Sorry I haven't posted in a bit. I've been really busy and haven't wanted to take up too much time on the computers my roommates have been kind enough to let me use. I had a spare minute, though, so I figured I'd try to update you all on what's been going on in my life recently here at Disneyland.
The first day of on-the-job training was basically just a four-hour class on how to properly handle and store food, safety tips, and how to properly wash your hands. Apparently I've been doing it wrong for years. We had to wear business-casual attire for that, which meant another horrendous day of torturing my feet in the heels I'd been stupid enough to buy. Granted, they were more comfortable than any other heels I've worn, but my feet were still mad at me for walking through Disneyland in them. At the end of the class, though, we went to costuming and got our shoes. Disney provides shoes for Leads, Custodial workers, and Foods workers. Several other girls and I put on the shoes as soon as we got them. They felt so much better!!!
I had the next day (Monday) off and so did my roommates, so we decided to go into the Park so I could experience it for myself before I started working. We planned on going to Space Mountain and getting a Fast Pass because that ride's lines are notoriously long. When we got there, though, it was only a 30 minute wait, so we decided to take advantage of that and ride it. It was amazing! It was possibly one of my favorites, apart from Tower of Terror. And my face in our picture for that ride was so effing stupid. My roommate took a picture of it on her phone, so I might post it later so you guys can make fun of me... Don't hold your breath, though. haha
We went on the Matterhorn, which wasn't as fun as I thought it was going to be, but later that night we went on it again because my roommates insisted it's normally better. We went on the opposite end of it, and it was faster that time, and way more fun! We went through the castle and on Thunder Mountain and on Pirates of the Caribbean and Indiana Jones. I really like roller coasters, apparently! I had the most fun on the fast rides. We wanted to go on Splash Mountain, but it was closed. The Haunted Mansion was already closed for Halloween decorating (this was August!!), so I was a little bummed that I didn't get to see it in its normal state, but I'm excited for the Halloween season.
We went to California Adventure and went on Soaring Over California, which is basically a motion ride that gives you the illusion that you're (you guessed it!) soaring over different parts of California. I liked it, it was fun. We also went on this Grizzly water ride (I don't remember the exact name of it) that was pretty much like the Big Foot water ride at Knott's Berry Farm. I like that one, I had fun. :) Then we went to the Tower of Terror, and I strained my voice from screaming my head off. I went on twice, though, because a couple gave us their fast passes because they didn't want to go on. They only had two of them though, so Sarah and I went, while Leslie stayed behind.
We went to check out Mad T Party, which was pretty freakin' awesome. I think it'd be a lot of fun to check out more, but mostly because of the decorations and the Alice in Wonderland themed band playing. It has kind of a club atmosphere, which isn't an environment I thrive in.
We left the Park right before the fireworks started because we didn't want to have to fight the crowd to get out of the Park and get to the bus. We figured we'd see the fireworks some other time. We were so tired, we just really wanted to get home. I was happy to have gotten to go to the Park, though. I even got a First Visit button!
Training at Redd Rockett's Pizza Port was interesting. There was a lot of new information thrown at us those three days, and it was a bit overwhelming at first. Once we started cashing on the regsiters without someone there, we were fine for the most part. Disneyland guests are a lot nicer than Walmart customers, which makes me feel much more optimistic about my job! There's a lot more responsibility here, though. We're in charge of our own cash tills and we get a fund of $300 to start. At the end of our shifts, we have to take the money we made and build a $300 fund for the next day and then drop the rest of the money in the safe. Cashing out is supposed to take 20 minutes, but I probably take twice that time because I keep double and triple checking it because I'm scared of making a mistake.
We were off training for two days, and now we're back training at Tomorrowland Terrace because the Pizza Port is down for renovations for 2 or 3 weeks. We're training at TLT so that we have a place to work while the Pizza Port is down. Today was our first day of training, and it was so overwhelming. The registers work in the same way and we still do the $300 fund, but it's a completely different menu and there's a lot more responsibility. For one thing, we take the guest's order instead of them bringing us their food and us ringing them up. And we have to get their drinks and salads for them. Anything cold or packaged we have to go get, instead of the kitchen sending it out via a "Boxer". I had trouble remembering to tell the guest to wait while I went to get their cold stuff while they were waiting for their hot stuff. It was way busier than anyone thought it would be today, so I was freaking out and kept thinking I was messing everything up. I have to talk loudly (which you all probably know is hard for me), and I was trying to move as quickly as possible so I could keep the lines down. I started getting a little bit of a routine down just as it was time for me to take my lunch.When I came back, we didn't have a pourer to get our sodas for us, so we had to do it ourselves. That helped me to slow down and even out my pace a bit. It felt better since I knew more what I was doing, and I didn't feel like I was about to burst into tears and have a full-blown panic attack.
My trainer today, Esther, was really nice. She's super bubbly and friendly. I really liked her. She was saying how we're going to fall in love with TLT and never want to go back to Pizza Port. Right now, I'm not so sure, but we'll see. My shift definitely went by way faster than any of them did at Pizza Port, so that's something.
When I was cashing out, my original trainer for Pizza Port came in and didn't see me. My Lead, Juley, is friends with her and decided to mess with her and call her a bad trainer by saying that we were way off on our drawer count. Juley said, "Damn, you suck as a trainer! Your new hires sucked so bad, they were way off!" And she said, "I know, they take forever!" And Juley said, "What a bitch! They were perfect! And one of them's right there!" I don't know if she was mad at Juley for putting her in that situation or just embarassed that i heard her say that, but she left the room angrily. I'm not going to lie, that hurt my feelings. I mean, I'm new. I'm learning a new system of doing things, and I want to make sure that I'm doing it correctly. I don't want to mess up. Her lack of confidence in me is really disconcerting.
Apparently regular Disneyland workers don't like College Program participants because A) We steal all their hours, and B) They become such good friends with us and then we leave, so they just don't want to become our friends. I understand both reasons, but at the same time, they need to understand that we don't even get that much of our paycheck. $140 a week is taken out of our paycheck each week for rent. The only reason they give us so many hours is because they want to make sure they get their money.
I did sort of make a friend (or at least acquaintance) at the Pizza Port yesterday. His name's Josh and we talked all through my last break about random stuff. Mostly it was about sign language because he used to take classes in it and he loved it, and I'd told him that I knew some because both my mom and my best friend had taught me some. We got on to talking about movies and interests and stuff like that, and I mentioned that I absolutely love Harry Potter. He said that he hates it. I told him that I didn't think we could be friends. For a split second, he looked like he didn't know whether or not I was joking. Then he laughed and said, "Bummer". I'm still not sure whether or not I was joking. haha He's a really cool guy, but if we're going to be friends, he'd better quickly accept, if not embrace, my passion for Harry Potter as something that is of vital importance to the fabric of my being. Just saying. You don't have to like Harry Potter necessarily, but you do have to accept it as something that's a part of me.
Well. After that more or less unrelated turn in today's update, I'm going to bid you all farewell until next time. I'll try to update more often, and it'll be easier to do so when my new computer comes in. It has Beats Audio technology in it, and I got it for way cheaper than it normally is! I'm super excited! It's supposed to come between 9/6 and 9/10. I really hope it comes in sooner, rather than later!
'Night, all!
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