Well, I've had several people tell me I need to update again, because apparently I'm not writing often enough. I feel like I don't really have too much to say about happenings around here recently though. I've had a dry spell when it comes to particularly good princesses, so I don't really have many stories to tell... Well, that's not true, I have several nightmarish stories involving the princesses, but I want to keep the stories on here on the positive end. :)
I worked my second week at DTD and then came back to the Castle this week. And checked my schedule to find... tada! I've been deployed yet again! So next Sunday I'm back at DTD for another week. It's odd to me that I keep getting deployed there--and also extremely fortunate. I love working there, and I feel like I have more fun with the princesses, because I have more chances to actually play with them. I spent the majority of last week sitting in the Princess Room of WoD playing Princess Bingo, Name That Castle, and Tic Tac Toe with carriage and crown pieces. It was a lot of fun being able to do that, not to mention amazing that I was actually allowed to SIT onstage. I would just bring the games with me, sit on the floor somewhere in the store, and then ask random kids passing by if they'd like to play with me. So I'd have this big group of kids all sitting around me, and we'd play the different games, and, of course, everyone is a winner, so they all got Mickey stickers. I don't know what it is about stickers, but everybody loves them, so they were always thrilled. Even though it was pretty obvious that they were going to get a sticker anyways, they always seemed to be really proud of themselves for winning it.
Something that surprised me: You would think that the 4th of July would be a really busy day, right? Well, for the parks it was. For the boutique? Not at all. I didn't actually work on the 4th, I ended up calling in sick and felt really bad for ditching out when they were probably swamped with guests. Not so. I was scheduled at DTD for that day, and they only had 40 reservations. 40! That's unheard of! They ended up taking 50 walk ins that day, and that's STILL not that many princesses. 90 for an entire day? Bad news. It means the boutique doesn't make budget. That entire week was really slow, so the DTD boutique didn't make budget once that week. The Castle, on the other hand, apparently had an hour wait time, which... means they were really struggling. The worst wait time we normally have is a half hour. Once I found out that DTD only had 40 reservations, I didn't feel nearly as bad for calling in.
In other news, I have a month of work left from yesterday. A month from today is when I'll be leaving Florida, and it's crazy to think about. Four weeks! There's still so much I haven't done in Florida yet. I still need to go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, I need to see more of the parks, I need to eat more delicious food at Epcot (I've only managed to hit Japan and China... go figure. Every time I'm in there I go straight for those two when I'm hungry), I need to go to the beach, etc.
There was a pretty cool story from yesterday at the boutique. It seems the interesting things always happen when I'm at tea. I'm always sitting underground eating when a FGIT comes in and tells me about all the excitement happening upstairs. Yesterday's fun was a lightning storm. Pretty common, happens every day. But this particular lightning storm struck a little closer than usual... and by 'a little closer' I mean, 'It struck outside of Mrs. Pott's gift shop in Fantasyland near the Tea Cups.' I guess it was crazy--it was super loud, everyone panicked, and all of the princesses in the boutique got scared from the loud clap of thunder that came with it, and they all started crying. So the boutique was full of crying princesses, scared because of this insane thunder happening outside, and the people outside are afraid for their lives because the lightning hit right in Fantasyland, so they're all trying to hide in the Castle (which just causes chaos and little kids get trampled, because it's a small space). All in all, it was a bit frantic upstairs. Meanwhile, I'm sitting underground, no clue that its even raining outside (it was sunny when I went downstairs five minutes before), eating my sun-dried tomato pesto pasta (which was delicious, in case you were wondering), with no idea what's happening upstairs. A few minutes later Hayley, a FGIT from BYU-I, comes into the Mouseketeria and tells me all about it. I always miss the good stuff.
