Arrrrr me hearties!

Well actually the store ended up being pretty quiet last night for pirate night. Apparently it always is for the 4 night cruise. In the daytime, I did my first Castaway Cay in the stores. This started off good because I got a lie in! Well... Until about 9. Then I had to get up and tidy my room for cabin inspection. It's just as well I put in extra effort because it transpired it was the Captain doing it this week!! Several of us were hanging out in the corridor when he came round so we waited with baited breath but we all passed :-) they're strict about it... Everything has to be clean, beds made, no perishable food at ALL, desk clear, floor clear, bathroom clean, everything put away....

After that we had to get ready for CC. I was on the second shift which starts at 12. So you either do 8am-12 or 12-4.30pm and then you start the evening shift on the ship at either 5.30 or 6.30pm depending which CC shift you do. So, Nick was on the late shift too and he showed me where we clock in and stuff and where to eat. We get to have the BBQ food that the guests do but it's in a backstage area. We joined some other merchies to get food... It was very hot. Then we were almost late so I had to run across half of CC with the other girl starting at 12 to get to the smaller shop which is further away from the food area... This was annoying because its not good to start the shift hot and sweaty! Bad enough as it is! There are two shops we work at at CC, I was in the smaller one which the name I forget... It was a good starting point. It was nerve wracking to be in a new location which I knew nothing about with guests asking me all sorts of questions about the island. The other two girls who were there too were a little unhelpful considering its my first shift on the island but Jamie one of the managers, he came to help me for a couple of hours.

So... The things I learnt from CC yesterday were: 1) it's hot, 2) don't wear much make up because it comes off and 3) it's hot. 

Once we were done, we all trudged back to the ship to clock out. Then we had about an hour and a half to chill out which is what we did before showering, changing and then going to work as normal! We finished at about 11.30pm so it was a loonnnngg day.

Followed by today which is another one! Today is my first sea day in the store so it's a 13 hour shift basically but you get two one-hour breaks of which I'm on my first one. I'm writing this and watching twilight from the other day haha. We have already had a couple of interesting things today... It started with breakfast at enchanted garden! It's a guest restaurant but they put on breakfast for the whole crew today as a thank you for good guest feedback which was super nice. We got real butter with toast not the horrible margarine crap they give you in crew mess! That was exciting! I also had a waffle, hash brown, chocolate milk and banana :-) 

Also, we had a quick detour to Freeport today because they had an emergency medical disembarkation so that was fun. We had to close the stores as they're not allowed to be open in port so I got some extra time to put the pins together for the officer pin trading event that I'm doing tonight. 

Everything is good in the hood and I feel like I'm settling in now! I even got to take off the earning my ears tab from my nametag today!

First week: done!

So after PST, we had an island tour of CC... Beautiful!! Disney really have put so much effort into that place. There's an amazing huge family beach even with all 4000 guests there it didn't feel crowded at all. There's loads to do - you can rent jet skis, go parasailing, feed stingrays, snorkelling, biking.... There's even a 5k running route (maybe not for July and August!) There's two big eating places, four bars and an adult only beach called Serenity Bay. Next to the adult beach is the crew beach which looked amazing too. We get a mini BBQ area at the crew beach which is cool too and there's volleyball courts. 

We spent lunch there and then a few of us headed back to the ship because we felt gross having been in and out of the sea etc. So I came back and washed my hair before doing a few bits of laundry because I had a soaking wet towel and swimming costume in my possession. After a while, it was time to go to work. I got my own section to keep tidy and stuff which was good... Highlights of it included pens, hats AND plush! Anyone who has worked in Disney merch will know how great that is!

It was the final night of the cruise so we were open until 11.30pm so it was quite a late night. So, generally once you finish work for the night people head to the crew bar or the 'library' after work to unwind. So Nick and I (henceforth known as New Nick seen as this is going to get confusing...) went to the crew library but as it was the night before PC, it closed early so we just chilled for a while before heading to bed.

Sunday was PC. We had to do stock at 7.30am which I just cracked on with and thankfully we got it all done by 10.30am. After changing and waiting for New Nick to get let into his cabin after he got locked out we finally left the ship! There are always lots of taxis waiting for the crew members so we got one of those and headed to the glamorous Merritt Island Mall. It's a shade above the Prime Outlets on International Drive.... So take glamorous as GHETTO.

Anyway, we got Ruby Tuesdays for lunch which was good and then wondered around a bit with Jamie one of the merch managers. I got some stuff at Bath and Body Works and then we headed back to the ship. I spent half an hour or so using the free wifi outside the DCL Terminal building and then we were running out of time as Nick had to be back for guest drill. So we went back and I chilled out for a while before a few of us headed to the mess for a snack before work.

