November Adventures - Working in Ireland, Becoming a Trainer, Volunteering & Thanksgiving!

The first few weeks of November were exhausting, yet ever so awesome!

I have been working 6-day weeks for the last month or so; to be able to save up some money so I can do some traveling later in the year.

On Saturday November 9th - there was a special event happening at Disney; The Wine & Dine Half Marathon which was a 13.1 mile course through a number of the Disney Parks and finishing at Epcot.

I started work at 11-30am that morning and was due to finish at 9pm. However; I was offered the chance to work for an extra 7 hours at the Ireland Food & Wine stand!

Normally, I would never extend a shift that long; however, I had previously asked my managers for six weeks if I could work at the Ireland stand during the Food & Wine Festival - and now I finally could! 

Working at the Ireland Stand was absolutely amazing! It didn't feel like work; especially with the length of time I was there! 

It was amazing seeing the Wine & Dine Marathoners with their medals and it was amazing to speak to some of them also!

November just seemed to get better and better though, when I found out I had been picked to become a Disney Trainer!

I attended a Disney Trainer class and received my amazing trainer pin that day.

I trained one of the new arrivals, Emma; and I was extremely lucky to spend five days training her. She made my job so much easier and she picked up everything so quickly. It was lovely meeting and training her.

A few weeks later, I was able to take some much needed time off work to be able to volunteer with Special Olympics Florida. This organisation is very important to me, especially after volunteering as an Event Services Manager with Special Olympics Ireland last year.

I volunteered at the Florida Fall Classic, and my role was to be a 'Fan in the Stand'. I was able to make some amazing posters for the kids that were there, who were all between the ages of 2 and 7. Talk about cute! 

At the end of the evening, all of the volunteers created a guard of honour that the kids ran through - which was fantastic and the smiles on their faces made it all worthwhile!

My experience with Special Olympics Florida is making me extremely excited about further volunteering whilst living in the US.

November was also the month of a very unique day as the whole of the US celebrated Thanksgiving. 

It's days like these that make me personally feel so thankful for having the opportunity to live and work in the USA - and even when I'm having a bad day, I always try to remember how incredibly lucky I am to be here.

So that's November over and done with - It's now December and it's only 24 days until Christmas! I'm looking forward to spending Christmas with my amazing Disney friends. Keep an eye out for more updates!

Podium Problems

Being a Cast Member at Disney is amazing; absolutely fantastic, in fact. Working in the UK Pavilion is full of excitement, enjoyment and magic!

As part of our Cultural Representative Program, we start from the bottom and work our way up. In the UK Pavilion, we start off working in the Fish and Chip Shop, Beer Cart, the podium at the front of the Rose & Crown Restaurant and stocking; (And after three months, I still can't change the gas). 

With all jobs, there are times when your mind is blown by some of the things people say; which brings me to the main point of this post; Podium Problems.

From Ten to One, here is my list of Podium Problems.

10 - It's been a long day in Chippie;

Picture the scene - you're having the longest day imaginable; it' been intensely busy all day; you're just about to shut up shop, and have very little food left. A guest arrives at 8.58pm - '6 Fish & Chips please'. 

9 - Costumes

'So; do you wear these type of hideous clothes back in England'?

Personally, I think our costumes are lovely. Also, I'm unable to answer that question because I'm not actually from England. *Awkward Silence*.

8 - Free Geography Lessons

'Okay, so we're in the English Pavilion'?

'It's the UK Pavilion. It consists of England, Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland'. 

'Wait, but are you not from Ireland'?

'I am, yes'.

'So why are you working in the UK Pavilion'?

7 - Drunken Comedians

Okay, so you have picked up stocker. You run out of Stella on the beer cart. You go to the keg room and grab a fresh keg to bring back. Numerous 40-something year-old's excitedly watch you pushing the keg;

There's only so many times you can hear the 'you can drop that off right here', & 'you can deliver that to my hotel if you like', jokes before going back to the keg room and crying in a corner. 

6 - Can I get a Strong-baaooow?

When it comes to the pronunciation of drink names, we've heard it all;

Strongbow - 'Can I get a Strong-baaooow'?

Bass Ale Draft - 'Can I get a Bass Alé (alley) Draft'

Stella Artois - 'A Stella Artois please', pronounced 'toise'. Rhymes with the word 'noise'.

5 - Double Stroller to table;

It's 8pm. The restaurant is extremely busy and you've just picked up a ticket to bring a party of 5 to an amazing table overlooking the water on the lower deck. They have an INCREDIBLE view for the fireworks. 

So you page them while you get their menus ready and as they arrive, they ask; 'Can we bring our double stroller to the table'?

Even more fabulous.

4 - Why can't we have that table?

Admit it. If you have ever worked in a restaurant then it is incredibly likely that a party have asked you to move seats.

'I don't like this table. Why can't we have that one'?

3 - Can I check your ID please?

The legal drinking age in America is 21 - and it is Disney policy to ID anyone under 30.

Sometimes, you get a few people who blatantly look under 30 - so you ask for ID. 

2 - 'We cannot seat you until all your party is present'

Ever been in a situation when you go out of your way to make sure a party have got a fantastic seat; and when you page them to be seated, they let you know that 4 of their 8-people party are actually on Test Track and won't arrive for another 10 minutes? It makes the servers job a lot easier if the whole party is seated together (I'm not a server but it must be a little frustrating with a half empty 8-top).

1 - 'Can we get a firework seat'?

Number one on the list. When a party arrives without a reservation at the busiest time of the night - and they ask for a 'firework seat'. There is nothing in life, that is more soul destroying than this!