can. I did my best and ended up being the last one finishing the test. I am ready for week 13 at this point.

Now I notice I have no more night shifts and I’m starting to get more morning shifts. At first it was a struggle having nights and morning shifts during the same week. I am actually getting used to morning shifts and I am not a morning person at all. This week I noticed I am killing it at the register in the mornings. Starting to know exactly which meals guests have before they even walk up to me and where exactly are the buttons to that specific meal, snack, soft drink, alcoholic drink, and desserts. I get excited every time because before I use to struggle, I will feel that guests will start to get impatient and I will have to say “Sorry” every time. One magic moment I had was when I was in the burger station, I noticed this couple and the guy is blind. When their burgers were done I noticed he ended up being alone his wife went to go get some drinks and didn’t realize their food was done. I immediately asked the guy if I can help him to the register, he didn’t mind, once I did his wife came to the register and thanked me. Moments like this brightens up my whole day, I will never forget that. I love helping people and making their day feel amazing and special.

In my advanced studies class we was on the topic of event planning and my professor Pamela was able to present to us different event videos that Disney event planners created. There were videos of kids birthday parties, adults birthday parties and weddings in Magic kingdom. All these videos were breathtaking and beautiful. I wouldn’t mind actually assisting with these events and I use to set up for different events before, once a wedding at a golf club and then at my past catering job.

This week I also got to experience another entertaining night which it was for Sam’s birthday, he decided to celebrate at Epcot’s food and wine. Since I’ve been extremely busy ever since food and wine started I didn’t get to experience it until Sam’s birthday celebration. He invited Gabby, my roommates, his roommates and his friends from work. We all had a blast in tasting different foods from around the world and enjoying the warm weather in October.

Week 11 was one fun week!  I wonder what’s next in these few more weeks in my first program, week 12 I’m ready for you.

Week 9 is over, here’s to Week 10 which was very interesting. This week I was able to have all morning shifts once again. At this point I felt like I needed to know more about the register. There’s so many buttons to remember and get used to. Register is not as hard but it’s just remembering where everything is at a fast pace. I still take my time so I do not have to make any errors, once you make errors on the register you have to cancel the whole transaction. With the Disney’s dining system it doesn’t allow every meal and snack to be purchase at the same time. Once I greet the guests and see that they have more than their entrée, snack or drink I have to inform them that everything can’t be processed at once. I will have to do the quick service meals first and then the snacks afterwards and every time I say this majority of the guests understands. Usually when a guest doesn’t know their pin I always try my best to assist them by asking them if they have the Disney app. On the Disney app they are able to go into their profile, next press Magic bands and cards, and then it will have the option to reset their pin. Usually it works and sometimes it doesn’t and I will have to cancel the transaction and ask them if they’re on the dining plan and even if they’re not it’s the same processes. Once I get to cancel the transaction, a receipt will come out, behind that receipt I will put “999”, ask for their first and last name and their room number. Every time a cast member has a “999” they have to give it to the leaders or a coordinator whichever one. Some of the guests are either confused or misinformed about the dining plans and I will have to explain to them from scratch. I actually prefer the register sometimes when it’s busy instead of being in the shops.

The exciting news I received this week was my extension letter, that I got accepted!!! I honestly knew I was going to get accepted since I haven’t called out and didn’t have any reprimands. My first choice was to be a vacation planner and then my second choice was Merchandise. I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get the vacation planner and instead I got Merchandise but I am grateful anyways that I am staying. I look forward to knowing next where’s my location. Looking forward to week 11.