Work was good, reasonably busy so that was nice. Sunday marked my week-iversary so that was pretty cool!! To celebrate, Nick and I went to the crew library and had a couple of drinks before being joined by my roomie Chey and my manager Dave and then Kristy the crew activities manager who is awesome. We ended up staying there til about 2.15am somehow so then it was definitely time for sleep!

Monday was Nassau... We had to do counts first thing which is basically an audit of how many items of a certain product we have compared to what we should have. We started at 9am and didn't get done til 1pm which was a bit of a slog. It's a reasonably easy job but just slow. I was tired so getting easily frustrated with people and annoying things they were doing so I was glad to get out of there. We got changed and then headed (along with most crew that aren't working...) to Nassau McDonalds for free wifi. This must be one of the only McDonalds that doesn't take credit cards... Crazy! I managed to watch 10 minutes of the Casualty season finale but I kept getting interrupted by people FB chatting me so I did that over watching YouTube... I will catch it another day. Chey left to go and get sleep so Nick and I went to Starbucks and then headed back to the ship. 

Work was fine. As it was a new week, we had switched zones so now I am in the pirate section... That will be fun for pirate night today! It was a pretty low key day and after work we hung out in the corridor for a bit like cool kids and then I crashed out for much needed sleep.

Personal Survival Training

So I'm going to dedicate a whole post to PST Training or otherwise known as Wet Drill. On Saturday morning I get up bright and early to find out that my best friend managed to get appendicitis overnight and ended up in the hospital to have his appendix out...! So after some texting and face booking to find out what had happened, we left at 9.15am and I stepped onto land for the first time in a week at Castaway Cay (CC).

So the first part of PST was a talk through of the life jacket, the raft and the survival suit. Basically a recap. Then we watched a couple of the safety officers demonstrate what we were going to do. They made it look super easy so I felt okay about it. We got into our life jackets and firstly had to jump off the little pier into the sea... It was probably only a drop of about 6 feet/2 meters so that was fine. As you are wearing your life jacket you actually float immediately back up anyway so it's a brief second you're underwater. The sea is so warm at CC at this time of year it was amazing! The only thing I didn't think about was the sea salt and so my eyes were super stingy for a couple of minutes afterwards. 

Next, once everyone was in the sea, we had to float our way into a circle and adopt the "safety position" which is basically linking elbows with the person next to you and hugging your knees. So we all got to know each other quite well hahaha. 

They pulled two people out of the circle at a time to swim away a couple of meters and then prove they were capable of taking their life jacket off, floating in the water for about 10 seconds and then putting the life jacket back on which was actually quite easy. The life jacket is bulky but it's just like pulling apart two big blocks of polystyrene held together with Velcro, easy.

Then came the hard part. They partnered up a boy and a girl together (for strength reasons) to flip a life raft over from being upside down. These things are BIG and HEAVY... About 12 feet across. So the boy first had to lift himself onto the raft (I was paired with Neil, Rob's roommate who is in guest services) and then he helped me onto the raft. That was the hardest part by far... I have no upper body strength and the whole thing would be 100x easier if you weren't wearing a giant life jacket on top. Eventually, rather like a beached whale, I got onto the life raft and then we had to balance ourselves and stand up, holding the two guide ropes and then lean back, using our body weight to pull the life raft over... Swim back out from underneath the raft still holding onto the rope and TA-dah! You were done.

Then just swam out and did a short written test. PST training was complete for 5 years. It was much less scary and difficult than I thought, just a bit tiring. Also, lying on your back in the sea for over an hour with the bright sun reflecting off the sea and your luminous yellow life jacket and into your eyes is both uncomfortable and sunburn-producing! So my number 1 tip for people doing PST is to wear lots and lots of suncream!!! And also, if you wear contacts, to bring spare pair. 

Literally, the £2500 ($4000) I spent on laser eye surgery back in February was worth EVERY SINGLE PENNY for that day alone! 

I survived my first cruise!

Well I manager to survive my first cruise without being late, oversleeping or getting too drastically lost. My sore throat has pretty much become a proper cold although yesterday I felt a lot worse than today. It wasn't a great day to be feeling ill because I had to get up at 5am in order to be at immigration at 5.30am. Basically we just had to take our passport up to the desk with the security officer at it, get them to take out the I-95 card and stamp it and then proceed on our way. DCL look after our passports the whole time we are here on contract so we get on and off the ship in US ports using the I-95 cards. Once that was done we got breakfast in the crew mess and then headed to work at 7.30am.

We were back in Port Canaveral (PC) which meant we had to process the stock that had arrived onboard. I was feeling pretty run down and sore throaty by this point and I didn't really know what was going on but I tried to keep up. Sunday's PC will probably be easier because I can see how it really works... You see, after a couple of hours of stock yesterday we all got dragged off to attend a one-off training session on.... Becoming a fairy godmother in training!!

