January Tales - 21st Birthday, that time at lasses, and passing my pre-service test!

Daily Disney Selfie

January was a pretty hectic month for me; having just arrived back in Orlando after spending Christmas at home in beautiful Ireland. 

I arrived back on the 30th December, and a few of my amazing friends that I had met on my program were having their traditional 'Last' night out; so I wouldn't have missed it for the world! 

I woke up on New Year's Eve absolutely exhausted and shattered from jet- lag; but I had to go to work for 13 hours because it was one of the busiest nights of the year at Epcot! Exciting!

We brought in the New Year together as all of the Food and Beverage Cast Members, including the managers, chefs and culinary staff watched the New Year's fireworks, which were absolutely stunning! I'm so lucky to have been able to spend New Year's Eve with some fantastic people!

After New Year's Eve, life was pretty uneventful for a few days; until Sunday 5th January, which was my 21st Birthday!! Woohoo! 

Of course, I had to work on my birthday; but hey, I work at Walt Disney World, so spending my birthday at the happiest place on earth didn't sound that bad!

Once I'd left work, I got home and got showered, dressed and ready to go out! We decided on a night out to House of Blues in Downtown Disney; and I had been in Florida for 5 months and this was my first visit to the place we like to call 'HOB'. I had a fantastic night and was able to spend my 21st birthday with some absolutely fantastic people, and I wouldn't have had it any other way!

Another amazing night out in January was a Monday night at Lasses. For all of you who are unaware of what 'Lasses' is, it is when the girls from the UK who work at Disney all get together on a Monday night and head out and meet people from different countries every week. 

After completing six consecutive weeks of Lasses, you are then entitled to get a Lasses shirt; yay! First though, you need to complete an 'initiation', in which you must complete a number of challenges. Sounds easy right?

Of course; the initiations are top secret though; therefore I will leave you with two pictures. The one above was pre-initiation with Kim and Charli; the one to the right, was post-initiation. You can use your own imagination to figure out what may have happened! :)

A few days after Lasses, I decided to take my pre-service test. As a non-tipped cast member, to get in to a tipped position is a privilege, and therefore requires you to do a pre-service written test. 

I had been stressing for weeks about this test, as I was afraid of failing and being the only person to not get in to service in the Rose & Crown. Luckily, I had nothing to worry about because I aced my pre-service test and received a mark of 98%! 

However, despite all of the fantastic moments in January, there were a lot of less happy times, as many of the cast members that I had met at the beginning of my program and got to know extremely well, were coming to the end of their programs. 

Some of the most fantastic people that I have ever met left the States during January. More are due to leave in February; and March for that matter. 

It is sad to think that everybody leaves at some point, and it is difficult when you are in this 'Disney Bubble' as everything seems to be perfect, and then when people leave, it puts a major dint in that bubble. 

It makes me scared about the time when I leave Disney, because there won't be anymore dints in the bubble, but someone will have taken a needle, and burst the bubble completely. I never want to reach that point; I'm enjoying life too much!

As January drew to a close, I had so many great things to look forward to in February. I was chosen to volunteer for the Superbowl Committee in New York, so my next blog post will give you all an insight of my time in the City that never sleeps! 

Once again, thanks for reading!