Week Two

Another week (and a few days) into my Disney College Program experience and it was eventful! I started my week with an orientation of Caribbean Beach Resort where I will be working. It turns out that I will be specifically working there for my program instead of at all three resorts, Art of Animation, Pop Century and Caribbean Beach. Back in Janurary they split the region into two separate parts, Caribbean and the other two, and staff Cast Members that way.

Next I spent three longggg and educational days in my Ellis Lifeguard Certification class. We spent a significant amount of time learning CPR and rescue breathing in case of an emergency situation. We also spent ALOT of time in the water learning saves and practicing for our final test out for our Lifeguard license. Three days in the sun started my awkward lifeguard swimsuit tan lines, which is pretty awesome. :) After the three day class we had our final CPR/AR test, written test and water test. I passed all three, thankfully!

After becoming an official Ellis certified Lifeguard, I spent three days learning the in's and out's of my resort pool at Caribbean Beach. Each pool and each resort has specific guidelines for guarding. Caribbean has one pool and an Aquatic Play Area (APA) that is staffed with guards. Pool one is a roving stand, where we walk around the pool for the duration of our time at that pool due to blind spots from the pirate themed structure. Pool 2 and Pool 3 are tradtion stands and have water slides. The APA needs a guard to enforce height rules along with some other rules. 

After spending the first two days learning the ropes at the resort I had a test out on the third day to show I was able to perform all the duties of a lifeguard at Caribbean Beach I passed! :) After all that training I was still nervous about starting my first day of work. Nothing eventful happened, of course. I'm still a little nervous about what the next few months will bring but I'm looking forward to it!

My costume consists of a one piece, red swimming suit, red shorts, white polo, red hat, nametag and whistle/hippack. It was all provided. I 1000% washed the swimsuit. Weirded me out at first, decided to get over it because I had too. I also wear crocs.. probably the best part. Not stylish but comfortable, so I can't complain too much. Rain jackets and pants are provided for rain (obviously) and when it gets cold. 

In other non-lifeguard related news my roommates and I are getting along well and I am meeting a lot of new people. Housing events are fun and offer the chance to meet others in the program and get free stuff. Gotta love free stuff! During the whole month of August there will be new College Program participants moving in, so we will be getting even more new neighbors. Woohoo! 

Still really enjoying the perk of getting into the parks for free and I am planning on fully utilizing that power in the months to come. I <3 DISNEY!

Week One

It has been almost a week since I made the long driving trek down to Florida with my family. We had an awesome time at Universal and the beach the days before I moved in on August 5th. We spent some time being wizards, met the Lorax, Cat in the Hat and the Grinch but also caught a few rays at St Augustine and Clearwater beaches. It was great to spent some time with family before starting my new adventure with the Walt Disney Company and Walt Disney World.
The night before move in day my roommates and I decided to meet around 7-730 at Vista Way to check in for our program. We got in line bright and early, received our apartment assignment (Building 20 in Chatnam Square) one of the four places we could have lived and found out where we worked. I was placed as a shallow water life guard at the Caribbean Beach Resort, which means I will work in that region. The Caribbean Beach Resort, Pop Century and Art of Animation are also included in my region so I will work as a guard at all three resorts. On check in day we spent a while learning about different opportunities while we were on program like educational things and housing events. We spent some time moving in our things and then my roommate and I went and took our Lifeguard test at Mickeys Retreat. Mickeys Retreat is a cast member exclusive pool, volleyball, fun things, etc place where we can go. We both passed our tests but mine was really easy since I was a shallow water guard (50 yard swim, pick up a 10lb brick in 5 feet of water).

Our place is a nice sized two bedroom, two bathroom apartment with a larger living room and kitchen then I was expecting. My roommate and I were lucky to get the room with the larger bathroom and walk in closet. You could sleep in there!
The next day we went the Housing Meeting and they told us the housing guidelines, do's and don'ts. No light sabers.. we were crushed! :) It was your typical meeting but it was way more fun to meet other people in Chatnam. That Thursday we had our Traditions class that taught us a lot more about Disney as a company and told us some secrets I am not allowed to share. We did get our name tags though!

We also got our employee cards that lets us into the parks for free so we went to Magic Kingdom that night and spent the rest of the day and night there. My roommates and I are consistently meeting new people everyday and it is so cool to be able to experience the program and parks with other people. Some have never been to Magic Kingdom. It was awesome to see them as riding new things and seeing the characters for the first time. I don't remember ever seeing the Electric Parade so that was a new one for me. I am consistently impressed with Disney everyday with everything they do. The attention to detail is amazing.


Wishes is still one of my favorite things Disney does at Magic Kingdom. I will never get tired of Magic Kingdom, EVER!

I'm still going through training for my position and had the whole "this is the boring stuff we have to do"  training yesterday for 8 hours. It was riveting.. pause not. I have training at my resort on Tuesday and then guard training next week. Wish me luck!
That is all for now! Have a magical day!