Day 5: Traditions & First Night at the Parks (1/26)
Friday morning I woke up bright and early to start my training! Every Disney Cast Member is required to go through Traditions, which is a 5-hour crash course on the history of the Disney company in which you learn about Walt Disney and everything that he did. This class is hosted at Disney University which sits right behind the Magic Kingdom and most orientation classes are held here. During the class, we were able to visit the Magic Kingdom and explore the utilidors that lay underneath the park. My group was also able to explore a bit of the park while looking for the 4 keys of Disney (Saftey, Courtesy, Show, & Efficiency)
After Traditions, we were given our name tags and officially became Disney Cast Members! One of the big perks of being a CM is complimentary admission into any of the Disney Parks! So right after changing back at my complex, me and Lydia headed to the parks!
We started off at Disney’s Hollywood Studios where we got to meet Chewbacca and ride Tower of Terror, which was my first time riding it! We then hopped on a boat and went to EPCOT where we explored world showcase, rode the new Soarin, and met Anna, Elsa & Baymax.
Day 6: Welcome to Operations & Magic Kingdom (1/27)
Saturday I attended the Welcome to Operations training class in which we learned about the 7 key operations areas of the Disney Parks
- Animal Sciences
- Food & Beverage
- Attractions
- Merchandise
- Guest Relations
- Custodial
- Hospitality Services
We learned how we would apply the 4 keys to each area, and to say it was a long day would be an understatement.
After our class concluded, those of us who were in Food & Beverage had to stay after for a food safety seminar. During this, we were able to get our log into the Hub (Disney Cast Member portal) and get our shoes for our location.
I got back home around 8pm, however, the Magic Kingdom was open till 12am that night so me and my roommates headed to the parks and rode Jungle Cruise, the Tea Cups, and the People mover. It was also Quinn & Cheyenne’s first time having a Dole Whip so we had to stop by Sunshine Tree Terrace to grab one during our visit
Day 7: Once Upon a Time… is Now! (MK training) & Animal Kingdom
Early Sunday morning I headed to the Magic Kingdom for my MK training. This orientation centered around learning the ins and outs of the Magic Kingdom and getting to tour the entire park! It was many people in my groups first time to the Magic Kingdom so our tour guide pointed out Attractions, dining locations, and gave a brief history and fun facts about each land.
After touring the Magic Kingdom I was able to go get my costume from the costuming department! Since I’ll be working on Main Street my costume is turn of the century but themed around the Lady & the Tramp Italian restaurant that my work location is based on.
I got out a little after 3pm and after grabbing my costume and heading back to my apartment and changing I met up with Caroline and we headed to Animal Kingdom! By the time we got there it had started raining a bit so the park was starting to clear out. We made it just in time to watch Festival of the Lion King, and afterwards, we headed to Expedition Everest which we walked right on! This was my first time on the ride and I loved it! Since there was no wait we hopped right on and by this time it was raining pretty heavily. After our second go at it, we headed to Dinoland USA and rode Dinosaur. Since it was pouring by this time and there was little less than an hour until the park closed we decided to head over to Pandora the World of Avatar to see if we could get on Flight of Passage. This is the newest and most popular attraction at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and wait times usually are around 2-3 hours. Well, with a combination of a downpour and an hour till close we waited only 30 min to experience it! This ride was amazing, in the ride it really feels like you are riding a banshee through Pandora!
Day 8: First Day Off!! Hollywood Studios & EPCOT
After 3 days of orientations, I finally had my first scheduled day off! Caroline also had the day off so we decided to head to EPCOT and walk around world showcase. One of my bucket list items during my program is to snack around the world at the different pavilions in world showcase. That day I was able to cross of Mexico & Canada (I will dedicate a post about snacking around the world). I got to check off Mission Space and the new Test Track off my list for rides as well
After a couple hours, we took the boat to Hollywood Studios so we could experience Fantasimic! I’ve been wanting to see this show forever so I was super excited to see it! We had some time to kill before so we rode Rockin Rollercoaster and Tower of Terror before as well as the Beauty and the Beast live stage show. Fantasmic started around 7pm and after it was over we headed back to EPCOT to watch their firework show Illuminations that started at 9pm.
Marketing the Magic 