My Disney Journey

This blog will be a journey of my application to Walt Disney World's Cultural Representative Program, from sorting out my CV through all the interviews. Fingers Crossed, I'll even be blogging about my experiences in Florida!

The end is in sight October 9, 2011

Filed under: Uncategorized — vlbradly @ 11:06 pm

So, I may not have been great at blogging for the later half of my program, but I’ve been having an amazing time, all the same.

Since my last post, I’ve done a whole bunch of stuff. I spent a day in Epcot, going around the world, I celebrated my birthday with a night at Jellyrolls, I took a trip to the opposite side of the county, Seattle, for a Lego convention, and plenty in between.

Seattle is a gorgeous city, and I would love to go back. I made some amazing new friends there, and saw some awesome Lego creations. It’s a very artistic city, with plenty to see and do, even if the weather is a touch dodgy! (It’s apparently the 5th cloudiest city in America!) I’m glad I set aside a little time to see some of the city as well as the convention.

Work has been finally getting busier again, with the Food & Wine festival going on. We’ve also had a few people leave from service, and not many people seem to be coming in to service at the moment. This means that everyone is working more than usual, and getting a little cranky. A few people have come down with colds too, myself included. Personally, I think mine is a west-coast bug, but since October hit it’s gotten colder here, which could have a lot to do with it. Not cold by UK standards, but cold for October in Florida.

Talking of cold, I’m trying to prepare myself for going home. My program finishes in just a couple of weeks, although I have requested to work the last four weeks of my visa. Management are all for it, i’m just waiting to hear back from housing to see if there’s an available bed for me. This means I can’t book my flight home, which is rather awkward, but there’s not much I can do about that.

As for anything else, I’m still plowing on with my dining challenge. I don’t think I’ll complete it, but I might at least be able to do the parks and downtown. I’ve just come back from an awesome meal at Wolfgang Puck’s Cafe, which had a lovely atmosphere as well as great food. One tick at a time, eh!!?!!

For now though, I’ll say good night. Hopefully I’ll blog again before I’m back in the UK, but I’m not making any promises!

Vikki
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Fingers Crossed! September 15, 2011

Filed under: Home Stuff!,Work stuff! — vlbradly @ 1:50 am
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My weekend away was amazing! The Expo was brilliant, and meeting Jeph Jacques was just plain awesome. As are the sketches he’s done for my walls! :D I also managed to spend a little time actually in the capital itself, and I’ve decided that, unless you like museums, Washington DC doesn’t have a huge amount to offer. I guess it might’ve just been the part of town I was in, but I couldn’t find a cute cafe for lunch anywhere!!! I ended up eating sushi at the airport instead!

Can I also just say that I’ll never get used to coming off an airplane and not having to go through passport check! That was just plain weird!

Since I came back, I’ve mostly been working. I spent Tuesday evening after work with Teddy and Ashley, with the plan of having dinner somewhere. We decided upon Saratoga Springs, but got there just after the Turf Club had stopped seating. So we ended up eating at The Artist’s Palette instead. It was still rather yummy, and quite a bit cheaper which is a bonus!

I don’t have a huge amount in the way of plans for the next few days, although I am spending Saturday with a bunch of my Floridian friends. We’re celebrating 4 different birthdays (mine included) by spending the day in Epcot. I believe some people will be “Drinking around the World”. Whether or not I join in is yet to be seen, but I’m not sure I can get that much alcohol in me! I may just have to steal a gulp of other people’s from time to time… at least I can have said I’ll have done it then!

For now, I should be sleeping though. Night!

Vikki
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Don’t you just love spontaneity! September 8, 2011

Filed under: Home Stuff! — vlbradly @ 12:39 pm
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The last couple of weeks have been quite fun for me! I’ve been working, as per usual. Work keeps changing it’s mind between busy and dead, but even on the quieter days the tips are improving, which is good.

I’ve been baking a little bit too! I had a party to go to last weekend, for Labor Day. It was Hawaiian themed, so I made a pineapple upside down cake! This was probably a bad idea with spring-form pans… the syrup kinda leaked out of the bottom, and made a horrid mess in the oven! Oppsy. It tasted really good though, everyone seemed to enjoy it!

And then last night, I made a meringue base for a pavlova! We’ve got a cast backstage BBQ going on today, which should be fun!