They have the Bibbity Bobbity Boutique on the Disney Fantasy as well as in the Magic Kingdom and Downtown Disney and they've been a great success so they're hoping to put it on the Dream too. So we got to learn the basics of making a shorted version of the princess makeover as well as four pirate makeovers. We have a pirate night once a cruise on this ship so we all love swords, eyepatches and bandanas! I think this is all kicking off very soon so watch this space but we don't know much detail yet. Needless to say the training was hilarious... Me and Rob had to do scars on each other as well as glitter - everywhere!!

After this was done I had 5 hours off and so I went to Deck 14 and managed to talk to my mum on the phone. As we were in PC I could actually talk to her using my phone not Skype so that was nice. Then I went for a lie down because I felt pretty terrible. I managed to have about an hours nap and felt super rough afterwards. I was supposed to be talking to Nick at 4pm but he got delayed and then my signal was awful so we didn't really get to talk. I got food in the mess and then got ready for work. Work was okay... It was the first time I had my own zone to be responsible for so that was good and felt a bit more purposeful than ambling around like recently. It was also my first closing shift so it was good to see what a real shift is like. 

Afterwards, as it appears DCL life is... You just keep going! We finished at 11.30pm and then went to our cabins to change before going to the crew bar where we had a special merchandise party which had been arranged for a while. We had pizza, mozzarella dippers, nachos and salsa - amazing!!! Oh and the free alcohol lol. You usually pay in the bar obviously but because it was a special party we got it. Once you push through a certain level of tired you can just keep going haha. It was good to have the chance to chat to people though and then I called it a night at about 1.30am and got to bed at 2.

This morning it was back up for a very dull class on Environmentality at 8am, then Castaway Cay overview and Guest Service basics which were okay. Then we had to go to Deck 4 and watch a life raft demonstration which was quite fun to see it in person. Then we were done for training today! I have 6 hours off. Now that my passport is sorted I could have got off the ship today but I have stuff to do and we go to Nassau twice a week anyway. I got lunch with Sarah and picked up a castaway cay (CC) costume for next week when I will be working there and now I'm in my cabin watching High School Musical 3 :-) in a while when my roommate Cheyenne comes back we are going to go and do laundry. As she transferred here from the Wonder it means she doesn't know her way round either! 

Tomorrow is... WET DRILL!! 

Chicken or beef?

So when I posted about the training for my WDW programs I always mentioned the constant word: "termination!" Well... On DCL it's called "chicken or beef?" because that's the options on the plane home...! And basically, the last two days has been constant things to do to avoid chicken or beef (or even bread and water - the drug and alcohol talk!) plus constant repetitive lectures about safety and assembly points. Thankfully, I think it's all in our heads now and we have one more test on Friday to test our knowledge. Tomorrow we are back at Port Canaveral and I will have completed my first cruise! But this means it's embarkation day for the guests so we have a more low key day in terms of training.

So, yesterday I didn't post because I was too tired... But we had a very long day of talks. In the morning it was mostly crew related information about the crew shop, activities, crew office and things like that. We got to have lunch at the guest restaurant Cabana's which was awesome! It was a buffet (standard lunch type restaurant you get on cruise ships but with Non-standard Disney food) and we had incredible views over Castaway Cay. It literally looked like a postcard... In fact, here's a picture!

Not bad huh!!

So in the afternoon we had our second long safety presentation which wasn't too bad. Then I had a brief gap before going to work for my second OTJ training day. As Cara (my trainer) had worked the late shift on the island, I had an hour alone before she came to join me at Mickey's Mainsail which is the store I work at... It was packed when it opened because it was pirate night and everyone wanted to buy their eyepatches and swords! Sooooo... I just jumped on the till. It's what I know haha. I survived with Rob helping me out with tricky guests and it was fun.

When Cara came down, we got to go to Deck 11 to watch the Pirates show with Mickey & Co which was great but hot in our jackets! Then we went back in (I got almost mown down by Mickey, Minnie and Goofy who just came off stage... Goofy showed me an awesome trick with his pirate scarf and Mickey had a very novel way of getting down the stairs, he's one efficient mouse!) and I did more general guest service/till. I finished at 10pm and quickly got changed before heading to the pool deck to go watch the fireworks!! I figured because I will be working every evening for the next 6 months, this was one of my only chances to see it... I finally found my way to Deck 11 after getting slightly lost in corridors of state rooms (I hardly know the guest areas of the ship because I'm never in them!) and got a spot to sit on deck. I watched the pirates show with Captain Jack and then the fireworks which was really good!! I was pleasantly surprised... I thought because it was at sea, it wouldn't be quite so extravagant as normal Disney fireworks but considering that fact, they were awesome and I even got some good pictures. After that, I came back to my cabin (after getting lost again!!! I ended up in the crew bar and then had to have someone guide me back to the I-95!) washed my hair and crashed out. 