I also happened to be underground when Ebony had a princess with a tick in her hair, when we had three Pumba princesses in a row, when somebody passed out in the stock room, when a princess peed in her chair, when there was blood on a chair and they had to call custodial to come clean it up (it wasn't anything serious, I don't know exactly what happened, just that there was blood on the chair), when a princess threw up in her chair... the list goes on. And I was always downstairs, eating in the Mouseketeria. They probably plan my teas so that I'll miss all the excitement. :)
We got a letter from management at our housing complex this morning, talking about all of the checkout procedures for when we leave. It starts off with something to the effect of: You're leaving soon! Here's what you need to do: turn in your keys, clean your apartment, etc. I saw it and I thought: ....I still have a month till I leave. What are they telling me this for NOW? Can't wait to get rid of me, eh? This place kicks people out so quick--you have to be out of the apartment by 11 AM the day after your last day of work. So most likely I'll be scheduled to work till 8 PM on Thursday, and they want me out by 11 on Friday. Good thing for them that my flight is at 9 or something, so I'll be long gone by 11, but still. Nice to know they give us a little time to pack up and leave.
Other than that, not much is happening. Going back to DTD again next week, and that'll be exciting. I had been hoping I'd be deployed again another time before I leave, and I was. So thank you, random computer selection! Apparently they just put in the number of how many people they want to deploy, and the computer picks people at random to fill the spot. I guess the system must love my perner number, since I'm the only one to go this often. I'm not complaining though. I'm liking this favoritism. When I showed up last week, several of the DTD FGITs shouted, "Caitlin! You're back! I love you!" Good to know I made a good impression on them--I was a little surprised, actually, cause I had felt that I really didn't get to know any of them well the first week. But... they can like me if they want to. That's always a good thing, right? :) We'll see what their reaction is next week--especially since Melissa is going back with me, and they were asking about her last week.
TTFN--ta ta for now!
Friday, July 16, 2010
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
DTD Again?!
Well, I've been deployed again! After my week at DTD, I spent another two weeks at the Castle and then tada! They deployed me to DTD again! So I've been down there this week, and it's been lots of fun. I really enjoy working at the DTD location, and some of the girls there are really sweet. When I came in my first day of the week, one of the girls, Tonna, saw me and shouted, "Caitlin's back! Hooray! I love Caitlin!" Needless to say, I was a little surprised by the reaction, because I hadn't felt that I'd really gotten that close to anyone there, though I did enjoy their company. But it was great to see that apparently I'd made a good impression on them and they were all happy to have me back. I'm definitely going to try to pick up/trade more shifts at DTD, because the atmosphere there is just so much more upbeat and fun than at the Castle. I work quickly, the day passes by faster, and there's less acting that goes on. The Castle is so much more reserved and quiet and all about the sweet fairy godmothers rather than fun fairy godmothers.
They also let me do a lot more since this is my second time there. Apparently in the mornings they have two people stand at the front doors to pixie dust people and walk princesses back to the boutique, since the rest of WoD opens a half hour after us. They also let me go stand in other parts of the store and pixie dust guests during slow parts of the day. They happened to assign me to the Great Hall North location, which is apparently the best spot to be, because you get to stand in the doorway and watch the guest performances on the huge stage in front of WoD. So I got to watch some dance company perform twice that day. I did the Princess Parade again, which is always good fun, and there were some girls who didn't make it in time to be in the parade, so we did a magical moment and all of the fairy godmothers from the parade stood with these girls and did a photo shoot with our banners and everything in front of the carousel. Apparently that day a lot of guests talked to our managers and told us that we were amazing and did a wonderful job, so then we in turn got praised by our managers, and that's always good. It's nice when the managers tell us they're proud of us and that we're making magic on our own, instead of having them tell us that we're behind in budget, we need to find something to do, or we need to treat all guests equal (which is usually the talk we get).
I also got to do a lot of stocking, which is unusual for me because they usually ask me to be on the floor (in the Castle and DTD), but since we were slow and they liked me, they told me I could stock for a while, so I got to be backstage for a while, SITTING (which is heaven), and not having to smile at everyone. I swear I have a permanent smile etched on my face. It's definitely not a bad thing though--I know that in the past I often looked really unhappy just because I naturally look like I'm scowling if I'm not paying attention to what I'm doing. But I've been trying really hard since coming here to smile all the time, even if it's just a little smile, and it's gotten to be habit now. My cheeks hurt all the time from it, but I've also had several people tell me that I must be the happiest person on earth because I'm always smiling. Some of the DTD girls call me Smiles because of it, and I'm not complaining. I'm glad I was able to change my old habit, even if my cheeks are always sore :)
I've had a few funny stories with some guests this past week at DTD, so I'll just share a few. I was standing outside pixie dusting princesses, and so I asked this one girl and the father stops and asks, "How much does it cost?" And so I reply, "All you have to do is make a wish, and that's it." So he gets all excited and starts scrambling for his phone explaining that he has another daughter who would LOVE pixie dust and he needs to call his wife to bring her over. So I pixie dust the one girl, and the guy is talking to his wife on the phone talking about how its "the cutest thing ever" and then hangs up, looks at me, and says very seriously, "I'll be right back. Don't. Move." So he goes running off with his daughter (literally), and about ten minutes later I see him sprinting towards me (mind you, it's about 95 degrees with 100% humidity at this point), and is gasping for air as he stops in front of me. I don't know why he ran, seeing as his wife and two daughters were way behind him, and I was going to pixie dust the daughter, so.... running only served to make him sweatier, but he shouted, "We're back!" and made his other daughter run up to me. Afterward, both girls gave me hugs and he thanked me over and over again for making their day. Oh what a plastic wand with a pink star full of glitter can do.