This weekend, I’m taking a couple of days off and flying north a bit to a place called Bethesda. Flying early Saturday morning, and back late on Sunday night. I just decided to be spontaneous, and there’s a convention, show type thing going on that I thought could be fun! So why the hell not?!

As for now, I should be heading into epcot! Let’s hope my pavlova goes down well! :D

Vikki
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Invisible roomie August 29, 2011

Filed under: Work stuff! — vlbradly @ 11:19 pm
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So, it’s been over a week since Terri moved out. I’m meant to have a new girl moving in. She popped in late last night (and I mean gone-midnight late) to “take a look around”. She didn’t bring any of her stuff or anything. So I head off to work today, expecting her to have moved in by the time I get home, and she’s still not here! I find this very strange, and slightly frustrating on my part. I really don’t want her appearing late again tonight with all her stuff!!!

In other news, work has been the same as always. I spent this evening going round world showcase taking pictures. Lots and lots of pictures. I’d like to remember how this place looks once I’ve left, after all! I grabbed a bite to eat at the QSR in Norway too… was really yummy.

The pub is undergoing a refurbishment at the moment, the floors are being re-done. It’s really weird having half a pub, with the rest all blacked off! It’s also really annoying that all the managers are calling it rehab, not refurb! I mean, I know the pub is an alcoholic, but it doesn’t need to go to rehab! Lol!

As for now, I’m going to curl up, relax, and hope my invisible room-mate doesn’t appear with bags of stuff. We shall see.

Night world!

 

I’m back, ish August 15, 2011

Filed under: Home Stuff!,Work stuff! — vlbradly @ 8:28 pm

Service is the death of a blog. You get home later, more tired. When you’re not home you’re out more, doing other things. Blogging takes a back seat.

I’m not trying to make excuses, it’s just the way things happened. I got into service, I tried to keep up the blogging, and I tried living the life of a server. Unfortunately, something had to give, and my blog was that thing.

So, a short recap of stuff I have done… My darling Jon came to visit, and proposed to me on our anniversary at Cinderella’s Royal Table. I, of course, said yes. We visited miami, which was the longest drive I’ve ever done! Terri and I took a weekend at Caribbean Beach, and had to move rooms due to creepy crawlies (Florida is full of them). Another friend from home, Tess, came to visit, and we had an amazing time, including managing to do both Universal parks in one day. I became a service trainer, and then a core trainer. And this week is Terri’s last!

I’ve eaten at a whole bunch more places, but i’m still incredibly behind on my challenge.

I’ve planned and booked a weekend away to Seattle, at the end of September.

And there’s a whole bunch of other stuff I can’t recall right this minute. But I’ve had a lot of fun, and there’s more still to be had.

And that’s the main thing… So much more fun, still to be had, and I should be documenting it! So i’m going to try coming back to my blog. The posts may be short, simple and sweet, but it’ll be triggers to my memory. I’ll even try and fill in some more of these past few months’ gaps!

For now though, I have a flat to sort out ready to host lasses tonight. It is Terri’s last after all.

Vikki
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My First tipped Mid May 8, 2011

Filed under: Work stuff! — vlbradly @ 11:51 pm
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I really don’t have a huge amount to say about today. I worked a mid shift, with my lunch in Section 307 and my dinner in 707. One of my tables at lunch was the same man who got talking to my table of ladies during my training shift last Sunday! Apparently, he’s going to be coming back every Sunday to try every dish on our lunch menu!

Otherwise, my day was pretty normal. I’m now knackered though – mids are hard work. So night night!

Vikki
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No ADO for Vikki :( May 7, 2011

Filed under: Work stuff! — vlbradly @ 11:52 pm
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Today, I swapped from an AM shift to a PM shift. Only after doing the swap did I realise that I shouldn’t have done so… a bunch of friends of mine from around Orlando were spending the day going around Epcot, and I originally planned to join them after I finished work. As it turned out, I couldn’t do this.

So, my day started off with a lift into Epcot so that I could maingate Nick and Alaina. I got them in, then ran off to the Rose & Crown to ask about an ADO (which the AM manager couldn’t give me – it was up to the PM manager) and to drop my costume into my locker. So, then it was time to meet up with everyone again, which didn’t take very long at all. (Oh, how I love mobile phones!)