Today I literally got up, had breakfast, sat in a classroom ALL day... Highlight was the child protection talk by a hilarious German officer and then we had to have mouth swabs taken for the mandatory drug test. We then had very dull first aid (only dull because I've done it so many times before) and then the Beasty 4 hour passenger safety lecture which was actually okay in the end. I passed the exam anyway. Now I am here chilling in my cabin and just discovered they have Twilight on demand on our TV yay! I am also praying that my sore throat today doesn't develop into a full blown cold....

Muster Stations!

Day two: done!

Today was also a great day, a long day and an information overload day just as yesterday was! It started bright and early at 8am after a great nights sleep in the training room again. Today's lessons were very health and safety heavy... Highlights (!) included 5 safety videos back-to-back which were actually uncomfortably cheesy and dull of course covering things like slips and trips, back injuries and handling chemicals. I know it's vitally important to know this information but it doesn't stop it being pretty non-thrilling! 

We also had a talk about alcohol and drugs as well as our crew member policies and handbook. We had lunch which was okay, found out that Kate & Wills had a BOY (yay for the future king!!! Despite being in the Bahamas I am proud to be British!) and also had my electronics checked off as safe from the  engineers. We got to see inside the engine control room which I found really interesting, they even do engine room tours for crew sometimes! Sounds like nerdy fun to me!

So basically the most hilarious thing that happened today (even though it feels like weeks ago now haha) was the crew safety drill today. We got thoroughly briefed what to do when the announcement was made and I felt confident that I knew what I was doing and how to get there. So... Alarm goes off, we scatter from the training room in all directions to go to our cabins and get our life jackets before heading to our muster station (aka emergency assembly point/life raft) and I confidently head off down the I-95 which is what they call the main long corridor for crew on deck 1 which goes from one end of the ship to the other. 

So, picture the fact that the training room is at the front end of the ship (aka forward) and my cabin is at the back of the ship (aka the aft). I get about 60% of the way down the I-95 and get stopped by a safety officer because the hypothetical "fire" is near my cabin. Bugger. So he tells me I have to go to Deck 4 and along and then down to my cabin. At this point I ran into Rob's roommate Neil who is also looking lost so together we head off to get to our cabins which are a few doors away from each other. Well, after running up 4 decks of stairs, along the outside deck area on 4 and then back down to Deck 1 we are once again refused entry, so we decided to just proceed to our stations. Easy for him, it was just back up to Deck 4 and through a set of doors in the aft end. However, my muster station was on deck 4, forward and starboard - aka right hand side! See I'm getting all the lingo now mum! ;-) but basically as far away as possible. So I leg it down deck 4 outside past everyone else already assembled at their stations in life jackets which was a bit mortifying, ran into an old friend from 2010 (Chris) but didn't have chance to chat obviously (!) and FINALLY made it to my station at point U-3. Well, I felt like I'd turned up to a fancy dress party in plain clothes because I was the only one without a life jacket. Along with the "earning my ears" tab prominently on my name tag and no crew ID card yet... It was all a bit of a fail!!

I didn't get into any trouble or anything but hopefully next time the "fire" won't be two decks below my cabin! 

The other two big things I did today was 1) get Internet access! It's 10 cents a minute and you prepay in $20 blocks so I went up to crew deck 14 to get some actual sunlight and air whilst FB chatting and I messaging family and friends which was awesome! I feel I have so much information I don't know where to start when talking to people! 

The last thing was I got my costume, crew ID card and then had my first OTJ training shift today from 6.30-10pm! I learnt the basics on the till and it felt like putting an old pair of shoes on... Once again, I am a MERCHIE!! :-D 

Day One

Overwhelmed.

That's the tip of the iceberg if we're talking about the amount of information thrown at me today. But... Today was literally one of the most awesome days of my life!!! 

I am absolutely beyond tired right now but I have to write it all down before I forget everything as I have a feeling tomorrow will be similar! I don't have Internet yet because I have yet to buy an Internet card so I will publish this ASAP but for reference... Today was Sunday 21st July 2013 and it all started at 4am this morning. Well actually, I got woken up several times - once by people shouting outside our room and once at 3am when the room phone rang!? I have a feeling this might have something to do with the massive group of Brazilian tour group staying in the rooms next to ours. Anyway, got up just past 4am... Had mostly packed the night before so that was good. Got ready and checked out of the hotel. At 5.15am the bus arrived to take us to the port. We picked up some re-hires from the Sheraton by the airport on the way.