That same day as I was standing outside pixie dusting, two men were passing by me to enter the store, and one stopped and looked at me and said, "I really hope you don't turn into a frog." I was a little confused at first, thinking, well... princes are the ones who are the frogs, are they not? But then I remembered that it wasn't so anymore, not since the Princess and the Frog came out, so I said, "I'll try my hardest not to," and he said, "Good. Cause you're far too pretty to be a frog. Good day." I have had guests say some of the oddest things to me when I'm working at DTD. The last time I was there, I was sitting at the bus stop waiting for the CP bus, and a guy sat next to me and said, "Are you Cinderella?" I replied, "No, I'm not, but I live in her castle and I'm training to be a fairy godmother like hers." So he pulls out his phone, calls his 10 year old son, and says, "Son, get this--I'm sitting next to the Fairy Godmother. No, I'm serious, I'm sitting next to her at the bus stop!" Apparently his son wasn't having it, so he asked if I could talk to his son. So he hands me his phone and I ask the kid what his name is, how old he is, and that yes, I am a fairy godmother in training. Then the father asked if he could take a picture of me to prove it to his son, because apparently when I gave the phone back, the son was convinced that I was just some random girl his dad had stopped on the street and asked to pretend to be a fairy godmother. The next day I got off work at the same time, and the guy was passing by, saw me, and pointed and shouted at his son, "See! I TOLD you she was real! That's her!" So I waved, told them I hoped they had a magical evening, and they left. I swear, I should get paid for the time I sit at that bus stop, because I'm still on stage and I still have to be in character, give directions, take pictures, sign autographs, etc. I'm still working until I actually get on the bus, and even then, sometimes we have to smile and look nice while we're still in the parking lot on the bus because people can see us through the windows.
In other news, I have a month and one week until my program ends! I'm enjoying my time here, but my body is starting to really protest and I'll be glad for the break when it comes. Standing nonstop, twisting, bending, kneeling, running, dodging, etc wears on you fast when you do it that long that frequently. It'll also be nice to sleep in a comfortable bed again. I won't miss the rock I sleep on right now at all. :)
That's about it for now. I have another three days at DTD before I go back to the Castle. I'm hoping to get deployed to DTD again, and if not, I want to try to trade some shifts. I know that some girls at DTD like working in the Castle, so maybe they'll switch with me. :)
They also let me do a lot more since this is my second time there. Apparently in the mornings they have two people stand at the front doors to pixie dust people and walk princesses back to the boutique, since the rest of WoD opens a half hour after us. They also let me go stand in other parts of the store and pixie dust guests during slow parts of the day. They happened to assign me to the Great Hall North location, which is apparently the best spot to be, because you get to stand in the doorway and watch the guest performances on the huge stage in front of WoD. So I got to watch some dance company perform twice that day. I did the Princess Parade again, which is always good fun, and there were some girls who didn't make it in time to be in the parade, so we did a magical moment and all of the fairy godmothers from the parade stood with these girls and did a photo shoot with our banners and everything in front of the carousel. Apparently that day a lot of guests talked to our managers and told us that we were amazing and did a wonderful job, so then we in turn got praised by our managers, and that's always good. It's nice when the managers tell us they're proud of us and that we're making magic on our own, instead of having them tell us that we're behind in budget, we need to find something to do, or we need to treat all guests equal (which is usually the talk we get).