So, first stop of the day: Mexico! We had a browse round the stalls while we waited for more of our large group to find us. Eventually, we had everyone we were expecting, some people got a round of tequilas from the Tequila Bar, and we started walking round the world.

There was a quick stop for some people to grab a drink in Canada, and I ran ahead to check in and grab the pager for our table in the Rose & Crown. We had thirteen of us, and got in pretty much dead on our reservation time. Arran was serving us, and I must say that he did a wonderful job of looking after me and my crazy friends. I had a lot of funny looks from the other servers, and questions later about how I knew these people! Either way, lunch was very yummy.

By the time we finished, the PM manager was in, so I asked again about an ADO, so that I could carry on with my friends, but apparently some other people had already called in, and so I had no hope. I worked my PM in the same section that I’d just had lunch in! Section 505! It didn’t go too badly.

And now I’m home, tired, and ready to sleep. I’ve got a full mid shift to work tomorrow.

Vikki
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Prom! May 6, 2011

Filed under: Home Stuff! — vlbradly @ 11:17 pm
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I had a day off today, which was lovely. I almost feel like I haven’t stopped since before I started training. Terri got an ADO (Authorised/Additional Day Off) from work because there were too many servers, and it wasn’t predicted to be too busy. So, she came home just as I was working out what to do with my day. We decided to head to TGIs for lunch, with Emily, as she had also gotten an ADO with Terri. After lunch, we came home again and Anna came round. We hung for a bit before heading to Downtown Disney and to the Cinema. Once there, we decided to see Prom, which was a good giggle! There’s so many films coming out soon that we all want to see, so I predict more cinema trips in the future!

After seeing Prom we came out of the cinema, browsed round Downtown Disney for a bit, including popping into the Lego store (as I always do when I’m in DTD!) Then it was time for home, and now it’s time for bed!

Vikki
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Happy Birthday Mum! May 5, 2011

Filed under: Work stuff! — vlbradly @ 11:01 pm
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So, after Chillers last night, I felt that a bit of a late snooze was necessary. Chillers was amazing fun, although the taxi ride home was a bit crazy. One taxi took a load of people home, and then we waited for a second taxi – which apparently broke down on the way to us! (Or so Kel told us). It took rather longer than we’d have liked to have gotten home, but we did get back eventually, which is the main thing.

So, this morning, I got up and skyped my mum before work – it is her birthday today after all! Happy Birthday mum! Then, before work, Terri and I popped to the outlets to grab some food.

Work was good. I spent a PM shift in section 511. It’s a nice little three table section that seems to flow really nicely. The start of the shift was really slow though, I even had a table leave because they really wanted the lunch menu, not the dinner menu! Otherwise, though, my dinner went well. I even had a 4 top table order 6 appetisers and 6 desserts, along with each of their entrees! All of my tables were just really nice people! And that always helps make a good shift.

As for now, I’m still sleepy after last night, so bed time!

Vikki
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7 months isn’t too long is it? May 4, 2011

Filed under: Work stuff! — vlbradly @ 11:43 pm
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So I slept in today. And then, when I got up, I popped up to Riyad’s so he could cut my hair. I’ve not had it cut since I had my face-to-face interview, and it’s really gotten far too long, and the ends are all horrid. Now, however, the horrid ends are long, it’s been cut slightly shorter than I’d like, but it’ll grow to a decent length again, so all is good! Then I came home, skyped mum for a bit then went to Epcot for work. I grabbed some lunch at the french pattissarie, then went back to the Rose and Crown for work.

So today was my first solo shift as a server. Generally, your first solo shift must be a 3-table section. I was in 401, which is a 3-table section, except when it’s made to pick-up table 504. So I told Holly that I can’t pick up, due to it being my first shift. Of course, she ignored me, and I suddenly found myself with a fourth table, without any warning. I would’ve been fine with it, had I had warning, but Holly just turned round and went “you do know 504 is yours, right?”, and I don’t even know how long they’d been sat there. So I had a bit of a go at her! She didn’t think it was an official thing that servers are meant to have 3-table sections on their first shift, until Yelitza, the manager, also had a go at her! I hadn’t said anything to Yelitza, so that was a shock to me. Either way, one of my tables got picked up by another server, I was back down to three tables, and everything went really well!

And now I’m getting ready for Chillers, so I must dash!

Vikki
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