45 minutes or so later we got our first glimpse of the Disney Dream!! I can only compare my feeling to that of when I first saw Main Street USA at WDW after seeing it on TV so many times. It's a really beautiful ship. Next to it was a Royal Caribbean ship and it just looked shabby in comparison! We had our passports checked on the bus and then we had to get our luggage off and line it up for the drug dogs to sniff. Then we went through security just like in the airport and we boarded the ship! We got onboard at about 7.15-7.30ish. 

We got taken to the training room where we're going to spend a LOT of time this week. There was no dilly dallying... A few snacks for breakfast and then boom - straight into training! And it continued for the next 12 hours! We covered everything from cultural differences to personal safety equipment. We had a big portion of the day covering emergency safety... So if there is a fire, flood, abandon ship, man overboard etc and what to do. One of the most in charge people did that talk and he was a bit scary... You wouldn't second guess him ever! He showed a good video with some suitably terrifying real life phone clips of emergencies on cruise ships and things like that to drill it into us.

Another highlight of today was hearing that they don't use the word "termed" so much here for when you get fired but more the phrase "chicken or beefed". Sound strange? Well... Some are the normal options for plane food aren't they? ;-) 

We had lunch in the crew mess and I had a nice salad. I was expecting nothing after the horror stories I heard but it was actually fine. We shall hold out opinion on that tho! 

So then the really fun parts of today... Having our group picture taken with Captain Mickey Mouse on the staircase in the atrium! Watching the sail away party and hearing when you wish upon a star come from the horn! Getting my costume fitted! Meeting my managers and coworkers in Merchandise and discovering my line manager used to work at Disney Store Cardiff and actually trained me 2.5 years ago in a scabby Mall Cribbs training room to do Mission Magic! IT'S A SMALL WORLD.

Oh, and getting to go and watch one of the three fantastic shows in the Walt Disney Theatre - the Golden Mickeys!!! Basically, today has been amazing and if tomorrow is anything like today then bring it on! 

The first two days

So I have a quick moment to update this... I've been hectic! That's actually an understatement!

So Friday morning, we got up super early at 5.45am in order to get Panera for breakfast before Nick dropped me off at the hotel at 7am and he went to work at EPCOT. I went to my room finally and met my roommate who is American, her name is Sharon and she used to work attractions and entertainment at Disneyland in Anaheim which is pretty awesome. I think they paired us together because we are both rehires with the company... Nobody else is. We then headed to the lobby to meet the other DCL new hires in our start date... There is 15 of us, ranging from stage crew to operations to servers to entertainment. People from Jamaica, India, South Africa, one American and four UKs which was a pleasant surprise. We met the DCL facilitator people and they took us by DCL bus (never been on one before so that was fun!) to Celebration. Literally spent an hour of checking our paperwork and getting our IDs before we were done. Back to the hotel, quick change and then 8 of us got the bus to Magic Kingdom!!!

I was super excited because 6 of the group had never been before and I LOVE taking newbies to MK. We got there and their reaction to the castle was priceless :-) MK was packed and full of tour groups... But it didn't matter because I was at Magic Kingdom! We went and did Haunted Mansion after the obligatory million photos of the castle. Then we got fast passes for Thunder Mountain (it's been a long time since I've had to explain that concept!) and got lunch at Pecos Bills. We did Pirates and then Big Thunder. Then I left the group to go and meet Nick as we had previously made plans but I was a bit sad to leave my new friends! 

So it was disgustingly humid with a heat index of around 102F and so we skipped on going to a park and instead went to see a horror movie at Downtown Disney called The Conjouring. It was good, very jumpy. Then we got a car wash, went to Walgreens for me and then over to the Grand Floridian for dinner at Citricos. It was so yummy - we shared a cheese plate, then I had a chicken dish with a each glaze and then the BEST dessert I've ever had in my life... A lemon cheesecake with white chocolate ganache. Oh my goodness. 

It had started to rain then so we were originally going to go to Magic Kingdom and see Wishes but we were both tired and the weather was gross, so we headed home and I crashed out at 10pm as I'd only had about 3 hours sleep in 46 hours! 

So today, Nick dropped me off at 8am. It wasn't that I didn't want to stay at the all stars it's just that I had more space at Nicks house and I love hanging out with him and his roommate. Anyway, we got the bus to Traditions at Disney University (DU). It was great even though it was my 4th time at Traditions! I won't spoil what we did for anyone who is yet to do it... But it's a great (and long) day. Afterwards, I met my old friend Katie from 2010 who also was at DU today and we got the bus to MK to get the monorail to EPCOT. Ironically I met a girl, Emma, on the bus who I talked to over Facebook are she read my last blog so it was an awesome moment!! 

