Traditions

Hey everyone! Today was a lot of fun. On my agenda was to sign up for classes at the Learning Center at Vista Way and to attend my Traditions class. My roommate, Hannah and I went to sign up for classes around noon after we had finished spending the morning getting dressed and ready for Traditions (business clothing). I am now signed up to take "Marketing You" and "Corporate Communications". And I have wonderful news about them, the classrooms are right outside my door. My apartment sits next to the main office building, and that is also where both classrooms are, so that is excellent for me! Both classes are on Monday and I have an hour between them, so it will be nice to come home to eat lunch and relax before going back over for class number two. The only downside is they are both 4 hrs. long, however, we only meet once a week, so I guess that's not too bad. Classes start in late September and are finished in early December. I've heard such great things about the "Marketing You" class and I can't wait until the first day so I can learn even more. Now I just have to order my books.

When we finished signing up for classes, which took a little longer than we were expecting because one of the professors was there and he was talking to us, it was off to Chattam to meet the bus at 12:45pm that would take us to Traditions. However, 12:45pm came and went and still there was no bus. There was an A1 bus that some of the new cast members (you know who we are. We are the ones with the "Deer in the headlights" look on our faces, all dressed up professionally and carrying around our program guides without name tags) got on. Not knowing if that was the right bus (I think I remembered hearing something about a bus that would be marked TRADITIONS), I decided to wait, knowing that I had enough time because the class didn't start until 2pm. It was good that my roommate and I waited because we met a CP who has been down here since May named Ben. He works in the Magic Kingdom in merchandise. Anyways, we asked him about the bus and he confirmed what we thought, there would be a specially marked bus that would be coming soon. He also told us to NEVER trust the bus schedules, they frequently run late I guess. As we were talking, his bus came (he was on his way to work) and he had my roommate give him her number so we could all stay in touch. He sent her a text just as our bus was pulling up. The message was something like "This is Ben from the bus stop. I can't remember your name, and I need to know in order to save it to my phone. And send me Mariah's number too." I couldn't believe that he remembered MY name (which I don't consider to be common) over HER name (Hannah) which is common. Hannah decided that it would be easier if I just sent him a text that way we would both have each others numbers. I did, and we proceeded to text until he got to work and I arrived at Traditions. He was telling me that I was going to have a lot of fun, and that just when things start to get boring they throw fun surprises at us. He had me so excited for that class! In his last text, he said that if we went into the parks tonight to come find him at work, he'd be there until closing. He was so easy to talk to, I hope that we meet up again.

Traditions is a class that all Disney Cast Members have to take that teaches us about the Disney history. We talked about what has happened in the company's past and the ideas that sparked it all in the first place. We learned about some of what is going on now in the company and what we, as cast members, can do to help and be a part of that future. It was a great class and I learned so much.

My Traditions trainers were so awesome. There was Wendy and he was from Haiti, and Azitica (I know I spelled that wrong). They had so much energy and really knew their stuff! They made the class fun and encouraged us to participate. Speaking of participating, when we did, sometimes they handed out cute little character statues. So, sitting on my dresser now are Goofy and Pluto! And what's awesome, is we got these for free when normally you'd have to buy them!

During the class we got to go out and explore Magic Kingdom. It was a surprise to us all. Can you just picture is, 30 plus brand new cast members all dressed up in business clothing (heels included) walking around Magic Kingdom. Now, let me tell you, it was exciting but uncomfortable  at the same time. Today it was 90 something and it felt like it was 101 and there we were out in the sun! But I loved every minute of it. We got to the park at the perfect time, a show in front of the castle was just finishing and the fireworks were going off. And then there was Mickey and Minnie being raised up on a platform. I got chills I was so excited! However, by the time we got back to the classroom, I could feel the blisters forming on my feet. Sad, I know.

When Traditions was almost over (there must have been maybe 40 minutes still left) there was a knock at the door and when it was opened, there was the big cheese himself. Mickey Mouse came to visit us during Traditions and he brought with him OUR NAME TAGS! We were all so excited. However, our trainers told us that because we hadn't finished "earning" them yet, Mickey was going to keep them safe until we got to have them on at the end of class. When that blessed, magical moment finally arrived, our name tags were rolled in sitting in glass display cases. It was AWESOME! I can't even describe what I felt as I held my name tag for the first time. I was so excited to know that I was now a part of the magic. This isn't a dream, this is real life and I work for Walt Disney World! Back at my seat, I proudly replaced my name tag sticker with my 100% real deal, Disney Cast Member name tag. I believe I mentioned this before, but it is worn on the left, over your heart.

The other thing I got during Traditions was my Disney I.D. I am so excited to have this, because now I can get into the parks. With this I.D. I can visit Disney as much as I want in my free time as a guest for the next 5 months. I'm going to put it to good use. My roommate and I were going to go to Magic Kingdom to watch the fireworks to celebrate, however it was just starting to storm by the time we got home from Traditions around 7:20pm. So because I have the day off tomorrow, I think I'm going to spend the day learning the bus schedule and explore the parks a little. I think I'll hit up Animal Kingdom and try to figure out where I'll be working.

I think that covers the adventures of today. Who knows what tomorrow will bring, but when you live at the most magical place on Earth, the sky is the limit...and then some! Good night, readers!