Monday, March 12, 2012

New jobs!

Well, lots of new opportunities have happened in the past couple weeks!
I've been super busy (as always) and have actually been trained for a few new jobs!

First, here is a snip-it I put together of just fun, random happenings!


Onto the new jobs.


First job: I was scheduled for what is called Hard of House, which is basically stocking.  It starts at 6:30am (zzz), and goes until 1 or 3pm.  Basically, I just scan boxes of merchandise in, open them, put them on a cart, and have my floorstockers stock them.  I actually love it!  Besides the waking up early, it's so nice and different because it's much more laid-back.  I like that it's manual labor and I actually sweat because it's like a mini work-out!  Since I'm ripping dozens of cardboard boxes open, I have a fun box cutter that I whip out to tear the boxes down. 

Also, since I mentioned that I love stocking, this job is perfect! It has such freedom and another stocker and myself just jam out to music, drink hot chocolate (yes, even when it's 75 degrees out!), and chat about life. We are covered outside, but still hear the birds chirp in the morning and watch the sunrise every morning.  It is so beautiful and peaceful.  Because we are doing more moving around, this requires a different costume than a skirt!! So here is what I wear for this job:

  
 And my butt looks really, really good in this these high-pants too.. ..

Luckily everyone has to wear these pants and surprisingly they are actually super comfy !

 
Second job: Package runner!
Boy, is this a different job! So this is the summary.  Obviously there is a ton of merchandise at the parks.  Therefore, when guests shop at the different parks, they are not going to want to carry around their 3 full bags of merchandise all day long if they bought it at 10am.  Because of this, we offer a great service, in my opinion, of free delivery to their resort they are staying at.  All they do is fill out their home address, circle their resort and room number, and when they're check out date is.  From there, we have another service who picks up packages every 3 hours or so and delivers them to the resorts so 24 hours later their package will be at the merchandise shop in their resort.

Since there are more people handling these packages, things can easily be broken, misplaced, or forgotten.  That's where I come in to play!  I "work" an 8-hour shift and carry a pager around.  Basically all I do is drive around our company 2011 new rental cars to the 23 Disney resorts and 4 parks! The cars are stocked with satellite radio and cameras for reversing which is super nice and makes me feel spoiled.  Any resort will call me if they have a packaging issue.  For example, I could have a call from Saratoga Springs saying there was a picture missing in a guest's package from Splash Mountain and ask if I am able to get it.  From there, I will drive to Magic Kingdom, go to Splash Mountain, retrieve the correct picture, and bring it to Saratoga.  So far I have been averaging about 5 or 6 different calls per night.  Sometimes it can be extremely hectic, where I don't take my 2nd break until 10:30 at night!  Other times it's extremely slow, where I just go back and help stocking at the resort.  :)

It is such a different job than any others.  I'm blessed because most jobs don't seem to train the college kids with more than 1 job because we are here for such a short time, but this is my 3rd job I know!  Also, there were 17 new college kids that joined our resort and only myself and one other girl are trained for this! I'm not sure if they choose it randomly or not, but I will surely take it as a compliment! 

My roommates are incredibly jealous as well!  When I first started training for this, I assumed that every resort had package runners, however, that would not make any sense since I get calls from all resorts.  The reason we are based out of Port Orleans is because of our location.  We are the most central location of all Disney property that has the biggest capacity to hold the package runners inventory, vehicles, packages, etc.  All 4 of the parks are extremely close which makes returning and exchanging packages even more effective.  I am still new at this job, but I really do love it so far.  I can talk on the phone, take my breaks whenever I want, wherever I want.  I come into contact with at least 3 people on each run, therefore meeting 15-20 people every night.  That's why it is hardly "work".  It just feels like I am driving all around property, listening to some oldies rock stations, and helping guests out!  It can be stressful when you have more than 5 packages, and the guests are all leaving the next day at 5am, because if you don't get it done, the resort has to complimentary ship the items, which means more loss revenue for them.

It is so wonderful to be able to see more of Disney's beauty.  Most of these resorts I've never been into, and they still blow my mind.  I park all in service vehicle parking, feeling even more important, and so I've seen plenty of characters offstage, parades about to begin, princesses, and the backside to Tower of Terror.  Also, when I'm driving at 8pm or 9pm at a park, I see the fireworks from Epcot or Magic Kingdom and they literally take my breath away.  If I'm not on a run, I can just sit in my car and watch them.  Who else can say they can do that at work!?

Since I'm power walking everywhere, they have the options to wear shorts!  This was a relief, and isn't so bad.  


 
Next will be updates on all my visitors that have came (parents next week and 6 days off!! maybe I can get a picture of Steve strangling me to death since he misses me so bad), trips to Seaworld, and volunteer work I've joined!





Some co-cast members have said that when I wear a braid in my costume I either A) look super young, or B) look like a flight attendant.  You decide.