We got to EPCOT and I went to the R&C to see the few people still left there. Sadly my ex-manager had already left so I didn't get to see him but I dropped off some chocolate and Percy Pigs there which went down well. It started raining again but we walked to China and had Orange Chicken before going to do Test Track as single riders and go to MouseGear so I could buy some magnets for my cabin. 

Then it was time for me to come back to the hotel. We were going to stay for fireworks but I had so much to do and it was raining. 

So tomorrow is time to board the ship!! Wake up call at 4am so it's time to get to bed... 

The longest day of flying ever

So I left off when I was waiting for check in to open in Bristol. It finally did, and all of three check in agents were there for the massive queue that instantly developed. I stood in the line for a good half an hour before I finally got to the desk and then it was fine. She tagged my bag and told me I didn't need to see it until Atlanta when I'd need to recheck it for the domestic flight... As I am writing this at 35,000ft as we almost start the descent into my most visited part of Georgia (ironically) I have yet to make sure my bag is in the hold! 

Anyway, she also confirmed that I was granted two pieces of checked baggage which is novel. I can only presume Disney have a deal with Delta for their cruise CMs or something... I proceeded very quickly through security and then grabbed a croissant and a smoothie for breakfast. I only had to wait about 45 minutes before my gate appeared and then I walked a mile through Bristol's long corridors to my gate. We took off on time and arrived in Amsterdam a brief hour later.

I've never been to this airport before. First impressions were that it was very busy, very big and had quite a decent amount of things to see - shops, restaurants, bars, cheese shops and tulip stands. I was tempted to buy a pair of toy clogs as a joke present for Nick but my hand luggage was already weighing me down badly! I checked the screen and it said "proceed to gate" even though there was still more than an hour before the flight so I thought I'd better... Well when I got there, it appeared I had to go through security machines again before waiting in the gate. I don't know if that was because I was joining a flight to the USA or what... But they confiscated my water and I hadn't eaten, so I was hungry! Luckily I had some cereal bars stashed in my bag so I had one of them and then waited ages to get on the plane.

So then it was time for the Amsterdam to Atlanta flight which is the one I am currently on. We're just passing over Tennessee according to the map. It's been very pleasant actually, I'm surprised. Having never flown Delta before as long haul I was expecting less but they've lived up to the par of Virgin Atlantic. The food has been awesome! I had pasta with tomato sauce and cheese (definitely not as bland as it sounds!) with a salad, bread roll, cheese and crackers and a choc chip & orange cookie. They've done about 5 or 6 drinks rounds which was great and then about an hour before landing they gave us a hot 3-cheese calzone and a vanilla & chocolate ice cream pot! Yum! 

************

Well! I intended to finish this off later but I was getting tired and the day was just crazy. I got off the big flight and went through security at Atlanta with no problems... Picked up my bag and then rechecked it to go to the domestic terminal. Managed to grab a coffee and FaceTime my parents while I waited for the next flight and then boarded that plane for the last flight. Now of all things they could show on the screens for an American Delta flight from Atlanta to Orlando which is 90% full of Americans, what do they show?

Top Gear! 

Brilliant. So then I tried to nap unsuccessfully and eventually we landed in Orlando!! Going through customs in Atlanta meant that I got off the plane, picked up my bag and was out of the airport in about 15 minutes! Unfortunately, Nick was still driving back from school so I had to wait about 30 minutes for him but that was okay. It was very humid and warm outside so I waited inside for him and then when he turned up, Eric (his roommate) was with him which was a pleasant surprise! We drove to the all-star sports resort and I checked in but then we drove to McDonald's and I had a kids meal because I was that horrible post-flight, jet lagged, hungry but nauseous state. I felt a little better after food and we went to their house in celebration. We all chatted for a while and eventually I got to have a shower but didn't get to bed until about 1am... I was up for a grand total of 25 hours!

Time to go!

Totally meant to post last night but it slipped my mind! So now that I'm sitting at Bristol Airport and its so early that check in isn't open yet... I found some time to blog. I have had a busy couple of days... As I said, there's been a heatwave and actually the lack of air conditioning has been taking its toll on everyone because its been horrible at nighttime so I spent most of the weekend falling asleep and feeling generally meh. 

Luckily on Monday I felt better and I went over to visit my grandparents. In the afternoon, I went back to M&S to return my uniform and say goodbye to them. Then in the evening I went over to Lauren's house and we spent a very pleasant evening chatting in her garden.

Tuesday, I went to the mall and returned a bunch of stuff (at least that's a few quid off my credit card!) and then I met Hayley at the Disney Store when she got off work and we went to see Monsters University which was an awesome movie. We also had a calorie overload in the form of a TGI Fridays. 