I also got to do a lot of stocking, which is unusual for me because they usually ask me to be on the floor (in the Castle and DTD), but since we were slow and they liked me, they told me I could stock for a while, so I got to be backstage for a while, SITTING (which is heaven), and not having to smile at everyone. I swear I have a permanent smile etched on my face. It's definitely not a bad thing though--I know that in the past I often looked really unhappy just because I naturally look like I'm scowling if I'm not paying attention to what I'm doing. But I've been trying really hard since coming here to smile all the time, even if it's just a little smile, and it's gotten to be habit now. My cheeks hurt all the time from it, but I've also had several people tell me that I must be the happiest person on earth because I'm always smiling. Some of the DTD girls call me Smiles because of it, and I'm not complaining. I'm glad I was able to change my old habit, even if my cheeks are always sore :)
I've had a few funny stories with some guests this past week at DTD, so I'll just share a few. I was standing outside pixie dusting princesses, and so I asked this one girl and the father stops and asks, "How much does it cost?" And so I reply, "All you have to do is make a wish, and that's it." So he gets all excited and starts scrambling for his phone explaining that he has another daughter who would LOVE pixie dust and he needs to call his wife to bring her over. So I pixie dust the one girl, and the guy is talking to his wife on the phone talking about how its "the cutest thing ever" and then hangs up, looks at me, and says very seriously, "I'll be right back. Don't. Move." So he goes running off with his daughter (literally), and about ten minutes later I see him sprinting towards me (mind you, it's about 95 degrees with 100% humidity at this point), and is gasping for air as he stops in front of me. I don't know why he ran, seeing as his wife and two daughters were way behind him, and I was going to pixie dust the daughter, so.... running only served to make him sweatier, but he shouted, "We're back!" and made his other daughter run up to me. Afterward, both girls gave me hugs and he thanked me over and over again for making their day. Oh what a plastic wand with a pink star full of glitter can do.
That same day as I was standing outside pixie dusting, two men were passing by me to enter the store, and one stopped and looked at me and said, "I really hope you don't turn into a frog." I was a little confused at first, thinking, well... princes are the ones who are the frogs, are they not? But then I remembered that it wasn't so anymore, not since the Princess and the Frog came out, so I said, "I'll try my hardest not to," and he said, "Good. Cause you're far too pretty to be a frog. Good day." I have had guests say some of the oddest things to me when I'm working at DTD. The last time I was there, I was sitting at the bus stop waiting for the CP bus, and a guy sat next to me and said, "Are you Cinderella?" I replied, "No, I'm not, but I live in her castle and I'm training to be a fairy godmother like hers." So he pulls out his phone, calls his 10 year old son, and says, "Son, get this--I'm sitting next to the Fairy Godmother. No, I'm serious, I'm sitting next to her at the bus stop!" Apparently his son wasn't having it, so he asked if I could talk to his son. So he hands me his phone and I ask the kid what his name is, how old he is, and that yes, I am a fairy godmother in training. Then the father asked if he could take a picture of me to prove it to his son, because apparently when I gave the phone back, the son was convinced that I was just some random girl his dad had stopped on the street and asked to pretend to be a fairy godmother. The next day I got off work at the same time, and the guy was passing by, saw me, and pointed and shouted at his son, "See! I TOLD you she was real! That's her!" So I waved, told them I hoped they had a magical evening, and they left. I swear, I should get paid for the time I sit at that bus stop, because I'm still on stage and I still have to be in character, give directions, take pictures, sign autographs, etc. I'm still working until I actually get on the bus, and even then, sometimes we have to smile and look nice while we're still in the parking lot on the bus because people can see us through the windows.
In other news, I have a month and one week until my program ends! I'm enjoying my time here, but my body is starting to really protest and I'll be glad for the break when it comes. Standing nonstop, twisting, bending, kneeling, running, dodging, etc wears on you fast when you do it that long that frequently. It'll also be nice to sleep in a comfortable bed again. I won't miss the rock I sleep on right now at all. :)
That's about it for now. I have another three days at DTD before I go back to the Castle. I'm hoping to get deployed to DTD again, and if not, I want to try to trade some shifts. I know that some girls at DTD like working in the Castle, so maybe they'll switch with me. :)