Then yesterday I finished off all my packing - my bag is exactly 23kg! My hand luggage is pretty heavy but mostly because of all the chocolate in it... I also had my hair cut in the afternoon and then we had a nice BBQ in the evening which I did most of the cooking for...

Hehehe.

Anyway, I got up at 5am this morning - UGH! We got to the airport pretty quickly because its the local one to me but then it transpired because the first flight is European it meant I only had to be here 2  hours early not 3! So my mum and brother hung around for a while but then they headed home... Now I'm just twiddling my thumbs waiting for check in to open so I can proceed to some breakfast! 

Packing - 6 Months 1 Bag

I spent most of Friday packing. It's one of those things I always look forward to doing and then when it actually comes to it... I hate it. Too many decisions, too many questions as to what to take... and then to add in the strict DCL Disney Look rules makes it even more complicated!!

So basically, this has been the hardest thing to pack for out of all my travels. I started by working out what I was going to wear for my first three days as they are "business casual" days - including Traditions. Whilst the Disney Look rules are stricter onboard (more on that later), weirdly the Disney Look for Traditions is more relaxed than for the ICP or CRP programs. You don't have to wear suits or formal trousers ("dress pants" as the Americans call them) so I'm opting to wear my navy blue linen trousers and a smart top. For guys you don't even have to wear a button-down shirt... you can even wear jeans as long as they don't have rips or tears and they look smart. So... traditions outfit decided, I moved onto what I was going to wear for the paperwork meeting on the Thursday morning and what clothes I was going to wear to board the ship on the Sunday. Again, I went for my linen trousers and also a white smart summer dress I bought from Marks and Spencers (with my discount obvs!).

Then I packed in a dress for the daytime Thursday which I'm hoping to go into Magic Kingdom for some play time as well as a pair of heels for Citricos in the evening with Nick. Therefore, that was the first three days decided... and I also killed two birds with one stone because those outfits also came within the rules for "onstage in guest areas whilst offduty" clothes.

This is the hardest thing to pack for. Basically, if you're not working but you have "guest privileges" which Merchandise Cast Members do, you can go into the guest areas. Awesome. Except you have to dress a certain way to uphold the image of the Cast should a Guest realise you are a CM. Also, to blend in with the Guests I'd imagine. So therefore... no shorts after 6pm, no jeans after 6pm, no tops without a collar at any time of day, no t-shirts, no vest tops, nothing "too short, too tight or too casual". Doesn't leave much does it!

Basically, I decided that dresses were the way to go so I have the white dress and a maxi dress with short sleeves as well as a formal LBD (Little Black Dress, of course!), the linen trousers and a couple of tops with cardigans which I hope will pass the rules seen as they don't have collars. But I don't own shirts really and I don't have polo shirts which I think look more casual than  my tops anyway. Meh.

Then of course you need a few clothes for when you're just in Cast areas (I should probably start referring to this as Crew areas now... old habits die hard) which can be shorts and t-shirts thank God. I'm only taking one pair of jeans which I'll wear on the plane and a couple of cardigans... no jackets or even hoodies because it's just going to be too warm.

I also decided on shoes (this was hard for me!) - I ended up with 8 pairs. Black work shoes, white work trainers, my normal workout trainers, two pairs of flip flops, two pairs of ballet pumps (as they come in as business casual) and one pair of heels. Not bad for me.

Talking of heat... there's been a full-on, no denying it, scorching HEATWAVE in the UK for the last two weeks... and it's set to continue past when I've left. To start with it was nice to feel and see the sun... but now, not having Air Conditioning is starting to wear thin. Especially when it's been the same temperatures as Florida around here! Today it was 31 degrees! Also I've been living in the same pair of shorts for several days because I don't want to wear the nice clean, new clothes I've packed for DCL. I never thought it was going to be this hot in the week I left the UK!

So... after packing about 75% of my clothes, 7 out of the 8 pairs of shoes and a few other bits and bobs my bag weighs 14kg. The limit is 23kg so I'm doing well! I am taking mini toiletries and buying full size versions in Walgreens once I get there because I don't want it to add to the weight of the bag. I know after packing these final things (including my hair dryer and hair straighteners... vital when you have as frizzy hair as mine is!) my bag will probably hit 23kg. I also spent a fortune in Tesco the other day on cereal bars and chocolate to take... but we'll have to see how much space I have left after the more essential items!

One week to go!

Isn't it crazy how fast time goes when you've got a start date? Haha! So the last week and a half has mainly been work I have to admit... And not much DCL preparation. Of course prior to getting my date I was so fed up I told my manager I could work whatever extra hours she needed and THEN I got my date so thus I haven't had much time for anything else. Plus the weather got HOT finally (we've had over a week of sunshine now... Unheard of in the UK I swear) so working has been somewhat uncomfortable and also it's been really quiet and therefore boring. Anyway, today is finally my last shift! Yay! 

The plan from here is to get around and see family & friends, have my hair cut, tidy up... Oh, and pack. I did trek up to London on my one day off to see my friends Dan and Andrew from the CRP which was a lovely day mostly spent relaxing in the sunshine in the park and having a yummy lunch. 

Tomorrow I'm looking forward to a lie in and then I have to crack on with packing really... Annoyingly with the weather so hot I'm going to have to resort to wearing some of the clothes I want to take... Grrr! I had the dental check up last week (that turned into having a filling and then discomfort all weekend so having to go back on Tuesday but all sorted now) and apparently we get dental treatment for free whilst we're on the ship so hopefully it will be fine but at least I know it's there.

Well I shall update again when I've made an attempt at packing! 

Paperwork!

Okay, so I promised I'd do a longer post about paperwork if anyone is intrigued to know what I have to do now. So, I got the initial email on Friday at 5pm offering me the place on the Disney Dream (DD) and I replied back saying yes obviously... I actually then received a phone call at 7pm from Marc at the Agency giving me the same information and he told me to expect emails from Disney that night or Monday.

So, on Saturday afternoon I got an email from DCL saying welcome and with a few attachments plus instructions to fill out my paperwork, scan it and send it back ASAP. I wanted to wait until Monday though so that I had all details plus I hadn't got my flight information yet. My flight and hotel information came through on Monday evening and then I just got a reminder email from the Agency today to tell me to send my paperwork through. I still haven't scanned and emailed it though because I'm going to make sure I've done everything tonight and then email it tomorrow afternoon when I have time after work. I signed up for extra hours this week because I was going so crazy not hearing anything from the Agency - oh, the irony! Now I don't have enough time to spare!

So... I feel like I've signed a thousand pieces of paper... My contract, Crew Member Dependent Form, Internet Use Statement, Confidentiality Agreement, Ideas and Suggestions Agreement, Citizenship Statement, Medical Records Release, UK Tax Declaration Form, Incentives Plan Acknowledgment, Personnel Status Sheet, Contract Appendix A and Contract Appendix B... phew!

Now I just have to scan them all in and send them back to America. That's preferable at least to faxing them which is my other option. Then, as I said before, my flight details were sent through and that's going to be a joy of a day! I get to see a new airport I haven't seen before in Amsterdam Schiphol Airport as well as the new Atlanta terminal... now I sound like a flying nerd.... I prefer the term seasoned traveller ;-)

I will be staying at the oh-so-glamorous All-Star Sports Resort once I finally get to Orlando from the Thursday night until Sunday morning. I get an allowance for food from Disney which is pretty cool... it's the equivalent to about three quick-service meals per day - not bad! I have a basic schedule for those few days - a lot of early mornings basically! On the Friday I have to report for paperwork stuff (I know... yet more?) at 7.30am and then Saturday is DCL Traditions at Disney University which is definitely worth the early morning because I love it. Then Sunday we have to get the bus to the port at 5am - eek!

I'm very lucky because I already know a couple of people on the ship as well as obviously knowing people in Orlando so I am not particularly scared of the process, just getting very excited. I have already made dining reservations with my best friend Nick at the Grand Floridian for the Friday evening and we have plans to go and see Wishes so hopefully that works out... I'm hoping to squeeze in popping by the Rose & Crown at EPCOT to see my old managers and the few people that I know who still work there... plus hopefully see Illuminations. Plus one of my old friends from my ICP in 2010 also starts a year program around the same time at WDW so I'll be meeting up with her too to catch up.

16 days to go!

You wait for a bus then two come at once

That's how I feel! I've waited so long without a scrap of information and now it's all thrown at me at once! I will do a longer blog post detailing the paperwork I've been sent very soon but seen as I'm typing this on my phone I will keep it short! 

Most exciting was receiving my flight details which I got yesterday... The first surprise was that I'm not flying from London as I presumed but actually from my local airport Bristol... Go figure. From that fact it meant I have a pretty awful day of travelling! I fly from Bristol to Amsterdam... Then from Amsterdam to Atlanta, Georgia... Then Atlanta to Orlando! That totals 17 hours in total with approximately 4.5 hours of it spent in airports during layovers. 

On the upside I will clear US customs in Atlanta so it should be quicker when I get to Orlando and I can just get out of the airport. I also get to experience the new international terminal in ATL which is exciting especially because its got a Pei Wei which is my favourite American Asian food haha. Always think of the food! 

Another update very soon! :-)